Calling all Cat Owners - CONFUSED Cat!

[CocoNUT]

Ok....I'm calling on all fellow cat owners out there....I have a SERIOUSLY "confused" kitty at home! Actually I might be the one who is confused after what I've been witnessing!

Ok...so we've all heard about the stories where some female cat, dog, rabbit, (insert mammal here) "adopts" abandoned baby animals right? Well that's NOT the story here. My story is MUCH stranger.

My daughter (7 y/o) recently obtained HER kitten "Prince Charming" with her own money, saved up from the Tooth Fairy and various chores. Prince Charming came with his Sister "Snow White" and they've been in our home now for several weeks. They are the newest additions to our family. Now every ONE of our cats is spayed/neutered and range in age from 7 years to 2 years old.

One of our "special furry children", Manapua...AKA Manny, has taken a special "liking" to the latest additions. Manny...is a NEUTERED MALE cat...'rescued' from the local "no kill" (we just put them to sleep) county shelter a couple years ago. (Well...they're all rescued cats...) Anywho...so Manny likes to play rough and chase and all kinds of WILD games. He's taken to grooming them (obviously a dominance thing)...but also GROOOOMING them....to the point where they start 'searching' him for sustenance! I have on SEVERAL occasions caught Snowie attempting to NURSE off of Manny...and there he is...just LETTING her!

Well...last night I noticed two sets of ears in the top of one of our cat trees. There was Manny...on his side...dozing quite peacefully. Charming was kneading away...suckling at Manny's tummy! So I said "Charming...seriously...." and tried to kinda 'wake' him out of his trance. Well I had to actually POP Charming OFF of Manny's nipple!!!!!!! Manny looked at me like "Why'd you do that for mom?" OMG!

So I know grown cats will Knead when they're comfy, when they want affection, etc. Heck...one of the cats even DROOLS when he kneads...but I've NEVER seen or heard of a male cat...let alone a NEUTERED male cat... SUCKLING kittens! And for anyone who THINKS to ask...NO...I did NOT notice if Manny was lactating!!!!

So WHAT is going on here?!!?!?! (The kittens are well over 8 weeks old...probably close to 11) The nursing only began in the last couple of days...but this is SERIOUSLY weird!

Does anyone out there have any ideas WHAT is going on? I mean I've never seen this kind of "big brother bonding" before....

 

[LindsayB]

LOL This is pretty funny! I have no idea why they do that though. Our cat milo who is one year old still 'nurses' on blankets and dog beds. I'll be sleeping at night and wake up to feel him kneading on the blanket...Cats are weird.

 

[S.L.Swope]

Are you sure Manny is a boy? You said he was neutered but maybe it's really a girl. I don't know much about cat anatomy but can you tell by looking at it whether it's male or female.

Cats are weird though mine drools all the time! We had a cat that would suckle it's litter mates tail and that one would then suckle the next one's male part!

The drooling cat came from that litter as well. We found them abandoned in my in-laws garage one summer

 

[aoxa]

Oh yeah. I had a male cat that let his daughter try to nurse off him until we tragically lost that kitten (age 11 months) to an accident outdoors. We kind of caught our house on fire and the smoke was making everyone cough, so we let them out

Bad idea. We had just moved to the area a few days before and they were not used to it.

Anyway..

I have tons of pictures of it happening. She got really into it. He seemed to like the attention

 

[EmAbTo48]

When we were younger my mom would foster cats from the shelter and let them live with us till they were adopted. She would mostly help out the moms with kittens, single kittens or pregnant cats. But she took in one male named Bubba. He was a black neutered male that we all fell in love with and ended up adopting ourselves. When ever my mom would foster kittens that had lost there mom, or were found by themselves he took a "mother" figure to them right away, grooming, cleaning up "poopy messes" and allowing them to fake nurse!!!!! It was weird but he always seemed to love watching over them!

I wouldn't worry about it, it will allow them to grow closer and they do eventually stop this behavior! I think its kind of nice actually with the kittens we got they usually had been to small yet to leave mom so it helped socialize them since he showed them the litter box, and how to behave he even would scold them!

 

[CocoNUT]

S.L.Swope :

Are you sure Manny is a boy? You said he was neutered but maybe it's really a girl. I don't know much about cat anatomy but can you tell by looking at it whether it's male or female.

The drooly boy used to suckle my earlobe while I would try to sleep! Now he's this GORGEOUS Maine Coon cat who won't put up with ANY cuddling of ANY kind! (and I just want his FURRY SOFTNESS - he's a GORGEOUS cat!!!) All of our cats do the kneading thing on blankets...or US...but never seem them nurse on a male!

More than anything...I'm confused as to WHY he would LET them 'nurse' on him?! Maybe you're right...he just likes the attention!
I guess I'll have to take some photos....just for fun! (It's nice to know I'm not the only one who's witnessed this!)

I'm sorry you lost your kitten aoxa. I'm trying to not kinda catch our house on fire too! First year with a wood stove....cats are LOVING it! (Even the Maine Coon!)​

 

[aoxa]

Okay, after sifting through way too many pictures, here is proof!

And just because it's cute:

Charlie (the father) was neutered the day after the kittens were born. He LOVED his kittens more than the mother cat did