Kitty's trying to nurse on herself!

No kidding! I've heard of cats sucking wool and sucking their own fur, but this is the first time I've seen a cat trying to nurse on her own nipples!

Baby Girl is a DSH rescue. She came from a neglectful owner, and I was told she had been taken away from her mom too soon. She's pretty insecure, generally--I think she learned she couldn't depend on anybody when she lived with her last set of owners. Very loving, though. She'll cuddle up to anybody.

Anyway, lately she's been getting into my lap and curling up, purring, kneading, and then sucking on her own nipples!

She must think I'm her momcat... goodness knows she didn't get enough mommying when she was a kitten. Is it a good sign that she's sucking on herself, because she trusts me as she'd trust a momcat--or is she just trying to comfort herself? Or both?

I try to keep her from doing this too much, though. I don't want her skin to get irritated, or her to swallow too much fur.

Does anybody else's kitty do this?

Sounds like the human version of thumb sucking.

I admit I've never seen a cat sucking on her own nipples. I would say it is rather an uncomfortable position. Does she do it only when she's on your lap? If so, you could put her down off your lap everytime she starts. After a while she will. It's like a mom cat weaning her kittens.

Yup, only when she's on my lap. I generally just stroke under her chin, so she can't reach her belly.

Interesting.

My mother-in-law's kitten does something like this. He's probably about 5 months now and when he's about to take a nap, he'll usually ball up and then start sucking his own belly. He was found in a trash can along with his 4 siblings at 4 weeks old so it's safe to say that he was taken from his mother too early.

It does seem like a comfort thing and he has been doing it slightly less as he gets older, but I do agree with the comment that it's a similar habit to sucking a thumb. And as long as your kitty's not doing it too much as to cause skin irritation/swallow too much fur, she should ok. Hopefully she'll grow out of it somewhat as she gets older.