Why is my mom cat avoiding nursing? Do kitten teeth hurt her?

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. As long as the mom will let them nurse she will make milk. I would not call it abnormal but it is not really good for them to nurse after 8 weeks of age. They actually become lactose intolerant after that time and even though they seem OK it could cause them issues in the long run. The mother usually stops the kittens from nursing around 8 weeks of age because they will get teeth and start biting the nipples making her uncomfortable. They must not be doing that since she is still allowing them to do it. The mom continuing to make milk also puts a strain on her body nutritionally and she may get underweight and unthrifty. It is best to separate the mom from the kittens until the milk dries up and then have mom spayed. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Goldie. At 4 weeks of age, the kittens can start eating kitten food. You can offer wet food or dry kibble softened with warm water. This can supplement their nursing. Goldie will need to see her veterinarian if her nupple does not heal soon. I hope this information helps!

Hello, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Sounds like your kitten is successfully weaning! It sounds like she's becoming less interested in bottle feeding, since she is taking solids, and is likely playing with the nipple now more than feeding from it. At this stage, kitten food will do her more good than meat or milk replacer. I recommend offering her both dry and canned kitten food (you may want to crush the dry food a bit if she needs help eating it), and you can also offer a bit of the milk replacer in a little saucer for her to lap up herself, to encourage self-feeding. Keep trying to do the bottle feedings until you're confident she's eating kitten food on her own, but don't stress too much if she seems to be losing interest as her "real food" consumption picks up. Hope this helps!

Oh my gosh, so much cuteness in one photo! At 11 weeks, it's time for all of these little guys to have had their first kitten vaccines as well as deworming. The first thing to do is to make sure that there's not a medial reason why Bubbles won't eat anything other than his mother's milk, and your vet can do that. If he's healthy, you're going to have to strictly separate the kittens from the mom. Heat up the wet food a bit in the microwave until it's warm, or soak the kibble in warm water to entice him to eat. Eventually he will get the hang of it once mom in inaccessible.

Hello there, Kittens are typically weaned at 8 weeks of age. Kittens that are weaned later in life may chronically suckle on objects through their lifetime. Sometimes this can become an obsessive behavior, lead to ingestions of non-food objects, or can cause injury to another pet. In the wild, most kittens would be quite independent from their mother already. Chronic suckling can only happen in captivity when they are kept together longer than they normally would be- being kept together means there is no natural end to the suckling. I'd recommend keeping them strictly separated for a few weeks to months to try to stop this behavior. They will likely become anxious and vocal at first, but it will be for their benefit in the long run. I hope this is helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Weaning is typically started by the mother cat at 4 weeks of age and will leave them more frequently to hunt and bring them food. It is CRUCIAL that you never move stray kittens unless you know that the mom is completely unable to get to them. If she cannot find them, she will call to them and eventually give up. All that being said, some mothers are just more nurturing than others so maybe she truly is neglecting her responsibility. In that case, discuss with your vet how to properly finish weaning the kittens and care for them. Best of luck!

At 3.5 weeks I would recommend weaning her onto semisolid food to allow her to chew rather than suckle. Early weaning is possible from 2 weeks of age. I would recommend royal canin starter mousse initially either from a syringe or spoon