Really need some help - desperate!!! :(

[han_bee]

Hello everyone,

Been a while since I was here!! But yeah, I have a really bad problem with the cats at the moment

We got a new kitten, beautiful boy, named Leo (ginger and white) at 9 weeks of age. He came into our home and didn't seem weaned. I contacted his previous owners and they said to try him on biscuits (which he did eat a little of). I gave him kitten milk as well which he seemed to enjoy.
Then, to our surprise, our 8 month old tortie female called Poppy seemed to start mothering him. It began with her answering his meows and she would go up to him and meow with him and making a purping sound (if you know what I mean!). She then started to try and pick him up at the scruff and would move him to a bed in my room.

Then, he started suckling on her

and to start with, we thought it was a beautiful bond and it was really sweet. We searched it online and apparently it is popular and known as 'dry nursing'. However, nearly 3 weeks on, he is still doing it, and her nipple is EXTREMELY sore. He seems to have one in particular that he always goes to. Seriously, I have no idea why she still lets him do it. Her nipple is really enlarged, red and VERY sore. I can't even explain how horrible it looks, it even looks like it bleeds sometimes.

We try and seperate them as much as we can, but we don't want to do further damage to her nipple by tugging at it, and we can't watch them all the time. He does not need to be doing it anymore, at first it was a comfort thing, now it is just silly.

Can anyone please give me any advice? I would really appreciate it, i'm at the end of my tether now and considering re-homing him to get rid of the problem, which I really don't want to have to do

Please help me

 

[momof3rugratz]

Well hun maybe you should put him in a different room when you can not supervise so she does heal up and give him a treat when you see him leave her alone. When he goes to the nipple again gently take him away promtly tell him no and put him in separate area. She needs to get better.. He needs to learn he is old enough to step away and explore.. Mom cant always be there. So to speak

 

[catsallaround]

Could you wrap the "foster mom" with ace bandage or something? I have had this happen a few times but the kittens all stopped on own before hurting the adult except 2 who got milk(on a spayed never preg cat

)

I would ask vet for something safe to put on to help it heal and tell vet that kitten may get it to be sure its safe. Not sure if its available but there are creams that are anti pain/antilick made just for cats/dogs. a dab just on the nipple may help them both

 

[callista]

Petroleum jelly is good for sore spots like that, and safe if the cat ingests it. Might be a good thing to help her heal. I guess you'll have to separate them for a while--the kitten is weaned, so it won't hurt them beyond probably upsetting them a bit.

 

[han_bee]

It's just so horrible for her, because she just lets him do it but my god it must be hurting her!!! Every time I catch them do it I try and seperate them as carefully as I can without tugging her nipple.

catsallaround, what is ace bandage? Not sure i've heard of that before haha.
Thanks for all your comments everyone

most appreciated!! x