2 male litter mates - "confused" behaviour

[cartblanche]

Beautiful kittens now aged nearly 13 weeks. We got them right after their first lot of vaccinations at 9 weeks and 1 day. We got them from a friend and I was lucky enough to be there the day they were born.

So we've had them for about 3 weeks and in the past week the one male kitten is attempting to suckle off the other cat. His brother doesn't seem to mind that much and just lies there occasionally batting him on the ear in a half-hearted way. Meanwhile the other brother suckles away on his fur generally in the "teat" area . He does all the pawing stuff too. They do all the play-fighting, groom each other and are very good in the litter department and are affectionate towards us and will sit on our laps.

If I didn't know the circumstances I would suggest that the one that is suckling is younger than the other one and was removed too soon from the mother. But they are the same age and had finished weaning. My partner says he has seen the "younger" acting one looking like he is attempting to mate with his brother too.

Should I be worried or is this all fine and dandy cat-like behaviour? They are booked in for the snip at the age of 16 weeks.

[littlekitty4]

2 of my kittens used to do the same and i believe its just a comfort thing, and id leave them to it as long as its not harming or harassing the other kitten, it usually stops in time, but one of my older cats still suckles and kneads his blanket or dh jumper :)

[OneHandFlapping]

One of our cats used to suckle the zips on hoodies when he was a kitten. It was both sweet and a little annoying to always have slobbery zips, but he grew out of it in a matter of weeks anyway. I imagine they just like to suck, like human babies.

[MindTheElephant]

One of my cats does this to me as soon as i settle down on the sofa, He is 8 yrs old.

Some cats grow out of it, some dont. It is a comfort to them and really nothing to worry about

[cartblanche]

That's reassuring. I suppose as long as his litter mate doesn't mind then I should just leave them too it. Thanks everyone