Help! My kitten won't stop nursing!!!

cubmom8

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My kitten is 15 weeks old. He does and can eat both hard and soft kitten food. He still nurses on Momma a lot too though. I figured she would stop him when it was time. She has never objected to it before so I haven't I interfered even though I found it a bit odd. Recently though I have noticed she is starting to lose weight. She isn't sickly thin but is thinning out more then I like. This leads me to believe it is becoming unhealthy.

Before I continue I want to share about the kitten (Fredio) a little. Mom only had him so he has no siblings. He was also her first kitten. He is a very rambunctious and sometimes (like most kittens) naughty. They aggressively play a lot. It freaked me out at first but after looking into it some I realized it was normal. There was never growling, hissing, and it wasn't always only one of them starting it. He has grown very quickly. Mom has always been on the petite side. He is almost the same size as her already. We didn't intend to keep him before she had him. When she only had one though and I saw how protective and loving she was with him I was concerned I would make her sad if we gave him away. She is my baby. We have always been extremely close. Sometimes I will just watch their interactions to try and get a read on how they are both doing. This is my first time having both a Mother cat and her kitten so it has been a learning experience.

Anyways... today I was watching them and he went to nurse. For the first time ever she hissed. She hissed and put her paw on his head to push him away. He continued to try. I try not to interfere so I waited she see what happened. After his 4th attempt she stopped trying to fight him and allowed him to. I waited a few seconds to see if she would walk away on her own. When she didn't I shooed him away and distracted him with a toy. It is the first time I have seen this but the way she just gave in makes me wonder if it hasn't happened before and I didn't see it. What should I do to get him to stop?

Another reason for him to stop is that my vet won't fix her until she isn't producing milk. She is an indoor cat but obviously she is capable of sneaking out so it needs to be taken care of.

One other thing.... I have had cats before and never had an issue with any of them as far as litter training. This is not the case with the baby. I can not get him to go in his box. I have to get that fixed asap. Any advice would help!
 

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cubmom8 cubmom8

Moms usually begin hissing, growling, and swatting when they no longer want to nurse. It sounds like mom is ready to wean her kitten. Since he is the only one, she should be mostly dried up by now anyway.

You should be able to schedule her spay surgery now, and his neuter surgery.

Neutering between 12-16 weeks is ideal, and mom needs to be spayed before she has any opportunity to "sneak" out.
 
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howmany

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Hi our mother cat had 5 , we still have four mom was spayed a few weeks ago and a vet tech was very negstive after the fact about letting kits still nurse but after 24 hours alone mom went back to nursing , it is funny but since say 9 weeks rarely will she nurse them all at once just on or two and she just gets up if they try to nurse very often now
 
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cubmom8

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Thank you for replying. I have already taken him in for his surgery. We actually just did it last week. I wanted to have them done at the same time but the vet refused her because she does still have milk.
I also think she is ready to wean him. My concern though is that she ends up giving in and letting him when he keeps trying and she is starting to feel like she is losing weight.
 
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cubmom8

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My vet was the same way when I went in. He looked at me like I was crazy and asked why he was still nursing. To which I replied I have no idea and that is why I am asking you about it. He never ended up telling me any ideas on fixing it. He only told me he is to old and she should wean him and to bring her back when she has. They were separated for his surgery recovery and i thought that would do the trick but the minute they were back together he was nursing. While seperating them is a good idea it isn't always do able. I did attemp it though. We had Mom upstairs and baby down. The sat at each side of the door and whined all day. I also worry about either of them being left downstairs. It is a finished basement and nice but is rarely used and I dont want either of them to feel abandoned down there. We have 5 kids and the cats are very much people cats. They sleep with us, play, and just in general hang out oround some 3/4 of every day. Idk
 

Sarthur2

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Mom should be dried up enough to be spayed now. She can't possibly have much milk left. The vet should be able to perform the surgery any day now. I'm glad the little guy is neutered! [emoji]128077[/emoji]
 

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When I was a kid, we had a lot of cats and kittens.  My mom was terrified of snakes and rodents and let us adopt all the strays we could find and let them have kittens and was fine with taking care of them all as long as they kept the riffrarff out.  It worked.  We never had a single mouse or snake anywhere near our property.  We had one mama cat named Blackie.  She was the best mama cat I've ever seen.  One year, she had 7 kittens.  In the next couple of weeks, two people contacted us asking if we had a nursing mama who would take an orphaned kitten.  So, we gave Blackie the two little ones and she treated them like her own.  When they were 6 months old, she was still nursing them.  They were eating solid food with no problem, but she still let them nurse whenever the wanted.  We couldn't get her to stop.  She was half Siamese, so she had a slim build anyway.  She kept getting thinner and thinner and her teats started getting raw and really sore.  We ended up taking her inside until her milk dried up.  You might have to separate mama from baby.  We had a lot of land so we could let the cats roam outside all they wanted.  Do you have a friend who could babysit one of them for a couple of weeks?
 

Alicia88

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As far as litter training, I have no idea what to tell you.  I've never had to train a cat.  Their natural instinct is to dig, squat, and bury.  Even when people brought us strays to care for (we always kept the new ones inside for a while until they got used to the place so they wouldn't run off), we just showed them where the litter box was and they used it.
 
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cubmom8

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If she was dried up it would already have been done. Thank you for the concern though. My question had to do with how to get him to stop nursing so I could get her fixed. Who knows though maybe my vet is wrong and the milk I can see come out is imaginary. Your input definitely helped me take care of my issue though!
 

Alicia88

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It's been so long, I can't remember how long it took her to dry up, but I breastfed 3 kids and it was different for me with each of them so who know?  Maybe it's the same with cats.
 

Sarthur2

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The choice is to wait until mom weans the kitten off her completely, or separate them completely. You've indicated that is next to impossible. I know of no other way to get a kitten to stop nursing.

Many vets will spay moms who are not completely dried up. It is not that difficult to spay in between the mammary glands. Many cats are spayed at 6 or 8 weeks.
 
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howmany

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Our mumma cat is a frist time mom she was 6 pounds and slim before kittens and was painfully thin after birth and actully managed to gain weight while nursing six wet meals before babies started theirs lots of kitten dry fod and plain chicken or salmon regularly too then three with kits . Are she and her boy eating enough?
This is a tad personal but I have nursed my kids into pre-school years and what most doctors know about breadtfeding is very littel I am guessing so vets are the same. It is ture for many women that a sugnifacat amout of milk stops being produced over time weather the child latches on and suckled or not and all animals eventually ween. Differant vet an option, I juggel two price and options vs dictsnce & kindness
 

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There is no doubt she could be spayed now, but the kitten could even keep nursing afterwards - that happens when momcats are spayed at 6 weeks after birth. Sometimes this is behavioural and continues long after there is no milk. It is a comfort thing. I would try and play a lot with the kitten, cuddle him and give him a lot of reassurance that comfort does not just come from his mother. I had a horse foal who would rush to his mother and nurse if he was frightened even at two years of age!
 

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Yeah...no. To anyone saying to just let the mom wean on her own? She won't. I knew someone & their momma cat nursed until they were 4 MONTHS old & she finally had to separate them. I have one, that I want to spay (she was a pregnant stray that came up & we kept her to help her out), but she will not wean them. They are almost 9 weeks old & we have to keep them apart for 2 weeks. Which I hate. But she will even shove her stomach, in their faces, to get them to nurse. Vet will NOT spay until her milk is dried up completely.
 
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