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10 month old kitten STILL tries to Dry-Nurse!

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!
2 Responses
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279300 tn?1326746678
i do not know about this as i have had two male cats that have done this incessantly. the one i have now stopped the suckling but the kneading continues, and continues at 12 y/o. they are strange little friends aren't they?
Helpful - 0
228686 tn?1211554707
While the obsessive nature is unusual (but not surprising) it isn't unusual for cats to dry nurse from the nearest female cat for up to a year, year and a half of age. I generally let them do it. It seems to produce very friendly, affection seeking cats (which does help with adoption).

I talked to someone who had a similar problem...they came up with the curious solution of giving the cat a baby bottle of milk (lactose free!) as a treat. The idea was it helped alleviate the stress of the kitty's not having been properly nursed.

Now, that was a four month old cat. After a few months they weaned them off the bottle. I can't honestly say this will work or not with a cat of this age. It may at the very least help curb his frustration and aggressive tendencies.
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