Excessive Licking in a Cat

Question
Hello! I have a 6-7 month old neutered male cat that I adopted from a shelter about 6 weeks ago. He is an adorable, smart and loving cat, but he won't stop licking... MY SKIN! Any time I sit down and he sits near me the licking starts, and doesn't stop until I push him down. In fact, he is licking my arm as I'm typing. I wouldn't mind so much, except that, after a few licks, my skin starts to get raw.

I don't know much about his history, other than he was an owner-surrender a few weeks before I adopted him. Is there something in his background that might cause this fixation?

Thank you!

Answer
HI Cate,
There could be several reasons. He is grooming you like his mom groomed him and/or like he would be grooming a littermate. It starts off as a pleasant happy experience for him. Some cats could start to become obsessive with it on others or licking themselves. This could be a self-soothing mechanism.  
Something might be getting triggered psychologically and it becomes obsessive. I would try to redirect his attention before that obsessive point is triggered.
I have also seen a tremendous amount of cats being taken from their mother way too early which is ultimately detrimental to the cat and severs the proper development-sometimes this develops into an oral fixation or what is called pica. There are several reasons for pica (chewing and eating strange things). The suckling of some of these pica cases was severed too early and consequently it has developed into an oral fixation and what can be classified as a  neurosis. I see shelters such as SPCA do this with foster programs and separate the kittens once they are on solid food at 5 weeks or so. I think it is awful, but then again shelter reps and veterinarians aren't specialized in psychological development and behavior unless they are specifically trained.
I am sure he is a sweetie! not to be alarmed just be mindful it doesn't translate to eating strange things. We want to avoid a foreign obstruction in his digestive tract. Keep him active and exercised and stimulated, give him lots of high places to look out windows . He needs lots of play time and do all the things kittens need to do. He is still developing in many ways up until roughly 2 years so needs to have plenty of stability yet good mental stimulation and exercise. Climbing, exercising, being engaged with mentally stimulating things, jumping, pouncing- (hopefully on to cat trees) which you can help direct are all things indoor cats need but need.

What you can do is play with him, give him lots of interactive games and windows to watch birds if he is indoor only. IF he had a littermate or was fine with other cats you might consider adopting the buddy he was with, too. You can call the shelter and ask if they know anything about that. Many shelter reps aren't very versed on cat behavior - so be mindful of that. If a cat was raised without other kittens at a certain critical time then he might not get along with other cats, but there are proper ways to ensure a good introduction. Some are completely  fine and i always encourage buddies when they are young.
Stop, the licking behavior gently BEFORE it gets triggered by redirecting his attention to something like a fun game. His boredom/anxiety could be turning into a self-soothing grooming type of behavior as well. It can start off with affectionate intent towards you, and then quickly the circuit is triggered and turns to an obsessive type of behavior.
The fact that he was adopted, returned then in a shelter definitely  causes some anxiety. Make him feels secure, but keep him active!
It feels raw because cats have what is called papillae on their tongues which helps with eating, and grooming themselves.
Best of luck! he sounds like a sweet cat and i believe is intending to show you affection by grooming-but there is a psychological component that might be getting triggered due to one of several factors.
Thank you for writing!