Kitten still drinking from his mother

magnumlady

Thats fine I hear you all say, but he is 6 months old and now bigger then his mum!! He's getting loads to eat and proper cat milk so I'm amazed he's still hassling his mum.
She doesn't seem bothered but I'm wondering if it should be going on for so long and he has a big blister in his mouth from suckling.
Anything I should do? I can't keep them apart as they hang around together.
The daft kitten even tried to get milk out of our big male tom cat!:eek:

Joseph

Hmm, try weening him off it. I.e. when he goes to drink - you catch him in the act. Scald him (chastise) and seperate them for say 10-15 minutes.

Rince and repeat this, then slowly introduce a reward scheme. For instance half a dish of cat milk (which I beleive isn't great for cats?) as a treat, or maybe some cat nip?

magnumlady

Thanks I will try that, hopefully it'll work.

Nala

We used to have wild strays in our garden that would have kittens, often the kittens from a mother's first litter would suckle with her kittens from her 2nd litter! Maybe they just like the taste. The blister might be because his mouth is too big for suckling?

AntiVirus

[QUOTE=Deaddude;54272810 For instance half a dish of cat milk (which I beleive isn't great for cats?) as a treat[/QUOTE]

Just out of curiosity whats wrong with Cat Milk?

Our man in Havana

I have a cat that will suckle my dogs - all my animals are spayed & neutered so I think its just a comfort thing.

comongethappy

Cow's milk is bad for cats as it has lactose and most cats are lactose intolorant. But the cat milk you get from shops should be okay as the lactose is greatly reduced. I give it to my two and they have no problems. Still, always keep fresh water available too!

magnumlady

I always give my cats water and cats milk, I was surprised when someone said it wasn't good for them.
I know cows milk is bad.
I'm sure the comfort thing is right, too bad they don't sell cat soothers!!:D

AntiVirus

I know that cows milk is bad but its the first time I've heard Cats Milk is bad. I always have a bowl of fresh water there for them and they only get the cats milk for breakfast!

deman

Deaddude wrote: »

Hmm, try weening him off it. I.e. when he goes to drink - you catch him in the act. Scald him (chastise) and seperate them for say 10-15 minutes.

Throwing a kettleful of boiling water is a bit harsh, isn't it? :eek:

When I was young and living at home on the farm, we always had farm cats running around. This happened from time to time. I personally think it's a comfort thing. As you say, the kitten's not hungry. He'll grow out of it in his own time or when the mother gets fed up with it.

Ruu_Old

We foster cats and have had one who is always suckling at his litter buddy (tom cat) but it is a comfort thing. Another kitten was taken away from his mother too soon and we had a hell of a time making sure he would eat regular food. We had to give him powdered milk for a bit and then after a while just put a bit of the powder into his canned food, eventually stopped putting the powder in.