Suckling 17 week old.

[stealthkitty]

They're brothers.

We had to take them from their mother while they were still little. We figure they were about 7 or 8 weeks old at the time, and we had asked the owner if we could take them at three months. He first said yes, then later told us that he wanted them gone within a week.

  Oh well.

 

[melhammouche]

We had a similar situation with Mia and joey sadly. people just don't care..

That's so sweet to keep the siblings together though

Mia just figured out she could suck my work clothes right before work. Argh

 

[ashyfulz]

Pumpkin was such a sweetie and loved all other kitties and people and was such a laid back kitty!

And on the topic of babies going to young, when we took care of the 17 kittens this year (ranging from 7 days to 5 weeks upon arrival) we gave one away to her home at 8 weeks old. She came back to us two days later because she started losing weight and having diarrhea. We got her back up and plump and kept her until 12 weeks and tried again, she's happy as a clam and loves her mommy more than anything! We then read up about kittens leaving to new homes too early and read they can get sick like that. Did it once and will never let them go before 12 weeks again.

And the funny thing is out of all our kittens who suckled, the ones we got as blind 7 day old babies have never suckled! The other groups had at least one who'd suckle. Go figure.

 

[melhammouche]

I hope you don't mind me asking but why did you look after all those kittens, did their mothers die or desert them? Or do you work with cats? It sounds fascinating is all. You must be a wonderful person and great cat lover.

 

[ashyfulz]

Our neighbor feeds feral cats and they have kittens all the time and the first one we took in was last spring. Cute and "vicious" all black puff ball with a bad eye infection. We took her in to get rid of the eye infection and rehomed her to an amazing home where she acts like a dog and greets her mommy at the door.

Beginning of summer my one coworker wanted an orange kitten and there was one next door so we caught her to raise and give to him (we've seen too many of those kitties next door sick or hit by cars so we wanted to get the ones we could off the streets anyway) but his girlfriend got him a kitten so we continued raising her and the apl had a $10 TNR program going on so we wanted to start getting the adults fixed. We knew Cheeto had 2 siblings and the one day while checking the yard for them Lucy (the feral we're taming right now who was this litter's mother) put the two in the open and walked away to go do her own thing (she was too young and didn't know what she was doing) so we took them in and gave them eye drops/ointment for their eye infections (Mica couldn't even open his eyes his was so bad!) these guys were 5 weeks when we got them and the calmest kittens at that age we'd seen who were raised by a fully feral cat (Lucy is quite docile unlike Kelly)

Then we got those 3 weaned and got a call from my aunt in tears because there were 4 kittens behind her fence crying all day, left out in the open in the sun on the hottest day of the year. So I drove over and they had gotten the kittens and put them in a shoe box and had them on a cool damp cloth and had gotten a few drops of water into them. If those guys had been out there too much longer, at least Thunder (one of the ones we're keeping) would have died she was already really lethargic when I got there. This was the group we were worried most about taking in cause we never raised kittens that didn't even have their eyes open yet before! Ended up our healthiest group by far (except for Thunder who I had to take to the vet at 4 weeks old for a UTI). this group made me cry though because those blind kittens got so frustrated that they couldn't see or walk and BOY DID THEY WANT TO!!!

Then when we got those 4 weaned came 4 more from next door who were Kelly's kittens. I went to make sure there were no kittens and I see Kelly's tail and a reflection of a kitten in the door behind her. Got my mom to come help me get them (again, we wanted to catch the adults and get them fixed and wanted the kittens inside so they wouldn't grow up to have more kitties and get hit by cars since we have 2 busy streets right behind us) SCARIEST THING EVER!!! Kelly is a vicious kitty and if I had tried to get them alone she would have killed me. These guys were only 3 weeks old and just figuring out how to walk but they were hissing at us already! (amazing how different personalities of the mothers affect the tameness of the kittens at different ages!)

Then came 3 from a friend my mom made through facebook because of the kittens. Her friend (people know we take care of kittens now, this is our problem haha) had a few ferals that she tried to get fixed but missed one and she had kittens on her porch. She brought them in but her husband said no so she had to put them back outside and there was a frost warning for that night (hello weird north eastern ohio weather) so we got those 3 4 week old babies and ended up taking them camping with us because we didn't trust my dad and brother watching them alone for 3 days. This was Pumpykin's group and boy do those kittens love car rides now! They did a lot of travelling.

Once those guys got fully weaned, my dad's coworker called because he found a kitten in the middle of the road. Poor Amber had a URI and was sniffly, but was the first kitten we took in that was already eating by herself!

Then my best friend called me cause her brother found a 5 week old kitten so I had to go pick up Pooka because they didn't know what to do with her.

Notice the trend of once the kittens get self sufficient, we get another group that needed our full attention and feeding and stimulating. But it was a fun and cute summer.

Hopefully not that many kittens this summer though! We got 3 females spayed and 1 male spayed next door (Kelly, Lucy, and one of Kelly's older kittens Heather for the girls, and Kelly's even older kitten Oscar for the boy) Though 3 new kitties showed up this winter, one is TNRed already (he has the left ear clipped like he was at least) and we haven't seen any kittens out there yet, but I keep checking. Once we get the trap back from my grandma, we're going to make an appointment and catch more and hopefully not have to worry about kittens from there again. I keep telling my mom we should work on getting a grant to make our own cat sanctuary from all this work lol but this summer did make me rethink going back to school to become a Vet Tech. I love working with animals.

 

[callista]

Wow!! Have you got any tips for finding homes for so many kittens? I have Christy precisely because I never found a home for her, and she's one of the prettiest cats I've ever seen.

 

[melhammouche]

Our neighbor feeds feral cats and they have kittens all the time and the first one we took in was last spring. Cute and "vicious" all black puff ball with a bad eye infection. We took her in to get rid of the eye infection and rehomed her to an amazing home where she acts like a dog and greets her mommy at the door.

Beginning of summer my one coworker wanted an orange kitten and there was one next door so we caught her to raise and give to him (we've seen too many of those kitties next door sick or hit by cars so we wanted to get the ones we could off the streets anyway) but his girlfriend got him a kitten so we continued raising her and the apl had a $10 TNR program going on so we wanted to start getting the adults fixed. We knew Cheeto had 2 siblings and the one day while checking the yard for them Lucy (the feral we're taming right now who was this litter's mother) put the two in the open and walked away to go do her own thing (she was too young and didn't know what she was doing) so we took them in and gave them eye drops/ointment for their eye infections (Mica couldn't even open his eyes his was so bad!) these guys were 5 weeks when we got them and the calmest kittens at that age we'd seen who were raised by a fully feral cat (Lucy is quite docile unlike Kelly)

Then we got those 3 weaned and got a call from my aunt in tears because there were 4 kittens behind her fence crying all day, left out in the open in the sun on the hottest day of the year. So I drove over and they had gotten the kittens and put them in a shoe box and had them on a cool damp cloth and had gotten a few drops of water into them. If those guys had been out there too much longer, at least Thunder (one of the ones we're keeping) would have died she was already really lethargic when I got there. This was the group we were worried most about taking in cause we never raised kittens that didn't even have their eyes open yet before! Ended up our healthiest group by far (except for Thunder who I had to take to the vet at 4 weeks old for a UTI). this group made me cry though because those blind kittens got so frustrated that they couldn't see or walk and BOY DID THEY WANT TO!!!

Then when we got those 4 weaned came 4 more from next door who were Kelly's kittens. I went to make sure there were no kittens and I see Kelly's tail and a reflection of a kitten in the door behind her. Got my mom to come help me get them (again, we wanted to catch the adults and get them fixed and wanted the kittens inside so they wouldn't grow up to have more kitties and get hit by cars since we have 2 busy streets right behind us) SCARIEST THING EVER!!! Kelly is a vicious kitty and if I had tried to get them alone she would have killed me. These guys were only 3 weeks old and just figuring out how to walk but they were hissing at us already! (amazing how different personalities of the mothers affect the tameness of the kittens at different ages!)

Then came 3 from a friend my mom made through facebook because of the kittens. Her friend (people know we take care of kittens now, this is our problem haha) had a few ferals that she tried to get fixed but missed one and she had kittens on her porch. She brought them in but her husband said no so she had to put them back outside and there was a frost warning for that night (hello weird north eastern ohio weather) so we got those 3 4 week old babies and ended up taking them camping with us because we didn't trust my dad and brother watching them alone for 3 days. This was Pumpykin's group and boy do those kittens love car rides now! They did a lot of travelling.

Once those guys got fully weaned, my dad's coworker called because he found a kitten in the middle of the road. Poor Amber had a URI and was sniffly, but was the first kitten we took in that was already eating by herself!

Then my best friend called me cause her brother found a 5 week old kitten so I had to go pick up Pooka because they didn't know what to do with her.

Notice the trend of once the kittens get self sufficient, we get another group that needed our full attention and feeding and stimulating. But it was a fun and cute summer.

Hopefully not that many kittens this summer though! We got 3 females spayed and 1 male spayed next door (Kelly, Lucy, and one of Kelly's older kittens Heather for the girls, and Kelly's even older kitten Oscar for the boy) Though 3 new kitties showed up this winter, one is TNRed already (he has the left ear clipped like he was at least) and we haven't seen any kittens out there yet, but I keep checking. Once we get the trap back from my grandma, we're going to make an appointment and catch more and hopefully not have to worry about kittens from there again. I keep telling my mom we should work on getting a grant to make our own cat sanctuary from all this work lol but this summer did make me rethink going back to school to become a Vet Tech. I love working with animals.

Wow that is a lot of cats, and a lot of vet visits, and a lot of new homes!
Just the fact that you put in so much time and energy shows that you should definitely try your hardest to become a vet. I think that would be very achievable for you.

Good job! Thanks for sharing

 

[ashyfulz]

Oh lord was it a lot of cats. Our kitties hated the kittens at first, but they soon figured out the ones coming in were leaving so they stopped being brats about it and just ignored them all (except Thunder who would growl and hiss at all new kittens even though she was still a baby, she was just a brat and didn't want to share me!)

And since I shadowed and volunteered at our vet's office before, he discounts my visits and only makes me pay the price of meds, no exam fees but boy do we give him enough business to earn that! Between my kitty Felix needing shots every few months for his chronic nose infection ($50 per shot and those are getting less effective >.<) and my brother's cat Rei still having money owed on her for her exploritory surgery to find out she has IBS (over a $500 surgery there!) another nice thing, he takes payments!!!

 

[melhammouche]

Wow that's really good of him. He's a nice vet for sure!

 

[ajjaxx]

Haha sorry I saw this post on my sidebar, didn't realize it was already two weeks old. Cute kitten, though!

 

[eb24]

I know this thread is a few weeks old and you already have gotten some stellar advice I just had one thing to add (for all those who, like myself, have a suckler). I completely agree that, when done in moderation and limited to appropriate areas it's better just to let them have their suckling habit. Unless the behavior is corrected when they are very young trying to break them of it only leads to other behavioral issues (because they no longer have their stress outlet). I have seen once or twice a cat who became obsessed with suckling themselves- to the point that they had almost no hair left in certain places. That, obviously needs to be corrected. But, if it's just suckling a favorite blanket or occasionally you then there is really no harm. 

Just be sure that you are consistently checking their suckling items (mainly blankets) for loose threads. If ingested this can be a life threatening problem. I went through and checked Diego's blanket the other day and found a few loose strands that needed to be mended. So, keep a close eye on that! If it does become problematic or anyone is concerned about this potential hazard consider getting a SnuggleKitty: http://www.snugglepetproducts.com/snuggle-pets/snuggle-kitties . They are designed to help with this and I have heard wonderful results. 

Otherwise, enjoy getting a laugh out of your little one going to town on some inanimate object!

 

[melhammouche]

image.jpg

• melhammouche
• Apr 8, 2013

Here is Mia now and my solution to the problem. She sleeps on a pillow above my pillow in our bed and I just slide down the bed so we both fit. So now she doesn't suckle as much because she feels like she's getting enough quality time with me. Which makes suckling cuter because its rarer haha.

You can see in the picture she's grown a lot! And she loves her new bed with mum

 

[melhammouche]

image.jpg

• melhammouche
• Apr 8, 2013

Here is Mia now and my solution to the problem. She sleeps on a pillow above my pillow in our bed and I just slide down the bed so we both fit. So now she doesn't suckle as much because she feels like she's getting enough quality time with me. Which makes suckling cuter because its rarer haha.

You can see in the picture she's grown a lot! And she loves her new bed with mum

 

[eb24]

Wow she has grown! I do the pillow above my head too and they both love to snooze out on it! (well, technically it's a body pillow that goes all the way across. It actually looks more like a headboard minus the permanent cat body marks).  Having it didn't totally curb Diego's suckling but he only suckles on one particular blanket (and only seems to do it when I'm laying next to him so he can knead against me) so it's never been a huge deal. Hopefully Mia is the same! 

 

[melhammouche]

Yeah she's always preferred my blanket its the softest one in the house and I always use it so she just climbs up on my chest and finds a place to suckle. But it doesn't fuss her as much now if I won't sit down for her.

It's so funny, just over 12ish weeks ago I could fit her on my open hand, now she's two arms full haha.

 

[lsurtees88]

I know this thread is kind of old but, just thought I'd share my thoughts my grandma had a dog that was weaned a bit too early and she had a stuffed animal that she fell in love with and she sucked on its nose. Eventually it got worn out and my grandma threw it away and got a new one, she did the same thing to it! She did it to every single one of her stuffed animals until the day she got old and passed away. It was her way of comforting herself. Also, my cat kneads blankets and my husband and I all the time! She will just knead and knead and knead and she gets this euphoric look on her face the entire time then eventually she will fall asleep. She is now a year old and still does it I say to just let your kitten do what makes it happy. If its not hurting anything and it doesn't bother you, there is no sense in trying to correct it.

 

[cutepanda01]

Edwena, my soon to be a 14 yr old still kneads me, nips and licks my nose and fingers,

and still licks long strokes on my arm. She so pretty!

Barry, my other cat, is different.

He likes his tummy rubbed, which I think is adorable!!

He crooks his little paws up like a squrriel

waiting for a nut and he sometimes gives my finger

a comforting lick if it's on him.

 

[sammythecat]

your cat must be thinking "What! No milk is coming out!"  lol nice photos

 

[melhammouche]

Haha thanks guys

I'm so glad I decided to get a cat. She's really brightened up my life and filled the empty feeling I had

 

[bonobosoph]

My kitten tries to suckle one of my dogs sometimes, but he's starting to grow out of it now. He was taken from his mother at 8 weeks old, and that is quite young.