I’m not sure why, but without fail, every time my cat starts purring he licks my lips. It’s not just a few licks either—sometimes he’ll do it for up to a minute or two, walk off, then double back for more licks a couple minutes later. Every single morning, he comes over to me to be pet, and as soon as he starts purring he goes for my mouth. He’ll come up to me at minimum 5 times for some extensive licking over the course of maybe 20 minutes. During these little sessions he often starts making bread as well, something I never see him do otherwise; kneading is almost exclusively associated with licking my mouth for him. Even if I’m sitting upright when I pet him and he starts purring, he’ll prop himself up with his paws on my chest and reach up to my mouth.
He started doing this pretty soon after I got him; he was two months old when I adopted him, and now he’s nine months. I’ve tried covering my mouth with my blanket before, but he’ll just nose and dig his way through until he has access to my lips. I’m sure it’s not a very sanitary habit, but I feel horrible pushing him away since he clearly enjoys it so much, and isn’t effective anyways—he just keeps coming back, or use a surprising amount of force while straining against my hands. Is there any particular reason he’s fixated on my mouth, and is it possible for me to redirect his focus to something else? Will he eventually grow out of this habit? Is it bad that I’ve given up trying to stop him and just indulge him at this point?