Kneading and Suckling

[jennabug11]

My kitten is around 7 months old now. We adopted her from a shelter about 4-5 months ago. She was supposedly 12 weeks old when we took her home, but I beg to differ. I estimate she was only 8ish weeks old. She was significantly smaller than all the other kittens that were supposed to be the same age as her. 

She can be very snuggly and she always feels the need to knead and suckle on our super soft blankets when we have them on our laps. She doesn't do it if the blanket is by itself or if the blanket isn't soft..the blanket must be soft and it has to be on us. She will knead (which I've read most all cats do) but she also suckles like she's almost nursing. Is this normal? Is it because she was taken away from her mother too young? Should we stop this behavior? Or let her continue because she's bonding with us in a way? 

 

[Columbine]

Asha always goes through an intense knead/suckle routine when she gets on my lap. It's usually simply a sign that they were weaned too young. Some cats grow out of it, but others never do. It's absolutely nothing to worry about - and stopping her will only distress her. Enjoy it as a cute little quirk. It's definitely s sign of love and trust (imo anyway ).

 

[faeleen]

My 8 week old does this whenever she's sleepy. We call these making moo moo's. She also suckles on the blankets too. I think it's a sign of trust and a source of comfort. Both my other cats do this too, though not as much.

 

[lucentstreak]

Hugo is now 1.5 year old and has always knead, suckled and drooled on my t-shirts (only after I showered and am wearing said garment). They say it has to do with being weaned early but I don't know. All I can say is that I'm not sure if Hugo will ever outgrow that though he suckles less now.

 

[szumerspirit]

I am new to kittens and one of mine suckles alot because I had to hand nurse him since 3 wks old. When he started to leave hickies on me I became concerned. This may seem silly to cat pros (maybe not, I don't know lol) but I've been watching My Cat from Hell on APL and have learned an extraordinary amount about cats

One episode had a "licker" and Jackson Galaxy talked about boredom & anxiety. He recommended putting some safe hiding spaces aroubd and using a fishing cat toy on a string to distract him every time he started to lick. Over 6 wks the cat got to where he wouldn't even lick when they poured tuna juice on their toes when they brought out the toy

I tried this with Ghost and he has only suckled once in 2 wks! I only had to use the toy maybe 5 times before he stopped and made some just boxes out of cardboard that he runs thru while he plays. The one time he suckled since, I just let him and it hasn't recurred so now I feel comfortable that it's a loving reaction instead of a stressed reaction.

I hope this info helps !