5 Month Old Kittens Wont Stop Nursing from Mom

swilson56

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Hi everyone. Last June I rescued a stray pregnant Tuxedo that I call Cassie. I brought her home with me & she had 6 healthy kittens that very same day! When the kittens were around 15 weeks old, I had Cassie spayed & the kittens spayed/neutered. 3 kittens went to their new homes, & 3 are still with me. The 3 that are still with me are STILL nursing off of Mom though. I'm not even sure if she is still producing milk but I'm assuming she must be since they keep going back. These kittens & Cassie are VERY well taken care of. There is no shortage of kitten food provided to them 3 times a day. How do I get them to stop?!?!
 

susanm9006

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You can get a onesie type outfit for mom cat to wear that doesn’t allow nursing so that her milk dries up.
 

Willowy

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It's fine. Unless she's distressed or they're injuring her there's no reason to stop them. She'll make them stop when she wants to. I kept a kitten from a pregnant stray I picked up and she let him nurse until he was almost a year old. . .and he was twice her size, lol.
 

Sarthur2

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Same experience as W Willowy with a pregnant stray I took in. She had 4 kittens. I kept mom and all 4 kittens. They nursed for close to a year, even after they and mom were spayed and neutered and in addition to tons of good food. It’s just what kittens who still have their mom do. She’ll let them know when she’s fed up and has had enough!
 

StanAndAlf

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Personally I would go with the onesie idea. Yes, they will stop eventually. But in the meantime, mumma cat will continually produce milk to keep up with the demand, which is rather hard on her body and completely unnecessary. It could even lead to severe deficiencies such as hypocalcemia which in turn can lead to osteoporosis and so on.

I think it is in the mother cat's best interest to stop the kittens feeding as soon as possible. Feral cats will often lead their kittens away and 'abandon' them in a fashion so they are forced to wean and fend for themselves. An indoor cat cannot do this.
 

Sarthur2

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Actually, mom’s milk dries up and they use her as a pacifier. She is probably already dried up or will be soon.
 

vince

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Personally I would go with the onesie idea. Yes, they will stop eventually. But in the meantime, mumma cat will continually produce milk to keep up with the demand, which is rather hard on her body and completely unnecessary. It could even lead to severe deficiencies such as hypocalcemia which in turn can lead to osteoporosis and so on.

I think it is in the mother cat's best interest to stop the kittens feeding as soon as possible. Feral cats will often lead their kittens away and 'abandon' them in a fashion so they are forced to wean and fend for themselves. An indoor cat cannot do this.
If you're going to allow her to continue nursing, it would be a good idea to give her some KMR to provide extra calcium. Others have suggested finely ground eggshells in her food or perhaps shavings from a cuttlebone for the same purpose (although I've never done that, primarily because I don't eat many eggs and don't have any pet birds).

We had a queen that allowed one of her kittens to nurse until he was somewhat over a year old. Always suckled on the same teat. She was funny looking with one big teat full of milk while the others were normal-sized. Mom started referring to her as "Tittycat!" We ultimately had to intervene, because it looked like she'd never dry up.
 

Willowy

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Even if a female continues to produce milk (they usually dry up, especially after they're spayed), I don't think her teenage babies using her for a pacifier will take that many nutrients from her body. If she still made milk, she would probably need slightly more food than a cat who isn't making milk, so you wouldn't want to restrict her intake, but it's not nearly as hard on her as when they're about 4 weeks old and she's their sole source of food, at least in my experience.

Stress from forcible weaning can cause issues, though, depending how freaked out everyone gets by it (this depends on the individual cats; some are chill but others will stress).
 
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