looking for vet to answer a question...

[walesy]

hey i have 3 kittens at home and 2 of them are constantly sucking on the oldest ones fur untill its saturated!!! its driving me nuts trying to figure out why theyre doing this its very strange, they are all male... they mostly suckle on the fur around the belly and chest area so i tried putting pepper there and the little ****ers are still doing it...

P.S no this shouldnt be in jokes/humour im serious!! and no theyre not gay or giving him hickies!

[minux]

I'm no vet, but they sound to me like they are hungry....

[shaggerz]

Its possible that they were seperated from their mother at too young an age and are missing their mother's milk. They will probably grow out of this, but in the mean time you should probably not try and stop them as it may not be good for their mental health.

How old are they?

EDIT: They may never grow out of it, but it should become less frequent as they get older. I have heard of cats seperated from their mothers too early regularly dreaming of suckling and repeating this action well into adulthood, but it will most likely be less of a problem as they get older.

[Scooter79]

Exactly what Shaggerz said. I'm curious to know how old these kittens are. Kittens and puppies should not be sepparated from their mothers until they are at least 6 - 8 weeks old. If they're any younger than that then where is the mother cat?

[shaggerz]

My cat had been dumped at the front door of a vet in a cardboard box at about 6 weeks old. Must have stayed with the mother for long enough because he has not held onto any infantile traits.

[walesy]

hey thanks for the replies guy they were with their mother till 7 weeks old but it seems what you are saying is true... the oldest one is from another mother and is a couple of weeks older so maybe they just think its their parent?

[shaggerz]

just give them lots of lovin' and they'll see you as a parent instead soon enough

(please not dirty kitten love!)

[Scooter79]

(please not dirty kitten love!)

Be careful. My wife works for the RSPCA. I don't want to have to report anyone.

[Julie]

Like the other guys said, its just a newborn suckling reflex. Human babies do the same thing, its natural instinct. I wouldn't be too concerned about it yet, I'm sure they'll grow out of it.

[CraigL304]

Im not allowed to have my kitten till mid jan, she'll be 12 weeks by then!

[Doubleshadow]

Good suggestion about the sucking instinct. The only drawback is by the time the 2 kittens grow out of the sucking fetish the other kitten will be bald

[walesy]

hahahaha bald kittens.. hey wait a minute... *Goes and grabs clippers from bathroom*

[shaggerz]

my cat's breed is "DSH" according to the sticker that was on the window of his enclosure when we bought him...

I reason that this stands for "Domestic Shit Head"

[Struma]

Our youngest cat was given a fluffly blanket when he was a kitten and almost straight away started suckling on it, as well as kneading it with his paws to try and get (some more) milk out of it.

I have seen poddy calves doing the same thing, except they suck each others ears!

He did this for about a year or so, but we never found it anything to worry about; we just assumed it was a mammal reflex thing and that it had become a comfort action for him.

Maybe you could find a similar substitute for your little guys?

He still has the blanket but he only sleeps on it these days, and is a perfectly normal little demon spawn monster cat.

Cheers,