Kittens nursing on a male cat

[dekster]

Our 2 kittens, who are 10 weeks old now, have started nursing on our 14 month old male cat. He lets them do it, and it doesn't seem to bother him at all, but they're doing it all the time now.

They seem happy enough, they get plenty of affection from us and they're well fed, so is this something we should be worrying about, or should we just let them get on with it?

[melissaranks]

My one cat who died this past year would nurse on a teddy bear. The vet told me it's a natural stress reliever. Generally they do it if they were taken from their moms to young. Maximus was found abandoned at 4 weeks, but they think he'd been without a momma for a bit longer than that. So that was why he did it. The vet told me if I did not want him to do it, to catch him in the act and say (loudly), "Maximus NO!" and once he's stopped to pick him up and praise him. The nursing didn't bother me any, so I let him do it. I'd say if your male cat doesn't mind, then you might just let them do it.

[Yzma]

If your male cat doesn't mind then I wouldn't worry about it... Kittens this young need the comfort of other cats. If your male cat starts to get irritated he'll probably let them know about it... If anything, it all sounds quite sweet