Nursing @ 10wks?

sweetagony

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Hi again,

Okay, is it normal for 10wk old kittens to still nurse while they are getting kitten food? They just seem to big for it! If it's not okay....what do I do to stop them?
ty again! M
 

stlgrl5

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I hear of cats still nursting at 12 wks.. I would suggest stopping now or at age 12 wks.
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by SweetAgony

Hi again,

Okay, is it normal for 10wk old kittens to still nurse while they are getting kitten food? They just seem to big for it! If it's not okay....what do I do to stop them?
ty again! M
They can still nurse. I would suggest you set up mom's spay appt. so that she does not have an opportunity to become pregnant again.

http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html#ma

Katie
 

solaritybengals

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Kittens LOVE their milk. If mom lets them they might nurse for life lol
. I've heard of some breeders seeing 6 month olds sneak in a snack with a new litter. Mom's usually start discouraging it but they won't stop unless mom says so.
 

missymotus

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Missy's kittens are 6 months old and still nurse sometimes, they figured out that she's more likely to let them when she's sleeping lol
 

zak&rocky

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I got Rocky at over 12 weeks old (the vet estimated) and he was still nursing from his mom. He was very ill and probably needed the nutrition. He was pretty scrawny too. I gave him KMR for a few weeks as a snack, and he plumped up pretty fast. He is, however very orally fixated!! He used to nurse on me, now he licks us and other cats and mouths a lot of stuff. I'm not sure if he is just that way anyway, or if he should have stayed with mom longer.
 

semiferal

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It is very normal for 10 week old kittens to nurse, in fact it would be almost unheard of for a kitten that age *not* to nurse as long as he still has his Mom. Mom and kitten will handle weaning when they are both ready for it - no need to worry.
 

dawna

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It was so funny when Marley had her babies. She was spayed when they were 8 weeks, but they still nursed up to about 12. The thing was, she was a small cat and her kittens were big. They all ended up twice as big as her full grown. So here she was, nursing 12 weeks old kittens who, at that age, were about the same size as her.

Dawn
 

kai bengals

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I agree with the consensus.....it's normal and ok for a 10 week old kitten to nurse. The mom will decide when she's had enough of it.
Our kittens don't leave us until they are 12 weeks old and if mom allows they will still nurse between regular meals. It's a comfort thing for them as well as the milk, so there is no need to stop it unless the mom is in distress over it.
 

goldenkitty45

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Depends on the condition of the mother cat. I've had my rexes nurse kittens till 3 months old - she didn't mind, was healthy and not really skinny. Don't know if the kittens were actually getting any milk per say - I think it was more of a "security blanket" to the kits.

When she really didn't want to do it anymore, she let the kits know and all was fine.
 

leto86

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When I volunteered for the cat rescue, we ahd a momma cat and two of her babies aged 6 weeks come in, along with her 6 month old daughter. The 6 month old Diamond was still nursing off of mum, Baby. As long as the mum produces milk, they will nurse.
 

avalon

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The last litter I adopted started sucking on Nyan, and she started giving milk. I was so amazed I called the vet. home. He said it was nothing to worry about, that it sometimes happened.

The kitties got ill and two died. Only one was left and mommy Nyan didn't want anything to do with him. She would only feed Reya, my youngest, who was about 4 months old at the time. Reya finally gave up on nursing, but will sometimes snuggle up to Nyan and take a look and see if there's anything left.
 

tobysis

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Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

It's true they will nurse forever if Mummy lets them!
I have living proof here. Princess age 8 is the mom of Muffin age 7. Both spayed, but Muffin STILL nurses. Dunno if Princess has milk or not.
 

catsknowme

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I am a big proponent of letting the kits nurse as long as it doesn't harm mama-kitty! Just like humans, some need more suckling than others. It doesn't seem to hurt the kittens, and can prevent excessive kneading & sucking on your ears/hair later. To me, it seems like it helps the kittens to be happy, confident cats.
 
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