Comments on: Kneading and Nursing at Any Age

By: jeannette

jeannette — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:07:13 +0000

My cat kneads in my hair and tends to chew it too. She also nibbles om my neck when im trying to sleep. It gets very frustrating at times but i love that she loves to cuddle. My lil Alice is only 14 weeks old.

By: Heather Feather

Heather Feather — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:06:58 +0000

We adopted an 8 to 9 week kitten found on the streets of CHicago. Not long after he came home with us, he started “nursing” on me – suckling my tees and kneading my abdomen. For a while, he did it up to 5 times a night! I took it as a complement that he thought of me as “mom.” Although it interfered with my sleep for a while, I didn’t have the heart to stop him. Now he’s 1 and he still likes to do it once or twice a night. He’s a great cat and I’m still the only one he purrs for, which bothers my boyfriend a bit, but he’ll probably outgrow it someday.

By: lake conroe boat rentals

lake conroe boat rentals — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 00:41:42 +0000

What an informative article, I guess now I know why my cat won’t stop nursing on the zebra blanket of my daughter’s, the poor guy wasn’t weened properly!
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By: Oldcat

Oldcat — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:18:46 +0000

I have a new cat that does the same thing. I think the easiest thing would be to trim the front claws a little bit to blunt them. I have had some luck in getting my cat to knead the cushion I am on instead of me when she gets too much. In the end I usually just wince and bear it.

They do sell little caps you can use to cover the claws as well.

By: Christy

Christy — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 07:56:14 +0000

I’m not sure if it’s too late to comment on this post, but I have a question about cats using claws while kneading. My kitty gets very enthusiastic and uses her claws when she kneads on me. It hurts! Sometimes saying “ow” makes a slight difference, but it continues to be a problem. I do not want to discourage her expression of affection, and I usually put something like a thick blanket underneath so she can just knock herself out. But sometimes she still manages to scratch me, or there’s nothing suitable within reach. Is there any other way I can discourage her from extending her claws when she does this?

By: Deb

Deb — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:03:32 +0000

I also have a cat (Pepper) that nurses on herself. She was not however, weaned too early. Paradoxally she was weaned too late…she nursed until she was 12 weeks old…and when her mother stopped nursing her she began to nurse on a larger more dominant kitten (Fatty) from the litter. The kitten (Fatty) did not seem to mind- although we found it to be somewhat disturbing. Tragically the larger kitten (Fatty) was injured while rough housing with her mother and had to be put to sleep. It was after this event that the other kitten (Pepper) began to auto-nurse. We thought she would grow out of it- but she is now an adult and continues to do. She had kittens of her own and briefly stopped this behavior, but later began doing it again. On the contrary she does not do it when she is stressed- but rather when she is happy or excited. She does it when I pet her and when she begins to purr. As soon as the kneading starts, so does the nursing. She likes to curl up on my stomach because I am very warm, knead my belly and nurse. I do not discourage it because it makes her happy. However, I am the only one she does this with. I am not sure what to make of it.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:31:34 +0000

We ahave had our cats the we resucued 3 years age. One of the females that was very shy nurses on my neck. She wraps her arms around my neck and burrows in my hair around my face and nurses. I find it very cute, and ahave many cats in my life, just never one that nurses. Not complaining, just curious!

By: Naamah

Naamah — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:56:05 +0000

I do have a story about a kitten who never lost the nursing behavior.

The kitten who grew up with me adopted a brown bathmat the day I found her and brought her inside. She would knead and nurse on it, drooling madly, just as happy as can be. We called the mat her suck-rug, because that’s just fun to say. She eventually wore a big ol’ hole in the middle of it.

She never nursed on anything else, just the rug, wherever it was lying at the time (I confess I often kept it near me or in my room because she would usually sleep near or on it for part of the day).

We were best friends for eighteen beautiful years. She nursed on that rug until the day she died quietly in her sleep, and she was buried with it.

Here’s a picture, taken when she was about three. In my website link is a link to more pictures, and the only time I ever really wrote about her in my journal.

Shirley — but we called her Weed, because she was always where you didn’t want her, and she grew so fast — was one of those rare cats you only get a handful of times in a lifetime. I had many cats in my childhood, but she is the one who was my companion and friend, and she’s the one who had the patience to deal with a three-year-old child, even as a small kitten, and who taught me how to interact with cats and talk to them.

She was a great cat.

By: WereBear

WereBear — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:13:47 +0000

They could simply be considerate, knowing they might not be able to control their claws at such a time. Cats are all individuals; they can come to different conclusions.

I certainly would not say they have not bonded; this is very happy behavior, but they can express it in different ways, as your two boys do. I’ve had cats who won’t knead my lap, but love to lie on the bed and poke their paws into my stomach; others who will sit on my lap, yet prefer to knead the armrest. It’s the setting that determines when they are most relaxed, and it’s the setting that will shape their response.

By: rae

rae — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:07:51 +0000

How about when they won’t knead on you? My one boy will knead the air when I pet him, the other will knead the bed, but neither will knead me. Are they just not bonded to me yet?