Kittens sucking on blanket

[Snickers]

I bottle fed 2 kittens when they were 1 week old. They were born April 9th. The question I have is that 3 weeks ago they started to paw and suck on this blanket. Has anyone that bottle fed kittens had this problem?

I have older cats that are 11 yrs old now I got them before they made it inside the animal shelter I don't remember them doing this.

 

[saphire]

Kittens that have not been weaned properly generally do paw and suck on blankets, sometimes while you are lying down, they may do it on you flanelle shirts. Paw and suck

 

[alli713]

We once had a cat who was taken away from his mom too early as he was a stray. He would knead and suck on fuzzy things like robes or stuffed animals. And he continued to do this even when he was older.

 

[Snickers]

So I guess I didn't weaned these 2 correctly then. They were off the bottle at 7 weeks. They didn't do this for about 3 weeks after that. It just seemed when they received their 1st set of shots and worming they started this that day. Is there a way to break them of this?

 

[Brightstarchins]

Nan, I don`t think it`s that you did not wean them correctly, it`s because they did not have their mom to nurse on. I had a kitten that did that after loosing her mom when she was three weeks old. She was alos still doing it years later.

Claudia

 

[alli713]

I agree, I don't think you did anything wrong. I think maybe just the traumatic experience of loosing their mom too soon causes them to do this. It's probably a comfort thing.

Not sure if you can ever stop them, ours did it for as long as he lived I believe. And it didn't bother us.

 

[eroomlorac]

Yes, I have had cats and even one dog that would suck on blankets. It didn't bother me at all. In fact, it was kind of cute how dreamy eyed they'd get when they sucked and knead their paws. Yes, I know it meant they were not weaned properly but I don't think it's harmful for them to suck. My cats and one dog did it all their lives. And when they'd stop sucking, the blanket appeared to have been deep in their mouths, just like a bottle nipple and all wet and yucky. I had also gotten those kittens at 7 weeks and the dog was a shelter dog so I have no idea of how he was weaned.

 

[tristanichole]

This is NOT a sign that the kitten wasn't properly weaned by you...you didn't do anything wrong.
Typically this doesn't come about in kittens that were weaned by the mother; you'll most often see this in kittens that were abandoned or didn't have a mother to nurse them.
This is a comforting behavior for this cat - that's all it is.

2 of my cats were bottle babies and they didn't do this after I weaned them. I had them since 4 weeks.

All 7 of my foster kittens were rejected by their mother at around 4 weeks old. Only one of them continued the bottle while with me; the others went right to mush food. Some of them nurse blankets (one fuzzy one in particular) and some of them actually nurse on each others' stomachs. I try to get them to go to the blanket if they are feeling that urge instead of the stomachs of each other because I don't want them to get raw...but no one seems to mind when another one does it. Some of them try to still nurse on my lip or nose or ears as well...and they are all around 9-10 weeks now.

Don't ever scold a kitten or cat for doing this, they just get in the zone and start doing it to comfort themselves. If the kitten is doing this on something you don't want it to, just pick it up and either distract it with some cuddles and petting or give it a designated blanket that it can do that on. Maybe even a stuffed animal...something that is fuzzy like a cat. If you designate it to just that blanket it will probably JUST use that blanket.

 

[eroomlorac]

I never scolded my animals for sucking on blankets. I thought it was rather cute.

 

[mercynursie]

My bottle raised babies didn't do this after about one month post weaning.My adopted kitty(mom evac from Katrina/new orleans gave birth to litter at the foster shelter)suckled on me!!! Ears,neck,nose were all targets.She outgrew it in a few months,so I thought.She has grown into a 22lb Maine Coon kitty and just sunday morning I woke up with these funny little spots on my chest and in the creases of my neck rolls(yup I'm fluffy too).Didn't think much more about that day,but when I laid down for my fav sunday after church nap the little beastie gave me a repeat performance. Oh Great!!!Now I realize that those spots are cat hickies!!!!! I can only hope to wean her to a blanket or stuffed animal before my hubby starts wondering????

 

[eroomlorac]

Oh, mygod. Too funny. My sister had a cat that used to nurse on her ear lobe. It was funny.

 

[Snickers]

Thanks for the information. I never scold my animals never had since I was small. My dad used to preach that to us. They only suck on this 1 blanket. If I'm sitting next to them and they are doing it I just usually hold them and rub them.

Once again thanks for the info!