Strange kitten Puja

18 years ago

Puja is now 4 1/2 months old. She is confident and happy, and plays regularly with my older cat Sofie.

I raised her from when she was about 17 days old, and she was never a "sucky" kitten, rooting frantically for other suck sources. Once she was weaned, she never wool sucked or even fervently kneaded.

But: She has a little toy opossum with a 1 inch tail. She loves it more than any other toy, and would turn it and take the tail in her mouth and hold on and suck! If I tried to remove the toy from her clutches (and mouth) she would grasp harder. (This is when she was 6-8 weeks old.)

She has lots of toys, so that one was confiscated and set aside for when she was older.

Yesterday she was in bed and doing something with her tail. I thought she was washing it, but she was concentrating on the tip in a curious way. I looked closer, and there she was, sucking the end of her very long tail. She had about 1/2 inch of it in her mouth! I went to remove it and she grabbed harder. I did get it out of her mouth and distracted her with a play session.

I know I have to keep her away from her tail, or it will look like an opossum tail and get quite infected!

But I was wondering if anyone ever heard of an almost 4 month old kitten who sucks her tail tip? No nasty jokes here, please!

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Comments (11)

Elly_NJ
Original Author
18 years ago
Forgot to include a picture!
alisande
18 years ago
Omigosh, she is CUTE!!!

I'm no help to you on your questions, but I had to respond to that wonderful face.

My Annie has similar markings in reverse. She was grown when I found her . . . I wish I'd been able to experience her kitten face!
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pranjal
18 years ago
Awwwww what a cutie Puja is! I love the markings on her face!

Our almost 4-yr old cat Simba sometimes sucks on his tail when he sleeps. We found him in the hypermarket parking lot; he was about 3 months old and used to suck on his tail more frequently then. He's a big boy with a super-long tail and it's just so funny how the biggest cat in the house is still quite a 'baby'! The tip of his tail is now a dark brown (he's a black/silver tabby).

I guess Puja will grow out of it - gradually.
petaloid
18 years ago
Our Ziggy was an orphan kitten we raised since he was about 2 1/2 weeks old. He lived to be 17, and throughout his life he always sucked his own front paw for comfort, like a baby sucks its thumb. We figured it was because he didn't get nursed by his mother at an impressionable age and always missed it.

Are you going to return the opossum toy to Puja?
Elly_NJ
Original Author
18 years ago
Yes, I have and she's been suck-free.
User
18 years ago
Okay , both these cats look like three of mine and one's name is Annie. Her mother, Nellie is her twin and Lily the petite oldest cat isn't related but resembles them. I rescued another tortie many years ago when she was 7 days old and later she developed this sucking problem which eventually resolved its self. I love torties..they bring good luck. All my cats knead which also is a sign they were weaned too soon. That is not altogether true since Nellie and Annie were together from A's birth on and Annie will still knead me. She tried to nurse from her mother till she was her mother's size. Then Mom whacked her across the head. They are attached like Velcro to this day...6 years later..
cat_mom
18 years ago
But she's soooo cute!!!

Why is it the cutest ones are always the strangest, lol!!!
jcin_los_angeles
18 years ago
I think any mammal baby that doesn't get enough sucking time will try to comfort suck. With humans it can be thumbs, fingers, pacifiers. With cats I guess it's tails! Sounds like normal behavior given the circumstances.
socks
18 years ago
I'm glad you gave her back the 'possum. She's adorable.
acorn
18 years ago
What a darling. I had a cat Patches who was marked like Puja. I found her in a dumpster. She lived to be 21 years old.
Elly_NJ
Original Author
18 years ago
Here it is, in action.

Here is a link that might be useful: Strange Puja