Nipple Sucking

So my lovely Isis has a strange issue and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas. See, when she cuddles up to me (or anyone she loves ) she starts purring and then kneading which is all fine and good, I like both those actions, unless she wants to knead on my bare leg then its not so cool. But then, she starts sucking her nipple. Its the same one every time, and she only does it when she is laying with me. Our vet said it was the equivilant of a child sucking her thumb, but it is soooooo iritating. I feel awful b/c its so obvious she is all comfy and warm and good feeling, and this is a habit which just reinforces all those good feelings, but it has become my personal pet peeve and I hate to have her on me when she does it - which is a problem, b/c she only does it when she's laying on me, or next to me! There's a lot I can overlook in terms of bad habits, like drinking my water w/o telling me then letting me drink it, destroying my shoelaces, eating my plants, but this is too much. It's very loud (it does sound just like a kid sucking their thumb) and her whole body vibrates and moves, and when I'm trying to go to sleep its just... aaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!

I dont know what to do to break her of it either. She's done it since I've adopted her from a shelter, at first it was extremely minimal but as time progressed she just did it more and more till now I cant be next to her w/o her doing it . Lately, what I've been trying is to cover her belly when she lays next to me. This isnt really working though, cuz she noses me till I let her in, or if I move my hand, her head is immediatly down and sucking. I've also tried making like a paste type deal w/ a bit of cayenne pepper and H2O and rubbing that on her belly, but she just licks it away.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I miss laying with my baby in peace
(Sorry so long!)

Eeek!!!...well I am sorry you find it so hidious...lol.....my mabby suckles my boy cat doofus' nipple....thats kinda a wierd site.....
though i have been given the siggestion to use either lime or lemon on the nipple..or this bitter apple stuff you can get at pet stores..I wouldnt use cayanne though..this might make your baby sick...good luck

Hi Nessa,

I just wrote a long reply which hasn't seemed to have posted. I completely understand how you're feeling - I want my Papillon to stop it too as soon as she's ready.
In a nutshell, my kitten is doing the same and I'm looking in to how to help her.

I've heard that there is some liqued you put on which tastes yucky so they stop doing it, but I haven't found it yet. Your cayenne idea may have been a little sensitive on her skin so she would have licked that off to prevent the pain in both ways.

I'll let you know how I go. Anyone else got any ideas?

Hi Nessa, how old is Isis? And how long ahve you had her?

My boys are litter mates, eight months old, and when we first got them at 3 months old Chase would often suckle on Hunter, and Hunter would suck on his own foot (quite a site!!!).

Nothing I tried could stop it, I then did a bit of reading, and took the attitude that so long as it wasn't affecting their fur/skin in the areas I wouldn't worry.

But I can tell you, that with time it diminished - so maybe it is like a human baby sucking their thumb for comfort? It is only occassionally, say once a week or fortnight that Chase will try and suckle on Hunter, although Hunter does suck his paw a bit more often.

it could be worse. a few times we've woken up in the night to find the cat trying to suck on my BOYFRIENDS nipple!

Scarlet sucks on fleece blankets, or any soft blanket. It's so gross, because you don't always know he's done it and then go to pull the blanket up and it's wet from his spit, eeww. I made fleece beds for them but he goes for my blankets. Ugh!

Ellie is now 10 months old and sucks furiously on my arm or hand for a long session each night and morning. I cannot stop her so I have given up and let her do it, though I can't say I like it. At least now she doesn't do it every time she gets in my lap, which she used to.

Originally Posted by maverick_kitten

it could be worse. a few times we've woken up in the night to find the cat trying to suck on my BOYFRIENDS nipple!

Click to expand...

oo that might make me a little jealous!!! thank you everyone for posting though, even though she seems determined to keep her habit, at least she's not the only weirdo out there maybe I'll get her a friend so they can hang out and suck each other's nipples, I dont think our dog sits still long enough for her to do that!

Well, just to add to the thread...

Simon sucks my forefinger. He gets all cuddled up, and as I'm stroking him, he grabs my finger (gently), and sucks at it until he falls asleep. If I move it too soon, he wakes up, relocates it, and gets back to sleep.

And Pie used to suck on my earlobe; it would leave almost like a rugburn on the bottom of my lobe from her tongue. I'd have scabs on there and everything. She's stopped that recently thank God...once, when Simon was young, he was on my finger and Pie was on my ear...I felt so weird.... Simon still does it, though.

Best-
Michele

Cats suck on things for comfort. Sometimes they were taken from their mother too young, or their mother didn't provide enough nourishment for them. I've had three cats that did this. The first one was Sam, who would suck on my clothes when I was sleeping. I would wake up soaked many times. I was never able to break him of it.
The next two happened at the same time. I adopted two 5 week old kittens (Merry & Pippin) and they immediately bonded with me. The first night I had them, they started sucking on my neck and kneading. They were voracious as only kittens can be and WOULD NOT stop. As soon as I'd pull one away, he would be back at me. I had several months of poor sleep, until I learned to keep their claws short and sleep through the suckling.
It bothered me too, but then I thought.. if it comforts them and makes them happy, then no harm done.
Merry passed away since then, but my 2 year old Pippin still does it, just not every night. It's actually the only time that Pippin purrs is when he's cuddling with me.
It is important to realize that the cat doesn't understand it's behavior is disturbing just like most animal behavior we find inappropriate.
I don't have any good ideas about stopping it, the only one I've heard of is putting something bad tasting on the object they suck on.

Dev & Crew