Kneading and suckling on blanket

Our new MC kitten (Jester) came home two weeks ago at 12 weeks old and has recently started suckling on the soft blanket that we sit on the lounge with when he is on our laps. I have read that this can be a characteristic of a kitten that was removed from his mum too early (which is not the case) or may just be an action that comforts them.

Do you think this kind of behaviour should be discouraged? If so - how? I know we need to be careful that he doesn't swallow threads etc (there are no lose threads on the blanket).

I am interested if your cats do this and what you think. I actually find it quite sweet (he started doing it on Dave's lap first which was rather humourous), but I am worried that it might also indicate some sort of malnutrional issue and could end out being a habit we regret allowing. He doesn't seem to do it anywhere else and has chew toys etc. Should he be getting kitten milk?

THANKS! :smile:

Hi
I have a maine coon who is nearly 2 years old, and she does this quite frequently. Again at first I thought it was very amusing, but then did worry about it... Having said this her sister from the same litter has never done this and always preferred to play with toys. I just put it down to a natural comforting instinct now and let her get on with it as it makes her happy and has never done her any harm. I had another cat who was a moggie and even when she was 16 years old she still choose to do this!!!

I wouldn't worry and don't think you should discourage it too much as the kitten is comforting and it feels nice to do it I guess. I think it reminds them of when they were with the mother and suckling for milk, and perhaps your kitten will grow out of it naturally. 12/13 weeks is the normal time for kittens to go to their new homes so yours should be fine. :smile:

Jo

Hi there, one of my kittens Monty does this on my face whilst wildly purring! But his brother Larry has never done it. On one hand it's affectionate, but on the other it's kind of gross and slobbery and I am discouraging it. I'm trying to get him to just do the paw treading without the sucking and slobbering. I don't want him to be trying it when he's 4 feet long and 10 kgs!!! But it is sweet when he puts his paws round my neck...

I have two kittens a boy and a girl, Roxy loves to snuggle up to me and to sleep on my tum or lap and when she is really sleepy she kneeds me I think she finds it soothing. She is so sweet when she does it as she does her Yoda impression as her ears go out to the side:rofl:

Hector does not really sleep on anyone and does not kneed.

My angel kitty Koda after he went into complete heart failure at the age of 3(he lived to be 7 and had diabetes and fatty liver disease in addition to heart disease)started to suckle on blankets but then moved on to suckle on one of his back paws on the pads. When my family took him to his vets for his vacs and told the vet he said it was probably just like a little kid sucking on their thumb and it was for comfort and not to discourage it unless he was breaking his skin or we really didn't like it. Koda would want one of my family to sit in his popazon chair and he would hop up curl up and start suckling. The only person outside the family he tried to suckle on was my neighbor and friend when she came over Koda sidled up to her leg as she sat on the floor and curled up and started suckling on his foot. It's really up to you to decide if you want your kitten doing this the vet did tell me that if I really didn't want Koda suckling on his foot to put some hot sauce on his foot and that would stop him.

one of my moggies has always suckled, well feels more like gentle nibbling, as well as padding; which is ok, but he has very sharp claws!, he always does it around your shoulder, and he goes all soppy!. it is a comfort thing...

You are all so lucky that your babes suckle something decent I only have ever had one who done that but he would always try to head straight to a very personal point so had to discourage him,an aged lady who lives opposite came over to see the babes & was playing with them & the next minute he was zooming up her jumper she always tells people he is her "bosom" friend...!

I had a ginger moggie some years ago that did this too, so it sounds quite 'normal'. The problem I had was that he directed all his attentions to a red jumper and after the sucking and kneading he got very amorous with it! He used to drag the jumper around and start this ritual quite often which was ok when we were on our own, but extremely embarrassing when we had guests. I dreaded the day someone came in actually wearing a similar red jumper, could've ended up like Jackie's story but worse!!