can cats have nervous tics
 

I don't know if it's a nervous tic, but he rubs his right sided teeth against lots of things lol. it's cute but I fear he has caught ocd and tics from his parents me and Dawn. I've never seen another cat do it and know of no instinctual reason he would. and no, I'm not going to put him on antidepressants. just a high priced psychologist at best :)

He's marking his territory.
They have scent glands in their mouths too.

btw "nervous tics" is a misnomer
iow People don't have tics because they're nervous.

Really? wow. I know someone who has this compulsion to look at whatever light is on the room many times a minute, and I always thought that was a tic brought on by nerves. But then it's not really a tic? I guess it's just an ocd?

No, it's not about being nervous.

It's more likely that's a compulsive behaviour that your friend has, but there can be quite an overlap generally with tics and obsessive compulsive behaviours for some people. Some people just have motor and phonic tics though. Some people have the urge to touch objects or even hot objects like a stove. They're called complex tics really but it is more a compulsion.

This rubbing behavior is called "chinning"...


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Cats have very different brains from people. Their emotional systems are similar, but the neocortex is very small compared to us. (or even dogs).

more on cat intelligence:

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Cats have very acute senses.. They are very sensitive to loud noises and sounds. Loud music, yelling, loud voices, will cause them discomfort and agitate them. They have acute senses of smell also. I watched Weezie this summer locate a snake by smell alone. They often want to even sniff what we are eating and drinking. ( I call this sniffy wiffy). Most of the time, this food is rejected. Maya is intrigued by effervescent things...she watches at a distance my AlkaSeltzer...but won't get too close.
Maya also has a "thing" for water dispensing water dishes. She attacks them to make them "glug" and makes a mess. She even uses 2 paws to bash them until empty. So we don't have those here anymore to serve water. Hubby keeps one in the bathtub for her to play with though.

When a cat is disturbed and acting compulsively, they will lick their fur or paw, sometimes until the fur comes off. We have a cousin whose cat licked her paw so much, that she developed mouth cancer! (I think perhaps the mouth sensations preceded the licking).

Cats that never go outside develop habits indoors to vent their hunting urges. I have a couple of games I call bitey-bite for Maya who we do not let out. She gets very tense watching birds and squirrels thru the screens, so I do a game with a towel and stick where she can safely catch a string under it and bite it without hurting me or anything else. 10 minutes of this game and she is then relaxed and in a better mood. Maya came from a feral situation and is quite fearful and would take off outside without thinking. So she does not go out. Weezie on the other hand was raised in a home, with other cats, and is very calm outside and sensible. So she goes out a bit. (never at night though) Maya loves to go under blankets, towels, or papers. So we have some clean packing paper on the floor for her to play under (newsprint has lead in it from the ink). The packing paper comes from Ebay purchases. A soft old towel, that we used for all our kittens is her favorite to go under. I let it hang off our recliner and she zooms under it and takes a nap some days.
She is the most eccentric cat we have had in the past 40+yrs!
When Maya needs a bitey-bite session she will start to shred her paper or a paper bag. That is my signal to give her a good bite session! ;)

I'd like to clarify the term OCD...

OCD is a seriously disabling disorder. The checking and other repeated things/thoughts are so profound as to interfere with life most of the time.

Obsessive behaviors are just that. Many people have obsessive personality traits. This is very different. The compulsion part may be present, and if so that is called OCPD --obsessive compulsive personality disorder. These people are very neat and orderly, but do not do the extreme behaviors usually seen in OCD patients.


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Certain occupations tend to attract obsessive compulsives... those that are detail oriented requiring accuracy, like engineers, accountants and pharmacists.

Tics are mostly organic... involving the brain. Some drugs will create tics, like amphetamines, and other stimulants, or disruptions of dopamine in the brain, or inflammation in the brain. Tardive dyskinesia is an example of a drug induced movement disorder that comes from antipsychotic medications.
Tourette's may also be inherited.

Hi Mark
 

It does sound strange. I would get him to the vet, and check out his teeth. There even could be one tooth, bothering him, which would cause the behavior. Seek the professional out. Most cats don't do things against their nature. ginnie:hug:

My cat Gracie does this with her right side, also. She rubs so hard against me that sometimes her teeth will scratch me.

Like MrsD said this is how cats mark things with their scent. If it hurt her teeth she wouldn't do it.

If she had issues with her teeth she'd be pawing at her mouth and/or refusing to eat.

Yes, they are marking their territory.

Oh, Kitty that reminds me. One of our cats in the past used to do that with the teeth... I called it "fanging"... she did that when she wanted her food treat. (I gave each of the 3, a treat each day, their own special fave). LOL
When Maya wants her treat she just sits and gives me a special
stare. ;)