Why are my 7-month-old kittens suckling their mom again? Is it okay?

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.

the kitten is not getting any milk if that's the question, it's a common behavior which is usually discouraged by the mother. In your case the mother obviously allows it but I wouldn't worry about that, even if it carries on for a long time.

This is quite odd behavior, but she is likely taking care of them since her other kittens passed away. I don't know of any ill side effects except maybe becoming overweight or an upset tummy from the change in diet. I would try to separate them so that the 5 month old kittens don't get over weight from nursing and eating regular cat food. Also the kittens could cause some harm to the mothers mammary tissue since they have teeth now. Also I would recommend to spay or neuter the kittens and mom to prevent any additional litters if at all possible. If either of the kittens are male it could mate with the litter mate or mother causing some kittens to be born with some serious genetic defects. Plus if the mother isn't nursing her new kittens then she likely won't properly nurse her upcoming litters. If you are unable to fix all of them, you may want to start with any of the males. I hope this helps!

Hello. There is no immediate danger with this behavior & the male kitten will eventually kick everyone off him as he matures. Because of the self-grooming cats do I do not recommend placing a bitter spray on him. Just anytime you see one of the kittens doing this, just gently remove her & try to distract with a treat. This behavior often gets outgrown. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would not worry about him hurting her. If this actually would hurt her, she would swat him and not let him suckle. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to get him to stop the suckling as it is a comfort behavior. It makes him feel happy and safe. The only way to get him to stop possibly, is to put a baby body on your female so he cannot access the nipples and really, I would not do this to her. Trust her to tell him it is not ok when it hurts her.

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.

Congratulations on your new babies! I adopted brother and sister kittens a few years ago. My male also displayed this behavior on his sister (as well as one of the dogs), but that behavior had improved by the time he was 6 months old. There isn't anything inherently abnormal about the behavior, and it's really only a problem if the female decides it's a problem, so I don't know that I would worry about it. I suspect that it will decrease quite a bit as he gets older and more settled in your house. The only other caveat that I will give you is that some cats will also do that on (especially wool) blankets and sweaters to the point that they chew/suck a hole in the fabric, so be on the lookout for that behavior. I hope that was helpful! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.