Concerned over kitten behavior

We have a new kitten in the house. Best guess is she is about 8 weeks old now. She's been with us for 2 weeks. I'm concerned that we may have some wacky behavior starting...or perhaps it is just kitten behavior and I don't have to worry. I need some advice!

When Sweetie first came home with us, she seemed to settle in relatively quickly. We have an old, very gentle golden retriever. Our golden, Lacy, was not terribly thrilled with the development (she tended to ignore Sweetie), but over the past 2 weeks has seemed to bond with her. They play together, Lacy bathes Sweetie, and Sweetie likes to sleep on Lacy's back. In fact, right now Lacy is laying by my feet with Sweetie curled up between her paws sleeping. It's really very cute. The behaviors that I am concerned about, though, are twofold.

First, Sweetie is obsessed with suckling on Lacy. Lacy will put up with it for quite a while until Sweetie gets a little too enthusiastic and then she'll just get up and move away. I don't think there is any harm to it, but it is annoying and I hope that she'll eventually grow out of it. Is it a good idea to let it continue (I have no idea when Sweetie was taken from her mother. She was dumped on the animal shelter's steps). How to discourage it in the long run?

Second, Sweetie seems to be using her litterbox just fine, but we've had a couple of incidents. After she was with us about 5 days, she pooped on Lacy's bed. She hasn't done it again. She did have an accident upstairs in our house which led to me to add a second litterbox upstairs. I think she probably just was a typical toddler and got the urge and couldn't make it downstairs. But tonight she freaked me out a bit. We were eating dinner and both Lacy and Sweetie had already been fed. We've found Sweetie sleeping in Lacy's food bowl a couple of times in the past and tonight she crawled in the bowl. We thought she was getting ready to curl up, but instead she squatted and peed in the dog's food bowl! Her litterbox is not far away, so I don't think she couldn't make it. Is she trying to be dominant? Is this a territorial thing and what do I do about it??!!!

Thanks for the help!
Kelley H.

Congratulations on your new baby, she sounds adorable. Okay, take a deep breath.
First I would definitely get her to your vet for a check up if she hasn't been, and mention the accidents. The first two I wasn't to concerned about, though the pooping in the dog food bowl was weird. Maybe she thought it was the litter box? I have never had a kitten that young, and others may tell you if it is normal to have any accidents. Ample litter boxes should help you out.
The suckling thing is very normal, esp for a cat that was taken away from the mom a bit too young. My Rocky used to do it, except he did it to me! He has graduated from suckling to occassional kisses at night (at age 2). As long as your dog isn't getting too annoyed and she isn't irritating the dogs skin, I think it's fine.

Welcome Kelley....kittens ideally shouldn't be seperated from their mom until they reach at least 8 week and preferably 10-12 weeks of age. At 6 weeks...kittens have just started learning about the litterbox from their mom and they aren't fully weaned. The suckling behavior is probably your kitten trying to comfort itself the best it can. You may want to provide her with a stuffed animal such as the "snuggle kitty":

http://www.snuggleme.com/kitties.html

Other suggestions you can find here:

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/kitten_suckling.html

As far as the litterbox issues....I would recommend that you give your little one several "pans" throughout your home. Kittens like young children, cannot always tell when they will go....and as such, accidents happen. One of my friends likes the aliminum cake pans that have low edges...she places them throughout her home with a little litter in each one. They are easy to clean, cheap and allows the kitten multiple locations.

Katie

As far as the suckling, it's just her weaning herself. I'm not terribly sure how to stop the behaviour, persay, but I know my kitties stopped doing it after a while.

As far as the litter problems, you might want to get a second litterbox for upstairs. You're probably right on the money about her not being able to make it downstairs. She's young enough, she'll have little accidents until she's about twelve weeks old (and maybe even a few after). It's just her learning how to use the box. Just put the poop in the nearest of her boxes, and put her in the box so she can sniff it. Their natural desire is to go somewhere that they can cover their droppings/urine, so don't worry, just keep putting her in the box if she goes outside, and provide that second box, and she'll get the hang of it.

She's young...she's still learning.

Originally Posted by TNR1

Welcome Kelley....kittens ideally shouldn't be seperated from their mom until they reach at least 8 week and preferably 10-12 weeks of age. At 6 weeks...kittens have just started learning about the litterbox from their mom and they aren't fully weaned. The suckling behavior is probably your kitten trying to comfort itself the best it can. You may want to provide her with a stuffed animal such as the "snuggle kitty":

http://www.snuggleme.com/kitties.html

Other suggestions you can find here:

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/kitten_suckling.html

As far as the litterbox issues....I would recommend that you give your little one several "pans" throughout your home. Kittens like young children, cannot always tell when they will go....and as such, accidents happen. One of my friends likes the aliminum cake pans that have low edges...she places them throughout her home with a little litter in each one. They are easy to clean, cheap and allows the kitten multiple locations.

Katie

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Absolutely WONDERFUL advice...I second both of these posters' advice!!

I didn't know there were snuggle kitties! What a neat idea! Coulda used that when I had to adopt two four week old kittens!! (Long story...but it was necessary in their case, unfortunately. I DON'T recommend adopting them that young...not healthy for them in so many ways. They're perfectly normal and fine because I knew how to raise them properly and in a healthy way, but I wish they would have been able to have more time with mama, but their situation didn't allow it.)

I loved the idea of the snuggle kitty product. Today I made one and it seems to be helping at least a little. I took one of my kids' stuffed animals, took the stuffing out of the belly and put a microwaveable heat pack in it. I also poked a few holes in the belly and slid through the little nipples you can buy at the pet store. Sweetie is loving having the stuffed animal in her little cardboard box with her blanket. I haven't seen her suckling on the nipples, but she is leaving the dog alone more, so perhaps she is when I'm not noticing. Anyway, it was very easy to make and much cheaper!

Kelley H.

Everyone is right about the suckling. My cat Miles did that in my HAIR for a year! It was kind of relaxing because he would purr while he did it. I just had to keep his claws cut because he would scratch my scalp. He grew out of it but still gives me kisses in bed at night. I would talk to my vet about the peeing in the dogs food. OUtside of the litterbox is one thing but the dogs food sounds like it may be deliberate.

Good Luck