When we first got our older cat, Trey, she sucked on herself rather than us like that. She was a stray who followed one of the kids home when she was about seven months old. She may have been separated from her mother early too. We just don't know for sure. Other than her sucking problems she was really a sweet and loving cat.

I worked at it with her by telling her "no' firmly everytime she started it. Then to reward her I would scratch under her chin and on her neck or stroke her neck gently. This distracted her from the sucking. Pretty soon she just came to me for her neck rub time. Eventually that need diminished and now she likes occasional neck rubs but lots of tummy and back rubs. She is a real lap cat though. She sucked on herself for about 4-6 months after we got her, but that's all. She may have outgrown it without my help, but I think I helped her get over it. She is our precious "weggie" 12 year old girl. Weggie = Norwegian Forest Cat.