[noladeb]

Good morning all,

I am a new mom to 2 male kitten brothers- Toby and Hats. They were found outside of a building and rescued, and we adopted them in December. They are approximately 10 weeks old.

Toby is what I call the "bruiser" of the two - he's always exploring, running, jumping, etc. and shows no fear.

Hats is more timid and not as agile.. but whatever Toby does, he will do about 2 minutes later The kittens seem to do everything together.

I've noticed at night that Toby starts to suckle on Hats... he really gets "all in there" and just goes to town. Hats' belly will be soaking wet even. It bothers me as I've never seen this behavior, especially in male cats - is this common? What can I do- or should do - to redirect Toby from doing this at night.. for hours? They are happy, they purr and such.. but it kind of grosses me out. No matter what I do to try and stop it - Toby just goes right back to Hats and suckles him again. I'd almost rather him get attached to a blanket rather than doing it on the other male kitten, but so far nothing has seemed to work.

Any advice or thoughts ?

 

[catloverami]

You got your kittens a little early, 12 wks. would have been better, but this is normal behaviour (especially for males....I always found they want to suck longer than females). As long as Hats isn't complaining or getting sore from Toby's sharp little teeth, I wouldn't worry about it. But, if there is any redness or skin breaks from the sucking, I would put something on Hats, like a sock cut to proper length, that fits snug enough that Toby can't slide it up, to prevent the sucking.

 

[BotanyBlack]

Suckling and kneading are common in kitten that are removed from their mom early. It is a comforting behavior and really shouldn't be dissuaded. Like what was said before as long as there is no complaints, soreness, or broken skin it is ok to let go.

If it really bothers you, you can try to switch the behavior to a towel or baby blanket. (some seem to prefer plush type fabrics). MOST cats grow out of the behavior, but some keep it for a lifetime usually on a blanket or their owners though sinc their owner is seen as mom (regardless of male or female)