Older Cats and younger kitten

I have 2 female cats from the same litter (14 months old), about 3 months ago one of them had a litter of 4 kittens, we found homes for 2 of them are keeping one and trying to find a home for the last one.
My problem is this: the kitten we want to keep eats solid food but still tries to nurse from her mother and the mother does nothing to stop her. We have separated the mother from the kitten but had left the aunt with the kitten, now the kitten tries to nurse off her aunt and we have had to separate both adult cats from the kittens. Why are the kittens still trying to nurse and why does the aunt let them nurse off of her even though she has never had a litter herself ??

Any help is appreciated as this is getting on my nerves because the 2 older cats sit at the top off my basement steps and whine for the kittens and claw at the moulding by the door.

Is it that important to you if they still nurse? My mother had a mother-daughter duo that the "kitten" nursed on the mom for years. Finally stopped when she was about five, although both lived into their twenties. I promise, the other cats won't laugh at her.
Becky

the mum cat will soon get bored of it and make the kitten stop when she feels ready. i'd just let them get on with it because i'd be scared that the kitten might be missing out nutritionally if i didnt.

its probably a bonding thing too. if you try to stop the kitten she may develop an oral fixation and try to suck on jumpers and other things which will result in lots of icky cat drool over most of your possessions!

if your really concerned take them to the vet, they might be able to reccomend something bitter to rub on the mum cats teats to discourage a kitten.

sometimes nature knows better than us so i would be reluctant to interfer and jkust be glad that they are getting along so well.

good luck!

Thanks for the responses everyone. What I forgot to to put in my post was that my wife had spoken with a veternarian and they were the ones that suggested we separate the Mom cat from the kittens because they should not be trying to nurse at 12 weeks. The Vet told us to separate them for 2 weeks. Sorry about forgetting this important piece of information.

unless the mums upset i'd leave them to it. just make sure her nips arent getting too sore from all the feeding. and make sure you feed her kitten food as well as or instead of her adult food so she gets enough nutrition to make enough milk.

maybe you could give the kitten a saucer of kitten milk formula to discourage her from sucking without taking away her treat? you can buy it in most good pet shops, just dont use cows milk because i've found from experience it can hurt little tummies.

i'd be worried that the vets advice would cause more problems than it would solve. your kitten must be lonely without its mummy and like i said it could cause problems later in life. when its sibling has left home mum cat will probably feel like shes done enough to raise her kittens and stop letting it feed.

12 weeks is still a young and like human babies kittens can be late developers. do what you thinks best but i'm sure it will turn out ok in the end.

keep us posted, you obviously care a lot about the kittens.

I adopted a feral mother cat and her three kittens when they were 9 weeks old. They continued to nurse until about 16 to 18 weeks although they were fully eating kitten food and drinking on their own. It was as much for bonding and reassurance as for nutrition because the mother cat sure wasn't able to meet their nutritional needs. Eventually, the mother cat got bored with it all, became quite belligerent to her kittens and the nursing stopped. I wouldn't let it bother you - nature does have a way of ensuring that animals obtain what they need and often we, as humans, interfere when intervention is more of a convention rather than an understanding of the full situation. Contrary to public opinion, most kittens continue to become socialized and to learn their 'cat' skills from their mother and litter mates until they are several months old. The current practise of weaning kittens at 6 to 8 weeks old and sending them off to new homes is far far far too young. I would be worried about your vet's advice as well - it seems a little bit 'only by the book' and not based on a deeper understanding of the animals he/she treats.

Kathryn

Originally Posted by wniel

We have separated the mother from the kitten but had left the aunt with the kitten, now the kitten tries to nurse off her aunt and we have had to separate both adult cats from the kittens. Why are the kittens still trying to nurse and why does the aunt let them nurse off of her even though she has never had a litter herself ??

Any help is appreciated as this is getting on my nerves because the 2 older cats sit at the top off my basement steps and whine for the kittens and claw at the moulding by the door.

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I once adopted a 5 week old feral kitten whose mother could no longer look after it - the rest of her litter had died. She ate solid food, but when I brought her home to join my 3 year old neutered male, she started to try and nurse off of him. I thought sure he would be upset and chase her away. He didn't. He nurtured her and let her suckle, washing her face and behaving like a mother cat would do. The kitten 'needed' that bonding and that closeness even more than she needed the nutrition at that stage. The suckiling behaviour eventually stopped when the kitten (Kirsty) was about 4 months old. I suspect your kitten's 'aunt' intuitively knows that the kittens still need that bonding and closeness and so she allows them to nurse providing them with what they need more than food. I suspect that is why they are still nursing from the mother as well. They will decide when it is time so I would just allow them to continue for the time being.

Kathryn

I think the vet was just responding to your concern and not really meaning that it would be harmful. His advice is probably correct, that after two weeks of separation the kitten would stop. But I don't think that it is necessary for the well being of either the kitten or momcat. Why don't you give him a call and see. I think you will all be better off if you let them back together. Becky