Kitten Licking and Nibbling the Tip of her Tail

AceCard Jones

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone here has any experience of this. Our 15 week old kitten has been licking and sometimes nibbling at the very tip of her tail. It doesn't seem like she's in pain when she does it (in fact she is often purring when doing it, and relaxing before sleep). On inspection we can't find any marks on her tail, touching her tail doesn't get a reaction etc. We also have her sister (same litter) who doesn't do anything like this at all. They are both indoor cats, neither have fleas or ticks and have no way of getting any either.

We're not really sure what to do about it: we have been persuading her to stop but not sure if it's necessary. We just don't want it to become a problem if that would be possible.

So any advice? Anyone have any ideas why she would be doing that? Is it something we should keep an eye on and continue to try to dissuade her from doing? Or is it harmless behaviour?

boomerang

Sounds to me like suckling behaviour, which they do to comfort themselves. It's pretty common in kittens that were separated from mum too early. They generally grow out of it.

anniehoo

+1 for suckling. A lot of kittens do this as a comforter...kind of like kids sucking their thumbs. As long as shes not creating hair loss or making it sore i wouldnt worry about it.

AceCard Jones

Thanks for the responses.:)

They were taken from their mother at 8 weeks as we knew taking them earlier could cause behaviour problems, and it has really only started in the last two weeks (maybe slightly longer, at most last three weeks).

So would that still indicate suckling? Just want to make sure it's nothing serious!

uppishhauk

sometimes when a cat is grooming it does a kind of biting/nibbling thing on its coat on areas where the hairs may be stuck together etc this natural part of grooming, then again it may just be a residual suckling instinct like stated above.
either way if there is no sign of injury or discomfort then I'd say its nothing to worry about just keep an eye out for any marks or hair loss to the tip but overall nothing to worry about:)

anniehoo

AceCard Jones wrote: »

So would that still indicate suckling? Just want to make sure it's nothing serious!

Yep!My dog did it for the whole 14 yrs she was alive...cushion sucking.It was her comfort blanket and it did no harm. She never grew out of it, some do, some dont...no harm either way.