Still trying to nurse

We picked up our two female kittens at 7 1/2 weeks old and the owner assures us they were fully weaned. However, they're now 10 weeks old and Willow often tries to nurse, either on the Poppy or sometimes on us (elbows, armpits etc)

When Willow nuzzles into Poppy she can be quite frantic, basically like a kitten normally would when trying to get milk. Poppy just lies there and lets her do it, sometimes licking her head like a nursing mother cat.

It normally only happens when Willow has just woken up after a sleep and we try to hold her back until she fully wakes up (and then starts the normal fighting regime!)

Willow seems to be the runt of the litter and is noticeably smaller than Poppy who seems to be the bossy one. Both kittens are eating well.

Is there something we should be doing or will she just stop it over time?

Also, will the nursing cause damage to Poppy's infantile teats?

You really want to stop this behavior as quickly as possible. They are so young, and should still be with mom, but many people don't want to keep the kittens till they are 12 weeks or better, so a lot of babies get torn from mom before they are willing to let go on their own.

You can take a piece of clean soft cloth and bunch it together to form a bag of sorts. Take a piece of cotton string, and tie the bag off, clipping the string ends short. Take some warm water and mix some honey in it, stir well. Dunk the bag into the mixture and give the warmed slightly wet bag to the suckler to use instead.

If that doesn't work, get a bottle of Bitter Apple, and spray some on a cotton ball. Dab the tummy of the kitty who is getting suckled.

You can also offer the kitten a small stuffed animal so he can transfer his suckling to that.

I would also put him on Kitten Glop- you will find the recipe on www.kitten-rescue.com


Good luck-

Just to add, there is a whole section on that web site dealing with suckling here.