Yes, in my opinion, cats do love bite. Although it is quite an interesting question because you have to agree as well that cats love people and other cats. Then we are into a discussion about love and that could go on for ever. Let’s just call ‘love’ a strong affectionate bond between sentient beings for the sake of this article.
But anyway, my personal experiences of living with cats for decades informs me that cats love bite. But the emotions felt by the cat and the mode of delivery are different to those of humans.
My cat gave me a love bite yesterday. I was out for a part of the day. When I returned he was very happy to see me as usual. He greets me at the front door. We then walk together to the rear of the house, to the kitchen/diner where he jumps onto the counter and where I’ll give him a treat: king prawns. I know it is not a great thing to do but he loves them.
I stroke him and cuddle him and he’ll grab my hand in his jaw. He’ll do it relatively gently. There is no chance of breaking my skin. That is his love bite. There may also be licking and rubbing.
I see it as a product of excitement and being pleased to see me. I think you could argue that it is not an expression of love but of being happy and excited. It is almost as if he is playing but it is not quite the same. I can sense his mood. He does not want to play. He wants to express his closeness to me and the fact that he is glad I am back home.
Feline love bites are not around the neck of their owner! That’s the usual place for a human to human love bite. The feline version would have to be on the owner’s hand usually. It may happen on other parts of the body but I would think that it is quite rare.
Human love bites cause a mark; the breaking of capillary blood vessels near the surface of the skin cause a blood red mark at the site of the love bite. This is not the case with the feline version! I am being pedantic and stating the obvious but I need to be to write around 500 words as Google search likes that.
The reason why feline love bites don’t leave blood red marks is because cats don’t suck and bite at the same time as humans do. It is this biting and sucking which breaks the blood vessels. Cats just bite gently. There is no mark.
How can you tell the difference between a cat love bite and a real bite? The circumstances and the gentleness of the bite will tell you the difference. Every cat owner will have a slightly different (or greatly different) viewpoint on this subject. What is yours!?
Both of my adult cats love bite. Abby (Maine Coon) will rub her head against me, usually when she’s on the top shelf of the cat tree and I’m walking by. She reaches out and tries to snag me with her paw or claw (never destructive). She’ll purr, tilt her head so she can get scratches and periodically will give a gentle love bite on my hand. When I stop giving her love and try to walk away, she’ll still reach out to make me stay and give more luvins. It’s really sweet.
Shadow (Chartreux), on the other hand, will rub against my legs. He’s not much into the head scratch, but prefers cheek area scratches and long, smooth strokes under the chin. He’ll usually jump up on the bed while I’m watching TV for his fussing up, and sometimes will also give me the gentle love bite. It’s kind of funny in his case since he’s got no teeth except for his canines. The meaning is still there and when he tires of being fussed on, he’ll just put his paw out to my hand or arm and that’s my cue that he’s had enough.