Suckling kitten?

Question

I have a kitten/cat which is now about 4months old, it is eating and drinking food and water well and seems to be in good health. The strange thing is that whenever possible the kitten tries to what I can only imagine is suckle, it was massaging with its claws and really sucking on a skin-tag I have under my arm and when my husband had no t-shirt on it attempted to suckle his nipple, the cat now nibbles before sucking my earlobe whilst purring away noisily and and then fall asleep quite contentedly, is this usual and does it mean that the kitten is in some way lacking something.

Answer 1

Your kitten suckles because it may have been weaned at too early an age. This is quite common and it will grow out of it (for the most part). My male cat used to suckle on my older female cat when he was a kitten. He still likes to nuzzle sometimes and he does have a favorite stuffed animal that he still suckles on, but he mostly got over it. Hope this helps. :)

Answer 2

It's usually called Wool-Sucking, because they often end up
doing it to blankets or anything else kind of "fluffy" when there's
nothing nipple-like around. It usually means that the kitten was
weined too early, and has separation issues.
As far as I know, there isn't much you can do about it, and the
kitten is likely to keep it up forever.
My very best advice would be to see a Pet Psychic (LIVE) or
Pet Psychiatrist (also LIVE)...
Good Luck!

Answer 3

Your kitten is missing her mum!!! This is quite common; I have a 7 year old neutered male Turkish cat, who does this with a wooly throw in his bed, stamping on it with all four huge paws at the same time. Try a chunk of fake fur with a long nap; its washable, and the long threads make a nice clump for sucking. Its quite sad, but soooo cute!!

Answer 4

Mine does that too, but with bedding. They do need a little extra when they are under 6 months old. Have you tried giving her baby milk? not that horrid kitten stuff but SMA baby milk? she may miss it in addition to wanting to be close to you.

remember a 4 month old kitten is stil just a baby.

Answer 5

Ihad a kitten that did this once..I was told that he was taken from his mother too early and that he is trying to recreate the feeling of getting milk from her. He never did it to me though, usually blankets or corners of shirts and things like that. He did eventually grow out of it.

Answer 6

my cat does it too. i asked a vet and they said it is because it was the runt and the cat was taken away from its mother to soon. it wont hurt the cat that it was taken early. it just is showing you now you are the mother. the cat is lacking no nutritional value due to prior suckling.

Answer 7

Yes, it should grow out of it, my Cat is nearly 6, and every now and then reverts to a kitten like mind...

Answer 8

your kitten is lacking her motherly instinct buy her the smallest bottle you can find fit a teat on it and feed her then let her sleep sucking the bottle she will soon get out of it when she finds no milk left in it .she must learn that sucking is only when milk is being produced by her mother and you will find she will soon break the habit her self when no milk is left try this and see for your self !!!

Answer 9

that is sooo cute, i had a kitten like that once, its adopting you as its mother, you need to put your foot down a little and put some bitter apple on her favorite spots then shell know that food tasts a lot better than nipple :) can i have your kitten LOL J.K.

Answer 10

Oh yeah - all my cat's kittens have done this. They grow out of it eventually and seemed to be perfectly happy and contented adult cats