My orphaned cat suckles on my other cat. Is it harmful? How to stop?

Question

My cat Dallas is almost 2 and he was orphaned at the age of 4 weeks. He started suckling on my older female when he first came to live with us (at 4 weeks) and he still sometimes still does it. It annoys her but she doesn’t try to stop him. This particular female has never had kittens and was spayed early in life. Dallas is now neutered and has gotten a lot bigger and I am afraid that he may hurt her. How can I get him to stop this? Its not pleasant to watch. Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Male | neutered | 11 months and 13 days old | 16.5 lbs

Andrea M. Brodie, DVM · Accepted Answer

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.

My orphaned cat suckles on my other cat. Is it harmful? How to stop?

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