Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

One of my cats rescued when he was a tiny kitten and is now an adult always jumps on to my chest and suckles my shirt till it is all wet while kneading away at my chest or stomach everytime I lie down on my couch.

I never push him away but continue stroking him, which makes him even happier.

Another cat, also rescued when she was a tiny kitten crying in the drain, will jump on to me, bites and pulls at any part of my shirt, often tearing many beautiful and sexy holes (many of my nice shirts have been killed by her this way! {cry2}).

I never push her away either, but continue stroking her, which makes her tug at my shirt even more, shredding even bigger tears. {scared}

Out of curiousity (yes, I know curiousity kills the cat, but I was really curious) I found a study on cat suckling on the internet. Here it is:

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Summary of the Cat Suckling Study

Age when separated from mother

The pattern for this question was striking; nearly all kittens were separated from their mother at 8 weeks of age or less, with a large concentration at the less than 6 week stage.

This makes a strong case for the concept that a kitten should not be separated from its mother until 10-12 weeks of age whenever possible. Many kittens that are sent to their new homes at age 8-9 weeks are fine, but quite a few are not.

Anyone trying to give away a kitten that is less than eight weeks of age either doesn't know much about kittens or doesn't care -- beware!

Gender of Cat

Gender was split exactly down the middle, with an equal number of males and females. There appears to be no gender correlation whatsoever.

What did/does the cat suckle -- skin, clothing, or something else?

This varied widely.

Did the cat ever stop suckling?

Most cats never stopped suckling.

If so, at what age? If not, how old is the cat now and does he/she suckle less than before?

Cats typicially suckled throughout their lives. Many of them suckled less as they got older, but some suckled just as much.

Did you let the cat suckle, or did you discourage it?

Most people discouraged their cats from suckling. Whether the cat was allowed to suckle or was discouraged did not seem to matter in relation to whether or not the cat stopped suckling.

If you discouraged suckling, please explain how.

Most people simply removed their cats from their laps to discourage suckling.

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Well, any of you guys game to share your own experiences with your precious furballs?

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

went to SPCA the other day ( finally!)... I dukong one big boy..he's sucking my shirt .. can hear the sound 'serp..serp..serp'..betul-betul sucking and basah bahu i.. I let him go and whenever I squad down to pat the others, he climbed up and suck my lower shirt..again!..then tak sampai hati..dokong lagi..biar dia isap..{shy} the SPCA people said ''dia memang mama's boy'.. because of him. i will be going back to visit la.. {shy}

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

salam...hai saya nak kongsi pengalaman saya dengan mulan,my tricolor dsh baby boy(now dah nak jadi adult..dah pandai mating ngan toys).
mulan dijumpai semasa umurnya lebih kurang 2hari.tak ada ibu yang datang cari.mata mulan belum buka dan tali pusat pun belum tanggal.
masa umur mulan 10 hari saya ajar dia minum susu dalam botol.kadang2 bila dia main2 atas badan dia akan hisap bibir saya.pernah sampai dia tertito atas dada sebab syok sangat menghisap.hehehe..
saya ingatkan masa kecik je dia wat camtu.rupanya sampai sekarang dah umur 7bulan berat 3kg.bila dia rasa mengantuk dan dia tengok saya duduk2@baring mesti dia datang nak hisap bibir.saya biar je la.kalau saya pun mengantuk maka kami tidur sama sambil dia menghisap bibir saya.best gak buat bantal pelok..hihihi..
kalau saya tak nak bagi saya akan tutup bibir ngan kain.mula2 dia akan jilat2 muka nak minta,tapi lama2 dia akan give up(hanya waktu itu je..nanti dia akan datang minta lagi)
cuma yang lucu tu bila dia sedang aktif jangan harap la nak peluk2 dia..siap marah kita lagi..huhuhu..

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

Hahahaa! Kasih, nasib baik dekat bahu yg basah bukan kat tetek, aku punyer boboy sometimes dive in dan hisap aku punyer tetek {high}{high} (pandai lak dia cari!) dan basahkan my shirt. Cepat-cepat tukar baju takut nanti orang pikir dis guy "kinky samtiang rong" dan pikir macam-macam lak! ... and no auntie will let her daughter marry me .... {scared}{scared} ...

Hey kawan, I like your quote mucho la: ""No heaven will not ever Heaven be unless my cats are there to welcome me."

I will enter the Gates of Heaven and let everyone knock me down flat as they all jump on top of me and gomol me with joy ... {good}{good}

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

Hahahaaaa, lucu ... memang sedap bila mereka baring atas dada buat bantal peluk. One of my greedy and always-hungry boboy berat badan dah nak dekat 5 kg (dia pandai buat muka kesian mintak makan kat semua orang sampai hati orang semua cair dan ikut cakap dia), bila dia tiba-tiba lompat ke atas dada saya, rasa macam aku dilanda a 1-ton truck! Tapi sedap betul rasa bantal berat mcm tu kat dada. Dan dia pula suka baring dengan buntut dia ngam-ngam kat muka saya seolah-olah sengaja kasi saya cium bau dia! {arrogant}Haha! Ya, kucing memang macam tu perangai mereka ... they take things on their own terms, sebab tu la perpatah "Cats have no masters, only slaves". Mereka tak macam anjing. Tapi apa nak buat, mereka pandai pukau saya, so jadi hamba mereka lah saya seumur hidup.

Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

Hahahahahah!! My Pokemon yg 7.8kg tu pun suka duduk atas dada aku & kasih bontot dia to my face {sick}{sick} tp so far none of my cats yg suka suck jari/baju etc. Mgkn sebab ada ibu. Tp dulu my late Ranggi aku jumpa dia msh kecik lg. Jalan pun msh goyang goyang. Dia suka hisap jari aku {shy}{shy} Siap ada bunyi bunyi lagi. Pasal dia terpisah dgn ibu dia waktu dia kecik sangat.

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

Syida masa dulu2 zaman muda2 remaja {grin} pun ada sekor kucing yg suka sangat suckle kat baju sampai basah2 dan koyak2 macam baju furkids gak, memang rescue dari kecik, kecik2 dah hilang ibu so i guess he missed the comfort of suckling to his mother. Kadang2 bila tak dapat baju, kain lap kaki pun jadilah! {sweat} dia akan hisap sampai bunyi 'nyot...nyot...chup..chup...' sambil kneading sampailah tertidur hehehe. comel sangat...

Sekor lagi pulak di rescue dari baby, so memang besar dengan susu botol. bila dah besar sikit, siap tukar kepada susu botol baby manusia lagi tu since mulut dia dah besar hehe. Dah besar panjang (9 months) masih lagi nak susu sampai kena paksa cerai susu. Tak larat nak susukan budak besar {shy}. Tapi kadang2 bagi jugak, kesian....

Consequencenya, walaupun bila dia sendiri dah jadi ibu, dia tetap akan GO NUTS...i repeat...GO NUTS bila dia nampak ada botol susu di mana2. Kitorang kat rumah terpaksa sorok botol2 susu dia kat dalam almari, sebab dia mmg tak boleh nampak langsung. Kalau nampak, gerenti terkam. {sweat} Ada sekali tu, my cousin datang rumah bawak baby dia, sampai masa, baby dia nangis nak menyusu, dia pun keluarkan botol susu nak bagi anak dia, tup2 berlarilah kucing syida ni ke arah dia dan baby dia (kucing ni memang duk perati tetamu datang dari jauh je) terus melompat kat my cousin's lap dan beriya2 hulur mulut dan kaki hadapan nak rebut puting botol tu (ye, beliau telah melompat ke atas baby di atas pangku tersebut {cry2}) sampai menjerit2lah mak budak tu minta diselamatkan dan budak tu sampai sekarang dah besar pun, takutkan kucing huhuhu {ohmygod}

Hmm...bila kenang2 balik kenangan silam pasal kucing2 kita yang pernah bersama2 dengan kita, kucing2 yang telah menghiburkan hati dan hidup kita tanpa meminta apa2 balasan pun dari kita , buat kita tersenyum sorang2 dan secara tak sedar, air mata pun mula bergenang...tak sangka kan, walaupun setelah bertahun2 kucing2 kesayangan kita pergi, kita tetap akan tersenyum dan menangis setiap kali teringatkan kenakalan, kecomelan dan kenangan2 indah serta pahit manis bersama mereka...adakah mereka di sana pun teringatkan dan merindukan kita?

Hanya Tuhan yang tahu....{cry}

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

my 'kacang' likes to suckle my finger when i stroke her. she will headbutt here and there around my lap first and goes aiming her mouth at any of my fingers and there you go, all wet... {shy}

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

Hahahahahaa!!! This is a good one, Syida! Anak saudara Syida tu jadi phobia kucing tapi jadi tak phobia botol susu ya? Kalau phobia botol susu, susah pulak mak dia terpaksa breastfeed dia pula, ya? Syida kena cuba re-program otak saudara Syida supaya jadi tak phobia kucing. Sebab terlalu banyak strays yg tak ada tempat menumpang kasih dan makanan, kalau Syida dapat re-program anak saudara tu utk buang phobia kucing dan jadi penyayang kucing, akan dapat tambah at least sorang adopter dalam dunia ini, kan? Dan maybe 10 ekor kucing stray akan bernasib baik memperolehi a safe and loving home. {wink}We will always treasure them with fond memories ... and yes, in my heart I do believe we will all be reunited one day and I look forward to that special day. {happy}

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

Yes, same here. All my cats that grew up with mom and had the luxury of comfort nursing (some up to the age of 6 months because I managed to spay the mothers to ensure that the moms would not get pregnant again and reject their nursing kittens). These lucky cats of mine would just sit and purr loudly as they lay on you while you stroke them, but none of them suckle or chew my shirts. That really shows how important it is not to separate kittens from mama at a young age.

I have watched sadly as pregnant moms hiss at their own bewildered kittens when they had rushed up to their mommies to suckle and manja as they had always done. Kesian betul ... and some of them had been only about 2 months old ... poor things!

Food and water alone are not enough. There is more than mere physical development. Like humans, we must not forget the psychological and emotional needs and development of the kittens.

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

Adrian, she probably thinks your finger is one big juicy nipple ... hahaa! {grin}

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

hashahaha{shy} I was like.. haih.. aku confuse.. Ini FK Tom cat ke Katie cat..{shy}{shy}.. tiba2 kucing suckling dekat situ..hahaha I reread.. baru dapat tangkap gender si bapak kucing..{grin}

Ya la..tukar signature.. sebab sedih la.. feels incomplete ler.. {cool} yet recovering after went to play with those at the shelter.. Now, talk about animal therapy kan..... That would be my definition of heaven.. ~~grin and imagining bulus bulus with the round fluorescent thingy on the heads and maybe small white wings...kekekeke**{shy}

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

and they have wands too hehehe...{good}

...so much for the imagination...{shy}

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/dre1568l.jpg

yet they have 9 lives..bet they do not want to accompany us in heaven yet la FK..

hahaha teruk tul merepek..

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

Hahahaaaa!!! I imagine them all just the way they were minus halos, wings and wands ... I imagine myself frolicking happily with all of them on meadows of gold in a perfect place with no pain and sorrows .... {happy}Ala, Kasih, bungkus angkut balik terus ajer laaaa .... poor boboy .... {grin}

Re: Cat Suckling Study — Psychological Effects
 

{scared}{scared} Alamak! Don't look anything like any of my purdies laaa ... not as I remember them ..... yoohhhhh!!!! {scared}{scared}