Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband and I have befriended a lot of alley cats in our area. As soon as we make friends with a cat we bring it in to be spayed or neutered so that we can help control the overpopulation problem.

Lucy is a siamese cat who moved in and had two litters before she was friendly enough to be fixed. In her first litter she had two daughters, and when she had her second litter, both of her daughters from her first litter, Blackie and Little, also had kittens (15 kittens! egads!). We would sometimes see Lucy nursing the kittens from all three litters, and sometimes, she would be nursing Blackie.... while Blackie nursed her own babies.

Well now it's fall, we've gotten all but Blackie fixed. She had a fall litter but she was not a very good mother all by herself. Now, six weeks later, she only has one little kitten left. We see her on our back porch nursing the kitten.... and sucking her own nipple! At first we thought she was just cleaning up... but then it became obvious that she was actually nursing!

After doing cat message boards for 10 years nothing surprises me. Cats will learn to do the darndest things if it brings them pleasure. However, she could be working on her nipple because is is irritated. This could be a result of gradually having the kittens weaned or it could be the result of medical problem. I would recommend a vet check if you can get her to one just in case something is wrong.
-----
Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

Well she's a feral cat so getting her to a vet is not so easy. If we could get her to a vet, she'd be fixed pronto!

We've caught her kitten and brought it indoors to socialize it preparatory to getting it adopted out.

Yesterday I got a better chance to observe the behavior. She was on the matt right outside our sliding glass door, and I stood right next to the door and watched her. She was lying on her side, curled up in a tight ball, suckling her own nipple. If I had a microphone on her I bet she would have been purring. She had enough milk dribble to know that she WAS drinking her own milk. She was also kneading her claws as though she was feeling great pleasure. She's undoubtedly enjoying herself! The nipple looked healthy and un-irritated.

She's one strange cat! If I can get a picture, I'll do so, and share it. But she's not usually friendly enough to photograph.