Nursing

gokittygo

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I have two kittens Pluto and Julius. Pluto is a couple of months older and we adopted Julius after we had Pluto two months. They get along great (since we introduced them slowly) and things have been going really well except for one thing....

Pluto is acting psychotic. He nurses his blanket constantly. He still gets up to eat, poop, sleep with us, and play with Julius but he still prefers to nurse his blanket. He loves it when we pet him and he can nurse it at the same time. At first I thought he was just nervous because Julius was new....but it's been at least a month and a half and he just keeps going at it. We just had Julius neutered and he had to stay at the vet overnight. During that time Pluto didn't nurse nearly as much and was much more affectionate. When Julius came back he went back to his old ways. Now he even has Julius nursing him! I'm very worried. We have been very careful to give both kitties equal attention. In fact we give Pluto MORE attention then Julius. I don't understand why he's behaving this way. Any ideas?

Thanks!
 

esrgirl

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The only thing I would be concerned about is the fact that Pluto has Julius nursing on him. I don't know what kind of effect that could have on Pluto physically. It is absolutely normal for cats to nurse on objects like blankets and even on you. My vet said that Isabelle does this because she was weaned way too early. It's supposed to be a comfort thing. Cats coming from this type of situation will do this, some will keep doing it while others will outgrow it. Overall I think it's cute when Isabelle nurses on my arm or on a blanket. She purrs very loudly and kneads while doing it, making funny little slurp noises. The vet says it's no problem and totally normal. I really have no idea what effect that could have on another cat. I've seen discussion about that on this message board before, so hopefully someone can offer advice.
 

hissy

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You can stop the suckling behavior using Bitter Apple or grapefruit juice. Just apply the substance to the area being suckled so the kitty will stop. You can also give your cat an alternative suckling object like a small stuffed animal. But suckling should be stopped when it is on you, or on another live animal.
 
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