I’m currently taking care of a young (~8 weeks) kitten who was found abandoned at about 4 or 5 weeks old. He’s made a lot of progress and seems to be very happy and healthy. He had a problem with his eye but has appeared to really respond to treatment. He really is a joy.
In the last couple of weeks, though, he’s developed a strong habit of trying to suck on my fingers whenever possible. He purrs like a wild man, licks my hand for a while, and then starts grabbing at my fingers and kind of urgently whining until he gets one of my fingers in the right position to go to town. If I let him suckle, he’ll do so for essentially an unlimited amount of time. Usually he goes to sleep. Often, in addition to the suckling, he’ll turn at a bit of an angle and kind of grind my fingertip with his molars. Which hurts like a mother, and I can’t let him do, and then he whines some more.
Now, when I first took him in, he was on bottle feeding pretty much exclusively. Now, though, he gets all his nutrition from his kitty food. When he started his suckling habit, he would sometimes reject the bottle to get after my hand. Like, he would lick at the nipple of the bottle a little bit, then kind of swat it away and go after the obviously fleshy bits behind the bottle. Other times he would accept the bottle, but usually he’d only be interested in hand.
For the most part, he’s an adventurous and well-mannered little savage, with the foot attacking and the bizarre spurts of energy I expect from a kitten. But I’ve never had one this young before, and I’m worried about the suckling. First of all, he wants to do it all the time, and that obviously isn’t feasible. Also, sometimes he hurts the hell out of me and has to be put on the floor. Since he was taken from his mother so young, I’m a little concerned that the finger suckling isn’t him being a brat so much as it’s something he really needs. How common is this, and what’s the appropriate way to deal with it?
I rescued my cat from a shelter when he was an 8-week-old kitten. He’s 2 years old now and still suckles. I managed to get him to stop sucking on my clothes and hair by giving him a teddy bear. It’s now crusty with kitty spit because he spends about 20 minutes a day kneading it and suckling on the fur.
He’s none the worse for wear, still playful and vicious and loving, depending which personality is in control.
Heck, a few years ago my now-9-year-old dog Phyllis started “nursing” on whatever plush toy was available, about once every day or two that we’ve observed. She lies down, takes it in her mouth, kneads it with her paws a bit, then settles down with her eyes barely open and her mouth twitching ever so slightly. It’s so obviously a comfort thing, though normally she’s a pretty confident dog.
I don’t know much about cats, but I can hardly blame an abandoned kitty for wanting a substitute mommy. Can you get him to substitute something else for your hand? Maybe a tempting catnip toy?
Nope. I thought that would be a good approach, too, but he doesn’t like catnip (I’ve read that there is such a thing as too young for catnip sometimes), and stuffed animals/blankets/towels and the like don’t do it for him.
I agree with you, though – I’m definitely not looking for a way to force him to stop or anything. It’s just that it’s not feasible for him to get somebody’s hand to nurse on all the time, and like I said, sometimes he chews (do they do that to the poor mother?). I don’t want him to feel like he’s not being accepted, or punish him for what seems like pretty natural behavior; that’s why I’m wondering what the expert approach is to the situation.
Honestly, I think it’s kind of sweet, and I really don’t mind it when I’m just watching a baseball game or something. I’d like to understand what needs of his it’s filling or if it’s indicative of anything in particular, though, so that if there’s something else I can do for the little trouper I don’t screw it up.
Kittens do this to the mother as well. But the mother will only tolerate it so long then she gives them the old heave ho. So you may wanna be the mama cat and let him do it and then slowly give him the old “OK enough of this,” each time making it a little less.
I sometimes watch my neighbor’s dogs. One is an old man of 10 or 12 and the other is just over one year old. It’s funny to watch the young dog play with the old one. The old guy will only play so much then he makes it clear to the young pup “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.”
My cat suckled on my earlobes for an entire year! When I would get into bed at night, he would cozy up against my neck, suck on my earlobe and knead my neck with his pointy little claws. He would do this on and off all night, and shoving him away or covering my head with a pillow would not deter him. He eventually stopped doing this when he was a little over a year old. So, in my experience, your kitty will probably grow out of it.
It’s a comfort thing, like a little kid sucking his thumb. Only kitties ain’t got thumbs, so he’s using one of yours. Most of them outgrow it as they get older and more confident/comfortable, or at least learn to comfort themselves with something else. And just like kids giving up their thumbs, passies, and binkies, sometimes they need a little gentle discouragement. When you’ve had enough, or he’s getting too rough, set him in the floor and ignore him. If you want, give him something that smells like you that’s okay for him to suck and gnaw.
This may sound stupid (in fact, may be stupid for all I know), but how about a human pacifier for him to suck on along with a stuffed toy to knead and cuddle? The pacifier nipple can’t be bigger than your finger, and it might be equally satisfying. Than again, it could be that he wants to suckle you personally, because you’re now his mom.
Catnip generally has no effect on cats until they have reached sexual maturity (about 5 months for males, 9-10 months for females). And some cats, for some reason, don’t ever react to it at all.
My new kitten does this, and believe it or not, it’s our compromise. Given his druthers, he’d prefer the tip of my nose or my bottom lip.
My middle cat is about a year and a half old, and still occasionally does it, but he’s never been interested in skin, what he prefers is to curl up in my lap and suck on the sleeve of my shirt. We’ve worked it out so that he knows there are two specific shirts (pajama sweatshirts, FTR) he’s allowed to do this to. All my other clothes are off-limits. I’ve never seen him try to suckle anything else, unlike the kitten, who’ll go for a pillow if I’m not available.
Like DrDeth said, be careful what you let them suckle on, you don’t want them swallowing stray threads.
Hi Jimmy - the term you’re looking for is “wool sucking.” It’s common in cats that were weaned too early (as yours obviously was). I think the term maybe dates back to when people wore/used wool a lot more. Very analagous to a traumatized orphan sucking his thumb.
