# HELP!!!! How do I get my new kitten to stop sucking?



## Winnie (Jul 7, 2005)

He keeps sucking on things like he is trying to get milk from his mom. We just got him yesterday and my mom says if he keeps doing it we will have to return him. He is around 8 weeks old and was dropped off at my vets house, so the vet gave him to us. He must have been weaned too early. How do I get him to quit?


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## Snowball2 (May 18, 2005)

He's probably just stressed from the move. We got my new kitten when he was 20 weeks old and he did it at first, too. Try distracting him with a game or a treat when he starts doing it. Once he gets comfortable in your house, he will probably stop.


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## Lisa 216 (Oct 25, 2004)

This is completely normal behavior. My kitten is 11 months old and just stopped doing this recently.

I'm wondering why your mom is upset about it. Is the kitten destroying things in your home by sucking on them? Is there something that the cat can safely suck on that you can give him?

As Snowball suggests, the kitten is likely stressed from all the disruptions in his life -- new home, separation from mother cat, etc. Try to keep things quiet for the kitten, perhaps by confining him to one or two rooms and gradually letting him get used to the whole house.

Also, be sure to stick with whatever food he was eating before you got him. After he's adjusted to your home, you can slowly switch his food if you wish by gradually mixing the new food into the old.


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## Winnie (Jul 7, 2005)

My mom just doesn't want him to be one of those cats who always suck. She says she used to have a cat like that and it sucked on EVERYTHING. The cat wasn't young either and still did it. It would jump on top of my brother when he was a baby and suck on him, so she finally had to get rid of it. I don't want my new kitten to turn out like that. Thanks for the advise, I guess since he doesn't suck a WHOLE lot, that it may stop.


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## ChiliBean (Jun 17, 2005)

*You need to*

let your mother know that the suckling is perfectly normal the kitten will outgrow it


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## RockysMom (Jun 27, 2005)

My 14 yr old cat still does this! She is still such a baby sometimes. If I have a blanket on my lap she will suck on the blanket and kneed it with her paws. She has always done this. Her mother had gotten killed and she was so small when we got her that we were bottle feeding her. I think she thinks I'm her mother. But she only does this with blankets or robes. And she really doesn't seem to be sucking hard just enough to wet the product. I think it is comforting to them. If you want the kitten to stop this I was just divert her attention every time she does it. She is still so young though I'd let her be.


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## Adrienne (Jan 15, 2005)

Winnie said:


> My mom just doesn't want him to be one of those cats who always suck. She says she used to have a cat like that and it sucked on EVERYTHING. The cat wasn't young either and still did it. It would jump on top of my brother when he was a baby and suck on him, so she finally had to get rid of it. I don't want my new kitten to turn out like that. Thanks for the advise, I guess since he doesn't suck a WHOLE lot, that it may stop.


That is just part of having a cat. She will probably just have to deal w/ it.


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

Why is this such a problem? A lot of kittens suck on things. My 9 mo. old was always wanting to suck on my ears! He's just grown out of it. But I had another cat who liked to suck on T- shirts his whole life. I just gave him one of my old ones and it became his 'suck shirt'. I had to make sure I brought it to bed every night or he'd want to suck on me. If he started I'd just give him his shirt and he'd happily suck away. 
Most likely your kitten will grow out of it but even if he doesn't it's part of having a cat. Especially a kitten! And espesially, espesially a kitten that's stressed and in a new environment! I think he needs lots of love and reasurence and let him suck if it gives him comfort.


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## RockysMom (Jun 27, 2005)

nanook - I love that, a "suck shirt"! Great idea.


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## JerodB (Feb 15, 2005)

i have twin brother cats at my moms house and one of them would always do it since we got em, even after a couple years, but the other one grew out of it right away, and eventually so did the other one, but it took a really long time. Key is just to persuade him not to do it.


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