New Member

Posts: 1
From:Brisbane, Qld, Australia
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-25-2004 07:19 PM         

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My kitten, Sally, gets plenty of pats and affection. About 3 weeks ago she started sucking on my clothes. I thought at first she was trying to groom me, but she will suck anything that has my scent (such as the clothes I'm wearing, clothes in the washbasket, my sheets, where I sit). The sucking is to such an extent that she leaves wet marks. With such hot weather lately (in high 30c) I am concerned that she might dehydrate. Why is she doing this? How can I break the habit?

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Member

Posts: 107
From:fort myers, fl. usa
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-25-2004 08:27 PM         

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my 3 kittens that i have bottle fed since they were 3 days old only 1 of the kittens w/ suck (nurse) on me or my clothes etc.... im not sure why he does it i guess b/c i have nursed him when he was a baby but none of my other cats do it... i dont care for him trying to nurse on me i let him suck on my hand now since he got hit by a car and is getting babied but any other time i never let him.. so them he started sucking on one of the pillows on my bed so now that is what he will suck on instead of me or my clothes etc.... so mabe try and give him something that has ur sent on it and when he/she tries to suck on u give him the pillow or whatever u choose instead and eventually he will turn to that... my mother in law also has a cat that nurses on his pillow.. he was never bottle fed but was broke off of his mom to early.. my cat garfield and her cat both drool really bad when they do it... i have read many things on thsi issue and the main 2 reasons that i keep seeing over and over again is they do it 1. b/c they have been bottle fed hand raised whatever u wanna call it and 2 they were broke from their mom to soon.. which all in all it pretty much is the same reason boke down in 2 if u think bout it...thats the only thing i can think of 4 u to try maye someone else will post something more helpful.... good luck!!!

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Posts: 701
From:CA
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 02-25-2004 09:41 PM         

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Hello. Is she also kneading the clothes with her front paws? If so this is very normal behavior. Kittens did this to their mother when they were nursing on her. They knead their paws on their mothers 'stomache' to help push out the milk. This behavior is often seen with kittens/cats that have been taken away from their mother at too young of an age. However, it is also seen in cats that have had plenty of time to be raised with their mother. It's also a comfort thing.

If it's really bothering you I suppose you could let her have her very own blanket or clothing article. Basically, anytime she begins to do this on something you could bring her that article and let her knead and slobber away on it. One of my parents cats has this big stuffed animal just for him to knead on.

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