My mates kitten was the runt of the litter and now - at about 6months she still; constantly tries to suckle herself and her brother - to the stage that she has given herself a bald patch and keeps making her nipples bleed. Does anyone know if this is normal and how to stop it?

Thanks

I don't know whether this is the same thing, but my sister's cat, Jake, has always sucked his paw.

The only "cure" I can think of, is to give the cat something else to suckle - a blanket or a soft toy.

they tend to like your t-shirts too - wear one and let them feed off you - it gets soaked - my cat is now nearly a year old and is still at it...

I just remembered, Jake's sister, Misty, who lives with another of my sisters, formed an attachment to my sister's male labrador, and has always tried to suckle around his tummy area (luckily:wink: ). He, being a big softie, lets her do it. Misty quite often sleeps in his bed, and he won't attempt to move her, unlike my sister's other cat, and he tries to squeeze into the small space that she has left.

Do you reckon she would take to something else easily as she is doing it quite obsessively now?

Get some dried catnip or catnip powder from a pet shop, and sprinkle that on whatever you intend to use.

Quite a lot of young cats do this. However, if the kitten is causing some damage to herself, your mate needs to distract her from suckling on herself and direct her to something else as soon as possible, as she might end up with an infection.

Provide the kitten with a lovely soft place to sleep with a soft blanket somewhere nice and warm. Preferably make sure that the blanket doesn't shed lots of fibres. Keep a close eye on the kitten, and the minute she starts to suckle on herself, distract her and put her close to the soft blanket.

I know it's difficult to keep a close eye on her all the time, but it's really important to distract her as soon as you can, as often as you can, so she directs her suckling habit onto something else.

Thanks for the advice will definately try it - it's getting quite disturbing the way she's doing it!

Have you thought of giving her a lovely snuggly soft toy to cuddle up with- we have a supply of big teddies and the like for kittens by themselves who thrive better if they don't get lonely. Most of them suckle the teddy after it smells right, so rub the teddy's tummy with your little one's (and her brother's) scent and distract her the best you can. Hopefully she'll grow out of the worst of it.

Things that are made of pure wool seem to attract kittens more than man made fibres, but some cats just enjoy doing it and will do it their whole lives. My cat Merlin's 14 this year, but she has always loved suckling your left elbow when coming for a cuddle- not the right though, must be the left, and she has to lie on her right hand side.

That was a great idea! I got her a big stuffed polar bear (although it was black so I supposed it wasn't a polar bear) and rubbed it over the kittens and their bed and tucked it up with her. She snuggled up with it all evening and they had a little wrestle too. Aww bless.

Thanks for the advice!

That's great to hear- if she bonds really well you'll just have to be careful not to wash it too well- or she'll not recognise it as hers.

Hope it makes her happy.