# 4 month old kitten with sucking behavior



## Simba'smomma (Dec 13, 2014)

Our new addition is sucking on blankets, our clothes while we are wearing them, toys...why is he doing this and how can we get him to stop? He will do it for hours. Our other cat when he was a kitten never did it. Help!


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## LakotaWolf (Aug 10, 2012)

This is a suckling/nursing behavior. I've heard it can happen when a cat is weaned too early/taken from its mother early.

Cat Behavior | Wool Sucking Explained

This thread offers some tactics to try to reduce the behavior, but it also sounds like many cats will simply outgrow it.


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## Nuliajuk (Oct 25, 2014)

I had one that did it her whole life (lived to 14). She'd suck on my tee shirts, up by the left armpit, usually.
She was 3 months old when I got her, but I always suspected that she'd been taken from her mother at much too young an age and dumped at the SPCA a month or two later. Maybe you can give him one particular thing to suck on?


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

MowMow is 12 and still does this, not on fabric but on my earlobe. He gets DESPERATE for a fix, especially when he's sick or scared. 

It's gross and icky so he doesn't get his way often, but it's something I've never been able to completely break him of.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

It's a byproduct of being taken away from mom too soon. Usually kittens really benefit from being with mom and other siblings until age 3 months and if deprived of suckling too soon they may do it as an ingrained behavior the rest of their lives. My Phoebe does this just before she goes to sleep - like sucking a thumb in a baby. He may outgrow it but may not.


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## Nas (Oct 24, 2015)

I had the same problem, my new cat kept sucking on a wool blanket.

I just removed the blanket. Problem solved.


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

It's not an uncommon behaviour and usually does relate to the weaning process but I had one who I know was weaned quite late who still had the same problem. At least it's generally harmless.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

My new Devon kitty "Fitty" who's 6 mos old has been sucking, not on any material, but on his _own teats_. :roll: He wasn't weaned early, I got him at 4 mos. old, a well socialized, outgoing, friendly kitty, eats a good canned diet, and doesn't suffer from separation anxiety, since I am home most of the time. He's not under any stress. I did have a cat some years ago that used to suck on a blanket, and another that would suck on another cat's teats if tolerated. I think Fitty sucks to self-soothe himself as he seems to do it just before he falls asleep. He curls into my arm and then starts sucking. I'm hoping he will outgrow it. Yes, I think it's equivalent to a child sucking a thumb. I don't really discourage it or encourage it, as he isn't doing any harm to himself, not aggravating the nipples and making them sore, otherwise, I would try and prevent him from doing so by making him wear a cat T-shirt.


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## Simba'smomma (Dec 13, 2014)

Thank you all for your replies. He was adopted from the Humane Society 3 weeks ago. His mom was a pregnant feral cat and had her kittens at the Humane Society. It makes me wonder if they took him away from his mother to early. I am trying to help him break it but it's not working yet.


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