Expert: Dear Tabbi - 12/10/2008

Question
Hello,  This past June we found 5 kittens under my mothers house. They were approximately 3 to 4 weeks old and extremely emaciated.  We were not able to find the mother and brought 4 of the 5 inside to care for. The last one was brought out the next day cold and barely able to move.  I am happy to say all five made it however, the two we kept seem to have this sucking issue.  I don't know how to break them of this habit.  Tabootsu, the last one out, is the worst.  He sucks on our sheets, comforter, pajamas, tee shirts, etc.  His sister Ahmree isn't as bad and didn't start out doing it but has slowing picked up Bootsie's bad habit. How can we stop them from doing this?  It's a little annoying waking up in the morning and your sheet is cover in kitty slobber. P.S.  They do sleep with us and I don't want to kick them out of the bed. One more thing I find odd about them is how they wait next to the shower for us to get done so they can jump in and play with the drips from the faucet. They will even go so far as to walk in an inch of water to get to the drips.

Answer
Lisa,

The suckling is an emotional issue from being weaned too young. It gives them comfort to do it. They should grow out of it as they get older.

Cats, especially kittens love drips! They like fresh water and they like to play with drips as a form of amusement. I leave my bathroom faucet with a slight drip and a 3 of my cats prefer to drink from there.

If your kittens like to get in the bathtub, a fun thing to do is block the drain and put a couple of ping pong balls in it (when it's dry). They should have fun batting the balls around...and they can't lose them.

Tabbi