My 10yo tomcat kneeds and suckles like a newborn?

[Ingr]

We have a 10yo tomcat that we acquired at 4 weeks old (too young - another story) He is a very nervous but affectionate cat. He frequently comes up to me and will kneed me and suckle vigorously like a newborn. He's always done this since day one and he makes my dressing-gown quite soggy. I expected he'd grow out of it over time but it seems not. He's very timid. Does anyone else's mature cat do this? Do you think it's related to him being taken away from mum too young? We have his sister too and she's very sassy, intellegent and mature. She never does it.

Normal. It's a comfort habit, thumb sucking for cats. Like humans, some do it, some don't, some grow out of it, some don't.

Btw, isn't a "Tom" the term for an uneutered male?

Oooh, didn't realise that about 'Tom', he's definately been neutered!

My 6 year old boy still does it, i think it's cute!

One of my kitties never grew out of it. She did it up until she died at 18! It was always on my dressing gown and it'd get soaking!

Some do it, some don't. My cat does the kneading, not the sucking. Mum's old cat used to suck not knead.

Cats do this when seperated from mum too early.

My 3 year old still does this. It can be very desperate and is clearly very important to him, particularly during the night. He goes into MUST BITE NOSE mode and kneads my hair. He is very sweet and gentle but nose biting hurts. I tolerate it as much as I can.

He was a street rescue and I found him when he was around 6 weeks old, so yes, it could certainly be from lack of socialisation. He is not a nervous cat though and never has been.

Girl cat comes from similar circumstances but doesn't do this. She will only knead your lap and is very nervous.

Cats do this when separated from mum too early.

not necessarily, we had a male cat who did this all his life until he died at 16, and he was never separated from his mum at all, he lived with her permanently, and died before her.

One of my cats does this, his brother just looks at him with disgust.

Its horrible, hes really loud. I could put up with that but he kneeds my face while he does it, even if I put his paws away from my face he just puts them back.

It used to just ve one dressing gown, so I stopped wearing it now its any dressing gown. He wont do it to anyone else either, it has to be me.

I thought he would grow out of it, Im not sure I can put up with it for another 20 years!

Hes not timid either, a bit dim but very confident.

not necessarily, we had a male cat who did this all his life until he died at 16, and he was never separated from his mum at all, he lived with her permanently, and died before her.

Was the mum young when she had her litter? Young mums wean early for some reason. It's the early weaning that usually causes the suckling when padding.

I don't know. Fruitcider. maybe that was it? it was her second litter, I know that. CPL cat.

My old cat used to do this. He lost his mum when he was too little. I'd always assumed that was why he made my jumpers so soggy when he came up for a cuddle.

We've had cats do this, not separated too early. Just something some cats do.

Btw I thought Tom and Queen cats were just male and female?

No, a tom is an uneutered male, a queen an uneutered female;

From wiki

A group of cats is referred to as a "clowder" or a "glaring",[40] a male cat is called a "tom" or "tomcat"[41] (or a "gib",[42] if neutered), an unaltered female is called a "queen",[43] and a juvenile cat is referred to as a "kitten"

Every day's a school day

One of mine (twins) does it, the other not. Both weren't weaned until 15 weeks so wasn't that.

Mine does it too. His also 10 months. He only ever does it if I have my dressing gown on though.

All 5 of our cats knead, and our 4yo male suckled with DM, and only when she wears her dressing gown.
He was taken from Mum at 7 weeks, so that could be the cause.

Interestingly though he only started suckling at about 2 years old. We've had our Beastie cat for about that length of time, though, so it's possible being bullied by a 5wk kitten made him regress.
They're best friends now, though.

Funny enough she was the youngest to be separated from Mum (feral Mum abandoned her at 3 weeks) and is the only one who won't knead people, just clothing/toys.

My old boy makes biscuits but doesn't suckle - he prefers to tug at buttons.

Mine both knead but don't suckle. BorpCat2 makes kneading movements in the air with his paws if he's laying on his side and too lazy to roll over and knead properly.

One of my year old male cats does it, but only on me. We also got them at 4 weeks old after their mother went missing (we fear killed) and I first bottle fed them then weaned them.

He's hilarious when he does it - he makes eye contact with me then starts slowly walking towards me purring, before climbing on me, kneading & suckling and finally falling asleep with his paws stretched into my face. Every day.

One of my cats did this - used to suck the lace on my nightdress when I was a child.

RIP Tilly