I adopted a new "barn kitten" just over a week ago. The owner said they were 8wks when I picked her up and that they were weaned. She eats dry & wet food just fine, i've had her wormed and flea treated(right away) and she seems all healthy. She's very active & playful and quite a little chunk. I already had an older(around 5yrs) barn cat that I adopted earlier this year, Inky. She was part of the reason I was adopting the new kitten, she's been pretty lonely since she left her old home & the other cats. Inky & the baby took to eachother right away and are constantly playing or cleaning eachother. I have noticed in the last 2 days though that the baby(Ember) has started nursing Inky... of course Inky doesn't care though, she's too happy to have her new baby buddy, but I am worried about it turning into a permanent habit or maybe causing problems, like skin/nipple irritation on Inky. I have no idea why Ember started doing this, I know they will do it for comfort or to calm down but she just now started it? I am just wondering if there's any way that I can try to break her of it before it turns into a habit?
I don't see any harm in it or really any reason to try to stop it since the older cat will put an end to it if there's any issue.
I've heard of this happening before, even with a dog and a kitten! Eventually they act like a normal mum and start telling the kitten to back off once its big enough. Don't worry
its a comfort thing, i abundance wean any babies that come into my life...that means, as would be natural i allow mommy to decide when shes done feeding them, i provide the food, but if momma is still ok with suckling i let it go... as long as the older cat isnt having issues with it its probably very comforting for both. as of right now my cat had an accidental litter, and one of the kittens i kept (momma has since been spayed) the kitten is almost 16 weeks now and every once in a while ill find them curled up together, the kitten nuzzling on a nipple doing the needing action, and momma purring away. theres no milk, theres no soreness or redness, it definatly seems to be a comfort thing. i wouldnt worry, when shes had enough shell tell kitten to stop
