I have seen a fair bit in my time, but this is something new to me.

Sol and Minnie the kittens (Sol - m, Minnie - f) were sleeping on the sofa until Verbal (m) went up to them and started washing Sol and Minnie. Then both Sol and Verbal attempted to what I can only describe as suckle off Minnie, except Verbal was just sucking her fur and Sol was sucking her bottom Minnie didn't seem bothered at all, but I thought I'd best check on here to see if there's something I'm doing wrong? I'm assuming Sol's problems and him being an orphan might be influencing this, but Minnie was purry about it and both boys seemed overly interested in her. I'm wondering if I should get her spayed before I home her out.

Molly, who is mum to Verbal and Minnie, went off to her new home this week and has been spayed. However, she is just over the road and until she was spayed she was still visiting the kittens, so they haven't missed out on mum, although she's not had the bond with Sol (adopted orphan) that she has with Verbal and Minnie.

Also noticed that Verbal has become very bossy with the other two, even hissing at them when over-stimulated. He is twice the size of the other two. I am looking forward to getting him neutered ASAP!

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KathyM

Forgot to add - slightly different topic but Sol doesn't vocalise normally. He never miaows and only makes a peeping noise when in trouble or looking for me or Molly, this is a rare noise and sounds more like a bird than a cat - very high pitched monotone cheep. He purrs very loudly, exaggeratedly so, and it makes me wonder if this would be a sign of deafness? Scrap that, he can hear me clap! But still, very strange.

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KathyM

cats very often cheep and mine doesnt meow at all but he makes a chirping noise all the time especially to the birds and when he gets excited.Think some cats are more vocal than others and can interact diffrently from breed to breed. It also can be common for young cats to try suckle from a female even f not related i think sometimes its a comfort thing. l ike some suckle wool.

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Kathy, 2 of these 3 kittens weren't orphans, right?

So I am not sure how much this helps (or not)

I do know that very often kittens missing a mum to comfort suck on, will comfort suck on eachother and you realllllllllly have to watch out that they don't end up hurting each other as they suck so much at one spot that it becomes inflamed and in extreme cases infected. It can get VERY bad.

When they do this I just try to pull the one who is comofrting sucking off the other kitten, and try and lay it down on a nice soft teddy or soemthing like that. I recently bught teething teddys for teething babys (a bit like a hankerchief tied in a knot, with a face painted on it) and those seem to be acceptable to the comfort suckers. They then suck on those and leave the other orphans alone.

edited to add: it's not unusual that they do this comfort sucking on each other genitals. I have checked with a vet in the past and it's not sexual, lol, he assured me, hehe, they are just trying to replecate what they would do with mum.

Thanks ever so much, you're both ace. Only Sol is an orphan and it's him and Verbal the other male kitten suckling on Minnie, the female kitten, and on each other as of today. Minnie is not suckling at the boys, so it's just those two weirdos. Sol I can understand and I suppose Verbal was the slowest to wean even if he's the biggest. I will see if I can dig out some teddies - assuming they would need to be baby safe types (think all the kids' ones have got eyes and the likes which I wouldn't want them sucking on)? Slap me if I'm talking rubbish. Will have a think about alternatives too. Thanks again.

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KathyM

I've not met a cat like Sol in the voice sense, he doesn't miaow at all, he sometimes seems to try but no noise comes out. He does alarm call, cheeping noise, very loud and high pitched and short like a cub lol, but no miaows. If I didn't know he wasn't, I would think he was deaf because the sounds don't seem feline at all and his purr is unbelievable lol. He can't be deaf though.

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KathyM

kathy, doesn't have to be teddies... often tea towels work and they suck on those... a belt from my fluffy dressing gown was another "cure" for comfrot sucking orphans. It doesn't really matter what it is... as long as they dont suck on each other. If you "disturb" the kitten who is comfort sucking on th eother kitten, by slipping your pinky into his mouth... then if he'll accept that just gradually introduce him to a tea-towel, or teddy, or a t-shirt, or a small cushion or anything he will accept to comfort suck and tread on, except the other kittens, lol.

Thanks - will try that as each time we leave them alone for a few minutes, poor Sol now has a wet belly! Very frustrating as the main culprit isn't the poor little orphan kitten, it's the mummy's boy Verbal, who held a monopoly on Molly while she was here - she completely mollycoddled him (pardon the pun) for far too long. The biggest kitten ever, but the least advanced of the lot!

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KathyM

Deaf cats are usually quite the opposite - the ones I have met are extremely loud as they can't hear themselves and have no volume control!

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Yes, me too, like I said he purrs really loudly but I know he's not deaf. Just special. I have been waffling over the last couple of days, you'll have to forgive me.

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KathyM