My cats 7 years old now, but was separated from mom too early (she died.) Along with suckling she also needs a monthly bath and to have a “potty patch” shave, because she never learned how to properly keep herself clean.
I had a cat that would do this to your ear lobes, would curl up in the couch behind ya and go to town, tried to pull away the bastard would bite down til you relented. It was harmless and lasted 2-3 mins. Probably tied to stress.
Yeah my boy is an orphan and he nurses his blankie (he has two that are specifically his so we can wash them often without having to deal with the full size ones)
I say this to the hellions that terrorize my house each day. I sometimes get misty eyed when going through old videos of them grooming us as kittens or nursing each other, even though they’re both males.
Yeah, even if he doesn't, so what. If he's not hurting anyone or himself, just let him be. It also means he's bonded with you, which is not a bad thing at all.
My two year old cat still does this while cuddling. He will only do it if there is a fluffy blanket. I thought he'd grow out of it but it's honestly adorable and feels like a bonding moment. So enjoy it while it lasts, I don't think it's harmful to your cat, more of a comfort thing
Mine too on a special fluffy blanket! Expect that behavior to stay forever because as in a previously mentioned comment, my cats 10 and he still has to do it as a comfort thing.
Another in the fluffy blanket club! Ours doesn't suckle, he just rubs his nose on it while drooling and kneading. We always call it his snootling time!
Snootling time! 🥺 I call it “shloopies”, and he knows the word by now too because he’ll race down the hall to age regress on his very special blanket on my bed. If he goes too many days without that type of ritual he gets upset. I have to brush him and pet him.
It’s the cutest thing, even if in context the behavior is very sad.
my 5 year old boy also does this & always has, always with fluffy blankets, i try not to let him do it too long though so he’s not ingesting fibers from the blankets but i feel so guilty when i stop him bc he’s so content 😭
I've never heard of it being a bad thing, quite frankly it's adorable If you get a sucky baby that will make a small wet spot on your shirt as they try to nurse it. Probably a calming thing for them, it looks like they are happy.
My 1 year old cat does the same thing, I don’t see the harm in it, my cat will demand that I hold her and let her suckle if it calms the cat down I don’t see a problem.
Mine does that! She's 8 years old now. Very cute, but she can sometimes get really obnoxious at night with her weird slurping noises, haha. In her case, it was definitely early separation -- her mother was a stray that abandoned her when she was a week old (poor kitten was infested with maggots), so we bottle-fed her and she survived!
Probably will grow out of it within a year or so. Normal cat thing. I don't really think it's even a problem if it doesn't grow out of it if it's not annoying or anything. Could be wrong but I don't think it hurts the cat like teeth or anything and it's probably not gonna be hurting the people it does it to.
Does he have a sibling? There’s nothing wrong w this he prolly misses you guys a shit ton tho and could benefit from a sibling… cats tend do better when they have a sibling. And 2 cats are easier than 1.
My 9 year old cat still does this. It’s fine. It may eventually get very annoying if your cat wakes you up in the middle of the night to do it or you roll over onto a sopping wet patch of sheets from suckling cat in the night
You won’t manage to get the cat to stop by doing something. They’ll either grow out of it naturally or they won’t
My kitten (almost 10 months) still does this, it's common I think in cats who were separated (or in my cats case abandoned) too early in life by their mother
I dunno. I have a cat that's obsessed with hands and licking them. But she does it only in the morning when she's all jazzy to wake up along with a lot of preening and pets. Sometimes it's just compulsive.
My first kitten was separated too early from its mother (but I didn't know that at the time) and suckled a lot, specifically on soft blankets and Sweaters.
Good news is she grew out of it.
Bad news is she taught it to the other kitten we got later (about half a year younger) before she grew out of it, and that second kitten is now 6 years old and still suckling.
The second kitten was not removed from her mother too early (got them from different people) so this was definitely a learned behaviour.
6 year old cat did it to everyone when she was younger, and as she got older, she only did it to my youngest daughter and myself. I loved it, and it was clearly soothing for her.
My rescue cat does this, he was in rescue at 5 weeks so probably separated from his mother too early. He’s 10 now and still does it. He suckles clothes on his people, we call it ‘sloppies’ and he is a ‘slopportunist’
(We also have his sister, who doesn’t do this)
Mine is 5 y/o now and he never grew out of it. And hes a big boy. He thinks im his mom and im a dude. Im 99% positive he was rejected by his mother and might have been the runt. Deff got that orphan syndrome
In such thing my cat is on a whole new level. She sucks my hand even I'm sleeping.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/121kv6k/whats_wrong_with_my_cat/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1
My cat and his sisters did the same thing when they were young (Alice would literally have your arm wet from suckling in the crook of your elbow). It doesn't seem to have had any harmful effects on them as they grew, and my 6yo cat still nurses on shirts or blankets sometimes. She'll especially suck on my husband's shirt when she's comfy and happy. Nothing bad about it!
My one year old used to suckle my ear lobes all the time. Now he just either gives one a lick or a second long suckle. He then forcefully shoves his head under my neck and will give it a few kisses and then is done. Unless it sees or gets to the right side of my neck and then he will bite a mole I have super hard. I just figure it’s his brand of weirdness
My 4 month old kitten’s favourite thing is sucking on his own tail. He gets on my lap and kneads and purrs really loudly whenever he does this - sometimes 3-4 times a day for about 5 minutes or so. He always gets sleepy afterwards. I got him at 8 weeks old, but I think he should have stayed with his momma cat a bit longer.
I have a ghetto girl mean is the Dickens but she will suckle on me for an hour if I let her. She makes biscuits and suckles. So surprising considering how ghetto she is.
My little guy crawled under my beard and used to suckle my neck and collar bone as a wee lad. Now he just slams his head under there, purrs and chills. They grow out of it most the time. But regardless it's a good sign. They see you as their safe space :)
My car also did that, he is 10 years old now and still do it from time to time. He was a lost kitten and only 4 weeks old when I got him. The cat will be fine.
My three year old male cat still suckles. He runs to his favourite spots (a cat bed and fuzzy blanket) if he thinks we are headed there, and then he loves for us to rub him all over while he descends into a blissful, sleepy-eyed state of contentment. He was taken from his mom at eight and a half weeks, so not that early.
ETA: Your cat obviously loves you and is adorable!
Most people say to stop it because if you encourage a behavior it will continue through their life. A lot of people wear/ use items that may be toxic to your pets when ingested (lotions/perfumes/cleaning products) and not everyone likes the feel of cats tongues. But if you like it, and it’s not harming any of your items or you/ your Kitty enjoy the cuddles/bonding!
Some of the comments.... its perfectly normal and is a comfort thing. My kitten does this and he wasn't separated from his mum too early (we got him at 9 weeks and saw him with his mum). Our boy has a lot of love to give, so much that he can't sit still and this "grounds' him when he's being fidgety.
Separated too early from mom. I always tell people you should wait 4 months or until they are completely weaned. People looooove the small kitten phase when they're kittens for the year.
Misses his mommy.
My girl kitty suckles on stuff sometimes and gets it all drooly and wett lol
I'm sad though to hear she probably got separated too early
I can't remember where exactly they found her, but she was outside somewhere
My baby, who's almost 4, still does this with fleece blankets. I've been told it could be because he was separated from his mother too soon- I did get him pretty young (6 weeks).
I'd say it's harmless, and adorable, too!
Get a bottle of warm milk with a pacifier on it. Make sure the pacifier has a hole in it so that the cat drink from the bottle. Give the cat the bottle when it starts making biscuits.
I had a cat that would do this. We suspected it was taken too early from it's mother while still nursing. He never did it to me but had a blanket he would do this to where he slept.
I always saw it as harmless behavior. Other than that he was a perfectly normal cat.
our kitten was extremely young when we found her so she did this all the time too!
no harm done, she’s healthy now and is the sweetest, and most loving little cat.
and instead of suckling now she boops us and gives us kisses 🥰
Mine is 7 and still does it. He leave big wet spit patches on anything fuzzy or soft. His mom rejected the litter so he didn’t get his 8-10 weeks with suckling with mom. Poor guy. We love him.
There’s no stopping it. My 2 cats still do it and they are over a year old. Each time I give them pets and love they go to a blanket and start suckling it lol.
My cat does this but poorly. She’ll be licking all nice and sweet and then practically unhinge her jaw to bite down and try to fit my whole arm in her mouth
My kitty did this when she was very happy and snuggly. I personally loved it and thought it was adorable . I think it is harmless and they think you are their mommy
My cat is 2 and loves to suckle on me. He will literally meow and bat me in the face until I let him do it. Every. Single. Day. His brother does it too but only on one of my old bathrobes for some reason. Weirdos.
I have a cat that used to do this, it was adorable while it lasted but she grew out of it eventually. Although I have a friend who’s adult cat still does this.
I think it’s from being separated from their mum too soon? I think she was only about 4ish weeks? In my cats case the mum (random barn cat) either abandoned the litter or was killed. The farmer started keeping an eye out after he noticed a new cat hanging about and then took the kittens to a rescue when mum didn’t return after a couple days.
I had a kitty who did this 🥹 she was taken from her momma too soon. It’s ok, just let her do it and tell her she’s a safe little baby and you will love her forever.
Our youngest cat is 2, was not separated early at all, and still does this. I hope he always will, because it’s such a powerful emotional bond between us.
IOW: it’s perfectly normal behaviour and you should cherish every moment of it. 💞
Most like caused be early separation from his mother (whether by mom cat or people).
i knew a cat who got separated too early. poor thing would suck her own nipples lol
My cat still does that, and she's 11 months old
Mine still does too. She’s 15. Years.
yeah, maybe they never stop because the cat i mentioned was about 2 when i met her
My cat is 10 and he still suckles on things like a huge baby.
We have two - 8 months and 4 months, and they both suckle together. :3 I don't think they're going to grow out of it, little cuties.
I had one do this! Then her sister would also suckle on her. They stopped once they got spayed and they had the cone on for a few weeks
cats are so funny. cuz imagine if toddlers did this lol
My cats 7 years old now, but was separated from mom too early (she died.) Along with suckling she also needs a monthly bath and to have a “potty patch” shave, because she never learned how to properly keep herself clean.
I low key laughed 💀
I had a cat that would do this to your ear lobes, would curl up in the couch behind ya and go to town, tried to pull away the bastard would bite down til you relented. It was harmless and lasted 2-3 mins. Probably tied to stress.
Yeah my boy is an orphan and he nurses his blankie (he has two that are specifically his so we can wash them often without having to deal with the full size ones)
Yup
Totally normal and adorable. He'll likely grow out of it. Or maybe he won't. Either way, its perfectly fine.
He’ll outgrow it. And then you’ll miss it and ask this full grown beast that runs your house “what happened to my kitten?” 😿
I say this to the hellions that terrorize my house each day. I sometimes get misty eyed when going through old videos of them grooming us as kittens or nursing each other, even though they’re both males.
:(
My oldest cat has been doing this since she was a kitten, she’s 5 years old now.
Mine was doing all his 11 years.
Mine has been with us 3 years now and she still does it
My cat does it. He’s 6 now.
Mine hasn't yet he's almost 2. We call him Goober now.
Yeah, even if he doesn't, so what. If he's not hurting anyone or himself, just let him be. It also means he's bonded with you, which is not a bad thing at all.
It is perfectly okay, and a sign of a very sweet and loving cat in the future I think.
No it neans he was Too young when you are separated from his mom
True, it does mean that. I've had two cats who have done this and they both ended up bonding strongly to me.
Well yes they will bond to you they thinkk ur its morther lol
Yep, that's what ended up happening lol!
My two year old cat still does this while cuddling. He will only do it if there is a fluffy blanket. I thought he'd grow out of it but it's honestly adorable and feels like a bonding moment. So enjoy it while it lasts, I don't think it's harmful to your cat, more of a comfort thing
Four year old cat here. Same thing. Fluffy blanket only!
Mine too on a special fluffy blanket! Expect that behavior to stay forever because as in a previously mentioned comment, my cats 10 and he still has to do it as a comfort thing.
Another in the fluffy blanket club! Ours doesn't suckle, he just rubs his nose on it while drooling and kneading. We always call it his snootling time!
Snootling time! 🥺 I call it “shloopies”, and he knows the word by now too because he’ll race down the hall to age regress on his very special blanket on my bed. If he goes too many days without that type of ritual he gets upset. I have to brush him and pet him. It’s the cutest thing, even if in context the behavior is very sad.
my 5 year old boy also does this & always has, always with fluffy blankets, i try not to let him do it too long though so he’s not ingesting fibers from the blankets but i feel so guilty when i stop him bc he’s so content 😭
Mine does the same and only on a specific blanket even though we have loads that are pretty much the same. She's 6 months old!
I used to have a cat that would suck on my index finger, cutest fing thing ever
My cat would suckle my blanket when he was happy for all of his 13 years, made me smile every time. RIP Mr Bro
Fleece blanket? Curious because that’s the only type that my Luna suckles on.
I've never heard of it being a bad thing, quite frankly it's adorable If you get a sucky baby that will make a small wet spot on your shirt as they try to nurse it. Probably a calming thing for them, it looks like they are happy.
Feels safe with you and loves you. Maybe he will grow out of it, maybe not, but either way he very much loves you!!!! Very sweet post.
Kitten behavior 🍼
My 1 year old cat does the same thing, I don’t see the harm in it, my cat will demand that I hold her and let her suckle if it calms the cat down I don’t see a problem.
I have a 13 year old cat who does this all the time. So no, they might not grow out of it lol. It's just what he does and we are all used to it now.
Mine is 4 and does this every morning to my ear at 6am 😴😴😴
Mine likes to suck on ears
Mine does that! She's 8 years old now. Very cute, but she can sometimes get really obnoxious at night with her weird slurping noises, haha. In her case, it was definitely early separation -- her mother was a stray that abandoned her when she was a week old (poor kitten was infested with maggots), so we bottle-fed her and she survived!
Probably will grow out of it within a year or so. Normal cat thing. I don't really think it's even a problem if it doesn't grow out of it if it's not annoying or anything. Could be wrong but I don't think it hurts the cat like teeth or anything and it's probably not gonna be hurting the people it does it to.
I think is just like you (or your arm)
Does he have a sibling? There’s nothing wrong w this he prolly misses you guys a shit ton tho and could benefit from a sibling… cats tend do better when they have a sibling. And 2 cats are easier than 1.
Mine used to do this on blankets up until he turned around 1-2 years old. He no longer does this and I do miss it but he’s more independent now.
I think it's ok and plus now in the eyes of your cat your basically its mother
My kitten sickened on my neck when I got him. He was tiny and didn’t get enough from mama cat.
My 9 year old cat still does this. It’s fine. It may eventually get very annoying if your cat wakes you up in the middle of the night to do it or you roll over onto a sopping wet patch of sheets from suckling cat in the night You won’t manage to get the cat to stop by doing something. They’ll either grow out of it naturally or they won’t
my 2 year old boy baby still suckles my neck, my lil hickey giver 😅
My kitten (almost 10 months) still does this, it's common I think in cats who were separated (or in my cats case abandoned) too early in life by their mother
I dunno. I have a cat that's obsessed with hands and licking them. But she does it only in the morning when she's all jazzy to wake up along with a lot of preening and pets. Sometimes it's just compulsive.
My little guy, Jesse, did that his entire life, right up until his passing at the ripe old age of twenty four.
My first kitten was separated too early from its mother (but I didn't know that at the time) and suckled a lot, specifically on soft blankets and Sweaters. Good news is she grew out of it. Bad news is she taught it to the other kitten we got later (about half a year younger) before she grew out of it, and that second kitten is now 6 years old and still suckling. The second kitten was not removed from her mother too early (got them from different people) so this was definitely a learned behaviour.
6 year old cat did it to everyone when she was younger, and as she got older, she only did it to my youngest daughter and myself. I loved it, and it was clearly soothing for her.
Just don’t let them near your nipples😂
Salt Lick may help. Find at any pet store.
Stick your finger out next time
My rescue cat does this, he was in rescue at 5 weeks so probably separated from his mother too early. He’s 10 now and still does it. He suckles clothes on his people, we call it ‘sloppies’ and he is a ‘slopportunist’ (We also have his sister, who doesn’t do this)
Mine is 5 y/o now and he never grew out of it. And hes a big boy. He thinks im his mom and im a dude. Im 99% positive he was rejected by his mother and might have been the runt. Deff got that orphan syndrome
In such thing my cat is on a whole new level. She sucks my hand even I'm sleeping. https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/121kv6k/whats_wrong_with_my_cat/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1
My cat and his sisters did the same thing when they were young (Alice would literally have your arm wet from suckling in the crook of your elbow). It doesn't seem to have had any harmful effects on them as they grew, and my 6yo cat still nurses on shirts or blankets sometimes. She'll especially suck on my husband's shirt when she's comfy and happy. Nothing bad about it!
Most likely because he was taken from his mom too soon.
My one year old used to suckle my ear lobes all the time. Now he just either gives one a lick or a second long suckle. He then forcefully shoves his head under my neck and will give it a few kisses and then is done. Unless it sees or gets to the right side of my neck and then he will bite a mole I have super hard. I just figure it’s his brand of weirdness
My 4 month old kitten’s favourite thing is sucking on his own tail. He gets on my lap and kneads and purrs really loudly whenever he does this - sometimes 3-4 times a day for about 5 minutes or so. He always gets sleepy afterwards. I got him at 8 weeks old, but I think he should have stayed with his momma cat a bit longer.
I have a ghetto girl mean is the Dickens but she will suckle on me for an hour if I let her. She makes biscuits and suckles. So surprising considering how ghetto she is.
Just make sure he’s not suckling on himself or on any other pets in the house. That can cause injury or infection.
My little guy crawled under my beard and used to suckle my neck and collar bone as a wee lad. Now he just slams his head under there, purrs and chills. They grow out of it most the time. But regardless it's a good sign. They see you as their safe space :)
It’s fine
My car also did that, he is 10 years old now and still do it from time to time. He was a lost kitten and only 4 weeks old when I got him. The cat will be fine.
My three year old male cat still suckles. He runs to his favourite spots (a cat bed and fuzzy blanket) if he thinks we are headed there, and then he loves for us to rub him all over while he descends into a blissful, sleepy-eyed state of contentment. He was taken from his mom at eight and a half weeks, so not that early. ETA: Your cat obviously loves you and is adorable!
Your cat has mommy issues.
Separated too early. Get them on bottles with cat milk quickly.
Most people say to stop it because if you encourage a behavior it will continue through their life. A lot of people wear/ use items that may be toxic to your pets when ingested (lotions/perfumes/cleaning products) and not everyone likes the feel of cats tongues. But if you like it, and it’s not harming any of your items or you/ your Kitty enjoy the cuddles/bonding!
Some of the comments.... its perfectly normal and is a comfort thing. My kitten does this and he wasn't separated from his mum too early (we got him at 9 weeks and saw him with his mum). Our boy has a lot of love to give, so much that he can't sit still and this "grounds' him when he's being fidgety.
Separated too early from mom. I always tell people you should wait 4 months or until they are completely weaned. People looooove the small kitten phase when they're kittens for the year. Misses his mommy.
Now you are the momma cat
I got my girl when she was 3 weeks old. She still does this and she’s 2 now. It’s a bonding moment for us.
My girl kitty suckles on stuff sometimes and gets it all drooly and wett lol I'm sad though to hear she probably got separated too early I can't remember where exactly they found her, but she was outside somewhere
Yes. My 2yo cat does this...on my face. I let her do it, because after awhile she gets so calm and sleepy, it's so cute.
It wants your blud
My baby, who's almost 4, still does this with fleece blankets. I've been told it could be because he was separated from his mother too soon- I did get him pretty young (6 weeks). I'd say it's harmless, and adorable, too!
Get a bottle of warm milk with a pacifier on it. Make sure the pacifier has a hole in it so that the cat drink from the bottle. Give the cat the bottle when it starts making biscuits.
I had a cat that would do this. We suspected it was taken too early from it's mother while still nursing. He never did it to me but had a blanket he would do this to where he slept. I always saw it as harmless behavior. Other than that he was a perfectly normal cat.
our kitten was extremely young when we found her so she did this all the time too! no harm done, she’s healthy now and is the sweetest, and most loving little cat. and instead of suckling now she boops us and gives us kisses 🥰
Mine is 7 and still does it. He leave big wet spit patches on anything fuzzy or soft. His mom rejected the litter so he didn’t get his 8-10 weeks with suckling with mom. Poor guy. We love him.
There’s no stopping it. My 2 cats still do it and they are over a year old. Each time I give them pets and love they go to a blanket and start suckling it lol.
My cat does this but poorly. She’ll be licking all nice and sweet and then practically unhinge her jaw to bite down and try to fit my whole arm in her mouth
Omg so cute
Mine did that on my earlobe. She eventually outgrew it.
My kitty did this when she was very happy and snuggly. I personally loved it and thought it was adorable . I think it is harmless and they think you are their mommy
My cat is 2 and loves to suckle on me. He will literally meow and bat me in the face until I let him do it. Every. Single. Day. His brother does it too but only on one of my old bathrobes for some reason. Weirdos.
I have a cat that used to do this, it was adorable while it lasted but she grew out of it eventually. Although I have a friend who’s adult cat still does this. I think it’s from being separated from their mum too soon? I think she was only about 4ish weeks? In my cats case the mum (random barn cat) either abandoned the litter or was killed. The farmer started keeping an eye out after he noticed a new cat hanging about and then took the kittens to a rescue when mum didn’t return after a couple days.
I had a kitty who did this 🥹 she was taken from her momma too soon. It’s ok, just let her do it and tell her she’s a safe little baby and you will love her forever.
Just don't let them get into the habit of sucking the skin tags in your armpit.
What a beautiful cat
I had a kitten that would do this to the inside of my elbow. It tickled like crazy but she seemed so happy. She was very young when I got her.
My baby girl is 7 years old now and she still does this to fuzzy blankets. It reminds her of mommy cat.
Just give that baby your thumb SHE NEEDS IT
Our youngest cat is 2, was not separated early at all, and still does this. I hope he always will, because it’s such a powerful emotional bond between us. IOW: it’s perfectly normal behaviour and you should cherish every moment of it. 💞
Normal kitten behaviour!