Weaning

[Beazly]

Hopefully this is the right place for this - we have two kittens just under 5 months old now that have recently started nursing again. Their mom was spayed when the litter was around 8 weeks and I haven’t noticed before yesterday any suckling action so I’m fairly confident this is new behavior. I spend a lot of time with these cats so I’m pretty sure I would have noticed. Mama cat doesn’t seem to mind at all and is happily licking their heads while they nurse.
Questions. What the heck? Why? Is she still capable of producing milk after spaying (I thought no)? Should I actively try to stop them? Again, mama cat seems fine and is perfectly willing to share her thoughts and dislikes pretty regularly. The boys are soon due for neutering and have their shots and such so they aren’t sick but it’s just...odd that they would return to nursing at this point. Obviously I am
not well versed in kitten behavior and this may be a totally normal thing but I figured I’d check because, again, odd.

 

[Willowy]

Don't worry about it unless the mom is being hurt in some way (chapped nipples, etc.). She'll make them quit when she wants to. She probably doesn't have milk; they're just suckling for comfort.

I once kept a boy from a litter out of a pregnant stray I picked up. She let him nurse until he was almost a year old, even though he was more than twice her weight, lol. He especially wanted comfort after being neutered, so your boys probably will too.

The mama would be raising another litter right about now if she wasn't spayed so she's probably feeling a little extra maternal. Or she just likes the snuggling now that it's getting colder.

 

[Beazly]

Don't worry about it unless the mom is being hurt in some way (chapped nipples, etc.). She'll make them quit when she wants to. She probably doesn't have milk; they're just suckling for comfort.

I once kept a boy from a litter out of a pregnant stray I picked up. She let him nurse until he was almost a year old, even though he was more than twice her weight, lol. He especially wanted comfort after being neutered, so your boys probably will too.

The mama would be raising another litter right about now if she wasn't spayed so she's probably feeling a little extra maternal. Or she just likes the snuggling now that it's getting colder.

Thank you for this - I’m glad to hear that it’s not that unusual. Also good to know about the neutering. Maybe they set their internal alarms at the last vet appointment and know what’s coming up. I’ll keep an eye out to make sure she doesn’t seem affected. I can’t help but project my own experience with a toddler who refused to wean and feel sorry for her but again - she’s not afraid to show you exactly how she feels about anything else so this probably isn’t any different.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree! My kittens (who are 5 now) nursed their mom for almost a year also.