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I have just adopted a kitten who is suckling on one of my soft blanket. Is there anything I can do to help her either stop suckling or comfort her more?
This must be a very young kitten only just taken away from the mother as she still feels she is sucking for milk. She will stop it as soon as she finds out there is no milk there .
Sounds like she was taken away from her mother early on. Remove the blanket and maybe allow her to play with kitten toys.
Get her own little blanket that you can wash once in awhile. Some cats continue to do this and many stop as they get older.
Please be sure the kitten is not getting any fibers off whatever you alow her to have. It does not appear to be harmful but many cats continue this into adult life and may have a difficult time coping without it.
Here are a couple of links that discuss this behavior and what you might try to help the kitten overcome this desire.
Does anyone know how I can stop my 11 week old kitten from sucking on everything she can get in her mouth? I realize she may have been taken from her mother too soon, but it is a very annoying habit.
By Cricket from Parkton, NC
Oh, poor kitty. She probably won't ever completely lose the habit, but it will diminish with time. I have three cats, and the Maine Coon loves to purr and knead and suck while he's falling asleep. I used to wake up to grand wet spots on my duvet from his drool, LOL. Redirecting his behavior worked to manage it. It takes patience and firmness and a sense of humor; but then all cat owners have that, right? :)
I got a cat bed and a piece of old woolen blanket. (Cats preferentially suck on wool.) I put the blanket in the bed, and put the bed in a low-traffic, low-stress location in my house (a corner of my home office). Whenever I caught Smoky sucking on something I didn't want him to, I would quietly say "No, Smoky," pick him up gently and without fuss, and put him down and soothe him in his "special place".
For a few weeks I would at this time feed him a spoonful of cottage cheese (a vet recommended this for a cat who had weaning issues) to simulate a milk snack. I never gave him cottage cheese at any other time. Gradually (after six or seven weeks) he learned to associate the interruption with the "No" and with going to his special place and getting a treat, and he transferred his sucking to the wool blanket, which gets washed every week with unscented soap.
Smoky is four now, and he still makes sucking/kneading motions for a bit when he settles down for a nap, but he doesn't flood the place like he used to.
Or she may get over it. I had two kittens at different times that did this. They both eventually got over the habit. It's a security thing. When your kitten feels more safe, secure, and confident, it will most likely outgrow this. Don't stop loving her! One of my cats washes my face in the middle of every night. That hurts! I gently make him stop. I know he is just trying to show he loves me just as I do when I pet him.
It may be annoying to you but it is very comforting to her Because she was taken from her mother so young. We have an adult male cat that suck's on things too and we love him just the same as it is just in his nature like your eye color is your very own.
