And it was all really weird, because I had always heard that the reason cats would pretend-suckle was because they were weaned too early. And I knew that these guys had not been fully weaned until they were, like, eleven weeks old, which is not too early.
But! I had the problem of the hair-suckage. So I did what any self-respecting cat owner would do and went out and bought pacifiers. For my cats.
They were not interested in the pacifiers, and after a couple of weeks, Little Girl seemed to grow out of the whole hair-sucking thing. Which left The Runt, who would still happily suck away whenever he got the chance, i.e, whenever I fell asleep. Or sat still long enough for him to get to my head. And did I mention that it was CREEPING ME OUT? The only reason I can figure for this behavior is that, as the runt of the litter, he was always the first to be shoved out of the pack when they were all nursing. Maybe he's making up for lost time.
I finally hit on the thing that seems to be working: A fringed towel. Now I keep a towel on the bed, and The Runt is content to suck away on the towel fringe, while kneading his paws against the pillow and making nuk-nuk noises.
Hey, at least he's happy. And Jeesus, at least he's not sucking ON MY HEAD.
5 comments:
My cat was also a sucker. She nursed on one of my kid's teddy bears for a year or two, but now has grown out of it.
Oh my word - a friend had a cat who started kneading my head. After I heard her explanation of why (as you say, weaned too early) I assumed the cat would just get frustrated and give up. I had no idea I narrowly avoid hair suckling.
Evidently her husband's hairy chest and nipples were a big draw for the cat, which was an interesting mental image for me.
Bridgett, it's good to know he may grow out of it.
and the queen, I am trying to scrub that mental image out of my brain RIGHT NOW.
Yuck. I once had a cat that would suck on my finger if I let him.
Our BoyKitty wails and drags around an old mink stole when he thinks he's home alone. After 14 years, the stole has almost no fur left and what is left is hanging from the velvet lining by a thread. All attempts to transfer his affection to a new (but vintage) mink stole have been to no avail.
Listie, I love that your cat drags a mink stole around - it's just so cute.
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