kitten STILL suckling....

[samlf]

I posted a while ago about the rescue cat and her kitten that I have got.

I was assured that mum would soon stop kitten suckling.

Well, she is now 4 1/2 months old and still going to the milk bar! Bonnie still grooms her as if she is a newborn, and doesn't seem to be bothered at all!

I wasn't too concerned as it was getting less frequent, but this last week she is eating much less food (around 1/3 of what she would normally eat) and more milk again.

I'm worried this will stunt her growth or affect her as she isn't getting the right nutrition.

I really don't want to separate them if I can avoid it, as it would be highly impractical and I think they would get upset being confined.

Thanks

recent photo

 

[GlamourPuss86]

Can you separate them for a little while?

 

[AmyMay]

You probably need to think about separating for a few weeks.

 

[neen]

My rescue kitten suckled from her foster mum from time to time until she was a year old! Vet said it was fine if mum was fine with it, which she was.

 

[Booboos]

Quite a few people advocate self-weaning not only for animals but for humans. The WHO for breastfeeding suggests a minimum of 2 years and doesn't have a maximum. Naturally many animals breastfeed for a lot longer than previously thought, e.g. dolphins breastfeed for a minimum of 2 years in a 40 year life span. So I would leave them alone. The kitten does not look stunted in its growth, if anything she looks huge for 4.5 months!

 

[Suelin]

Don't worry about it. When mum has had enough she will kick her off.

 

[Allykat]

I am in a similar situation. I have a rescue mum and 2 of her kittens who are just over 13 weeks who are still feeding a fair bit. We took mum for her jabs last week and asked the vet for advice. She said we should make them stop so that mum is not at risk of getting mastitis. We took kittens today, saw a different vet, asked the same question, answer was to just leave them they will stop in time. So who knows really!! We have no easy way to separate them and can't always be there to take them off so we are just going to try and leave them to wean naturally.