Is this normal, do I need to be concerned? Late nursing

Do I need to be concerned that the mama cat has not weaned her 11 week old kittens yet? She will call them together at night and lay there for them to suckle for about 15 minutes before getting up. I have noticed that she will let them suckle during the day for quick spurts but she does not call them. As a night owl I have only recently noticed this 'calling' pattern.

Any of this normal? Do I need to do anything?

TIA for all the help,
scubakitty

Originally Posted by scubakitty

Do I need to be concerned that the mama cat has not weaned her 11 week old kittens yet? She will call them together at night and lay there for them to suckle for about 15 minutes before getting up. I have noticed that she will let them suckle during the day for quick spurts but she does not call them. As a night owl I have only recently noticed this 'calling' pattern.

Any of this normal? Do I need to do anything?

TIA for all the help,
scubakitty

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If they are eating solid food and only going to mom for an occational suckle....and if you are planning to have mom spayed and are keeping her indoors only, then I don't see a problem with it. You may however want to speak to your vet if you have scheduled her spay for a certain date to ensure that they will spay her if she is still occationally nursing.

Katie

I am having sort of the same problem. Mine are 12 weeks and still nurse from time to time. There are times that mom pushes them away but other times where she seems to enjoy the attention and will let them nurse.
My clinic will not spay until 2 weeks with NO nursing at all so I am at the point that I may have to cage her (which I don't want to do) because it is impossible to keep them totally seperate.

I have a 3 year old female cat that is spayed and two weeks ago I got a male kitten about 4.5 to 5 weeks old so hes about 7 weeks now. He was neutered when he was 2lbs. Yesterday, I caught him nursing from my female spayed cat. He has been eating solid food for about 3 weeks now. Is this normal for him to be trying to nurse from my spayed cat? I assume there is no milk and he is just trying to nurse but she doesn't seem to mind.

Nope, its normal if the kittens hang around long enough. I'm sure they are not really getting milk - its more of a "comfort" thing. My rex kittens "nursed" till 10-12 weeks old if mom let them.

Originally Posted by JackieT387

I have a 3 year old female cat that is spayed and two weeks ago I got a male kitten about 4.5 to 5 weeks old so hes about 7 weeks now. He was neutered when he was 2lbs. Yesterday, I caught him nursing from my female spayed cat. He has been eating solid food for about 3 weeks now. Is this normal for him to be trying to nurse from my spayed cat? I assume there is no milk and he is just trying to nurse but she doesn't seem to mind.

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Jackie...yes, it's natural..and as long as she doesn't mind...that should be ok. So your boy was already fixed?? Wow....he must have been a pretty big kitten.

Katie

Originally Posted by JackieT387

I have a 3 year old female cat that is spayed and two weeks ago I got a male kitten about 4.5 to 5 weeks old so hes about 7 weeks now. He was neutered when he was 2lbs. Yesterday, I caught him nursing from my female spayed cat. He has been eating solid food for about 3 weeks now. Is this normal for him to be trying to nurse from my spayed cat? I assume there is no milk and he is just trying to nurse but she doesn't seem to mind.

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That will happen to a kitten who left his mom way too young. He may continue that thru adulthood even just because he didn't nurse long enough. Or he may grow out of it. Right now, if your female doesn't mind and he isn't irritating her skin in that area then I would let him do it.

Originally Posted by TNR1

Jackie...yes, it's natural..and as long as she doesn't mind...that should be ok. So your boy was already fixed?? Wow....he must have been a pretty big kitten.

Katie

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Thanks for the reply! I just got him 2 weekends ago and he was fixed a couple of days before that. He had to be 2lbs to be neutered. I thought the vets usually go by age but I'm not sure. However, he isn't a big kitten surprisingly...I got my female when she was about 6 weeks and she was around 3lbs so that is what I think he is at now. The person I got him from fosters kittens and she brings the whole litter and mother in all at once to get fixed. I guess that vet fixes them by weight instead age. He goes next week to my vet for his vaccinations. All in all besides my concern about him nursing he is a giant ball of energy!!