How long do you think will they do this? (pics)

[Kirsten]

Lily will be half a year old later this months, but she still wants to be nursed by Luna, at least once a day! Keep in my mind that Luna is NOT her mommy, but a spayed three year old female that never had kittens of her own.

Well, she patiently lets little Lily suckle and grooms her during that procedure, but sometimes she screams or growls, probably because Lily is hurting her with her teeth. I wonder if this could cause any damage to her mammary glands.

Anyway, here in my household, you can witness scenes like this almost every day (photos taken some minutes ago): :)

http://www.tillyschanze.de/luli27.jpg

http://www.tillyschanze.de/luli28.jpg

http://www.tillyschanze.de/luli29.jpg

Kirsten

[sirrahbed]

We once had Smokey, an old male and brought home Eddie, a young cat - also a male. This male "nursed" on Smokey for years! Smokey even grew large nipples. It just gradually stopped - guess Eddie finally got the nurturing he had missed. My dad sure liked to make snide comments about this as you can imagine! Our brother/sister kittens are now 10 months and Emily "nurses" a blanket every night but we notice she is starting to do it less and less before she drifts off to sleep. I don't see any problem with it. I think it is sweet.:) Lily must just need that security still and Luna is a good mommy surrogate.

[jenluckenbach]

I don't know if there is a time limit, but Luna will tell her when she should stop. She must enjoy it also or she would not allow it. I think it is very sweet.

[Kirsten]

My dad sure liked to make snide comments about this as you can imagine!

Oh yes, I can imagine this kind of comments very well! :)

I also think it's cute that they do that! :) Lily simply adores Luna and follows her everywhere. She would often run to her only to get some reassurance, it's really sweet!

And I guess Luna would have been a good mommy.

Kirsten

[Barbara]

Filou (who is 3 weeks older) was nursing on Tigris for nearly one year. Then he stopped. It was too cute.

Should I guess now that Tigris would have been a good mom;)

[Kirsten]

Barbara, I remember that, that's so sweet! :)

But I really wonder why even the males do that! It's cute, but I have no explanation for that! :confused:

Kirsten

[Amber]

Kristen,
Im having this same problem, but with different species! My dog (katie) and my cat (Maggie). Maggie will try her best to nurse on Katie. Katie is a 7yr old spayed female who never had pups before either. But Katie lets maggie do this. Maggie will also groom katie and nuzzle on her fur. She also trys to nurse!

[CatDad]

Bob or Joey don't do that, so no insite from me.

However, as long as it is not hurting Lilly or Luna , keep posting those pics.:D They are really cute.:D

[Steffi N]

How tender and sweet. I agree that Luna will probably have Lily stop when it gets to be too much for her. They must by now be bonded for life. We love pictures of them together. :)

[luckies4me]

Aww I really enjoy seeing these two. They are just too cute! :D

[Uniqueviking]

Beans still lets Bownie suckle from time to time (when she switches into "mommy mode" lol)...and Bownie is 1½ now!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I think that this is so sweet. :D All my male cats do is to lick each others heads to show their affection for one another.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

That is just the sweetest thing!! I am sure, as others have commented, that Luna will put a stop to it if she doesn't want to nurse Lily any more, or Lily will grow out of it!

What great pictures - I love the first one with the pink tongue!! Thanks for posting - your girls are so gorgeous together!