10 WEEK OLD KITTENS WANT MILK

Hello, I have two 10-week-old kittens, a male and a female. The male kitten keeps biting the female kitten's teats, as if he is trying to get milk. I'm worried he's hurting her with his inappropriate kitten suckling behavior. I have bought kitten milk, which he is drinking, but he's still biting and suckling on her. He's pretty relentless too. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you!


Dear Concerned Kitten Mommy,

Inappropriate kitten suckling behavior is not uncommon when the kitten's have been weaned from their mothers too early. My best advice would be to discourage the behavior whenever you can.

As long as your female kitten's nipples are not red and inflamed or showing any signs of infection, a male kitten suckling on a female kitten's nipples is not generally as much of a health risk as when a kitten suckles on another litter mate's penis, as in this question and answer from another reader. However, should the area become inflamed or irritated, despite trying to discourage the behavior as much as possible, the kittens may need to be separated.

Best wishes,
Dr. Neely