Suckling behavior

[mrsjcross87]

Hey everyone! 

I have a question about trying to discourage suckling behavior in my 7.5 week old kitten, Luna.  I understand kittens display this behavior when they've been taken from mom too early (she was 6 weeks old when we "adopted" her from a lady giving kittens away in the Walmart parking lot).  I don't want her to bite off some fabric from the carpet and obstruct her intestinal tract, the thought terrifies me 

.  I don't want to punish her as I prefer positive reinforcement however if that's the only way, I'm willing to go that route to ensure her health and safety.  

Does anyone have any ideas or experience with this issue? I'm open to any and all suggestions.  Thanks in advance!!

 

[feralvr]

I have had a few kittens that began with this suckling behavior as well. It is fairly common. Most of these kittens/cats do not actually ingest what they suckle. For instance, I had a cat who never gave up this behavior throughout his life. He suckled on mostly fleece type material. It just gets very, very wet but they don't actually eat the material. I also had another kitten, my Presley, who is now four, that wanted to suckle on my neck up until he was almost a year of age. I would never recommend disciplining a kitten or cat for this behavior because in reality, you will make the issue become more of an obsession and cause them great stress. It is best to allow this suckling because most kittens will outgrow the tendency, desire or need. My Pipsqueak, a Siamese mix, never gave up his blanket sucking though. Presley did give up the neck suckling though by 10 months of age. If you want discourage your kitten a little bit, then distract your kitten with a toy or a treat. Still that will only be temporary and your kitten will go back to suckling when he feels the need for comfort/security. This has nothing to do with you, though, or that you are not giving your kitten enough comfort. It is truly caused from the kitten not being weaned fully or properly. http://www.ehow.com/about_6754244_suckling-behavior-cat.html

If your kitten is suckling/chewing carpeting then that would not be considered "suckling", IMO. It could be another problem/issue called "PICA". http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/unusual-cat-cravings So keep an eye on that as that is something more of a concern for their health.

A helpful TCS article on the subject: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/wool-sucking-cats