Hi there,
I am at my wits end, have already consulted with an animal behaviorist, but nothing seems to help.
I rescued a darling kitten in April 2007 when he was 6 weeks old. He had only been "weaned" for a day.. long story.. I HAD to get him out of where he was!
Anyway, as soon as he settled in at home, he would curl up on my lap and dry-nurse on the folds of my shirt. I figured he's grow out of it.
As he got older, I would not scold him, but would take him off my lap and place him on the couch or chair with a t-shirt. That seemed to work for a bit.
He is now 10 months old, and while he doesn't try this as often, he still cannot simply sit in my lap and be petted! He always tries to get at a fold of clothing that I'm wearing and dry-nurse!
Needless to say, I want to be able to give my kitty affection (which I do when he is not in my lap to show him that he can enjoy being petted!), but it is becoming ever so tiresome so have to remove him from my lap repeatedly.
Now, when I put him on the ground, he goes to my other kitty (also 10 months old) and tries to rough-house with her. It's as though he gets frustrated that he isn't getting what he wants.
Anyone have any advise to humanely get him to stop doing this??? He's a big boy already, so I can't imagine when he fills out later on.. he'll be an 18 pound kitty who still tries to nurse!! YUK!
Thanks for reading!