Nursing Behavior in 4.5 Month Old Cat

Alley (the alley cat) has been doing the newborn kitten thing on a semi-regular basis of late.She will lay on my lap and take a part of my t-shirt in her mouth and suckle it like a kitten.She also does the claw action i.e. "bread kneeding" as she sucks on the shirt.It is both charming and cute. Is this normal for a younger cat?Previously she would only do it when she was wrapped up in the bed sheets but now she does it TO me.Very cute.
I can actually hear noise when she is sucking on my shirt! lol I also notice that as she is getting older she is becoming more loving and allowing me to pet/cuddle/carress her more.If everyone had a nice cat to cuddle and pet on their laps I think the pharma companies would lose HUGE $$$ in the hypertension Rx market!

Does(or did)your cat(s) ever exhibit this behavior?I`m fascinated by it.

Thanks!
HosMan

My girl Lucky is 2 and she still does that. She was an orphan. Cats often suckle if they were taken away from their Mothers too early.

Yes it's normal if she was separated from her mom before 12 weeks old, which a lot of people do even some irresponsible breeders and pet stores.

Thanks for the responses! Alley was about 9-10 weeks old when I took her in.Does this mean she sees me as a surrogate momma cat or just an instinctual/comfort thing?It`s both cute and weird at the same time. lol

Feline researchers say that all cats view us as their surrogate mother. That is the human/cat relationship, basically.

Some cats never get over the nursing thing, using a blanket, their paw, another cat, whatever. Others lose it slowly.

And yes, actual research has shown that pet owners are healthier than non-owners, and petting a cat, especially a purring cat, will lower blood pressure. Some of the health benefit is just knowing another being is depending on us.

You rock,MB! I find I`m happier and more relaxed since I`ve taken Alley into my life.Nice to have somebody depending on me again(my kids are all teenagers!).We even communicate after a fashion(both teens and cat).

Cats communicate in so many ways. We all know the typical "meow," but they make a lot of noises. Sterling is very vocal; he got the Siamese voice, if not the colors. Ella and Punkin rarely make a peep, unless they're really scared (like going to the vet). But just a few minutes ago, Punkin was calling me so loud I thought it was Sterling! Not sure what that meant.

But we have the non-verbal communication from them, too. Who hasn't been working and had the kitty come up and put one paw on our hand, arm, or leg? Or the nose push under our hand, saying, "OK, time to pet me?" The thrashing tail that can mean, "Leave me alone!" or "I wanna go out and catch that bird!" The accusing look sitting by an empty food bowl. All sorts of communication.

I`m learning that slowly but surely. The other day Alley was meowing and had me follow her to the litter box.I guess it was`nt up to snuff(even though it had been cleaned out recently).After she watched me scoop it out and add more litter she was quiet.Darndest thing! We even have our noises and signals for playtime.Pretty cool.