Suckling

[Athena8787]

My roger is about 9 months old now and since he was 12 weeks old as soon as he's snuggling in bed with me he will start suckling on his skin and leave brusied marks, which concerns me. Will this eventually stop? He's starting to leave wet saliva patches on the sheets and tends to wake us up in the middle of the night from the loud suckling. :jawdrop:

 

[GoldHazel]

@Athena8787 my first sphynx boy suckled his blanket until he was six months old. No matter what I did to stop him, it failed. He too was very loud and left his blanket (not mine) soaked. Then he stopped suckling when his brother came to join the family. When the baby heard the suckling noises, he would run over and suckle on my six month old boy. He didn't like it and within no time, he put two and two together and figured out that if he didn't suckle his blanket and make that noise, then his baby brother wouldn't suckle on him. It worked!

The second baby that I was just referring to still suckles every single day, but on me. He suckles on my hand, arm or face and is not too loud and not slobbery juicy at all. It's only when he throws in a few licks does it bother me because licking my face with such a rough tongue is hard to deal with OUCH! LOL

Then came along their third brother. He suckles on my arm only and it's every single day. He suckles for just a short while and then falls right to sleep. He is never loud and he is never slobbery.

My daughter has a furry cat that suckles her shirts. Her cat is very, very slobbery and leaves her soaked. I should mention that all the cats I'm talking about are adults and there is no way they will ever stop suckling.

Sorry that Roger is loud and slobbery. I know if you google feline pacifiers you can try purchasing one, but if a cat loves suckling on skin or bedding, I'm not quite sure how to convert them to a pacifier. Sorry I can't be of any help otherwise.

 

[Toa and Ross]

@Athena8787 we have a lot of suckling sphynx here on the lair. Some like to suck on their humans skin, some on there own slin and some on toys/blankets. My boy Toa used to suck on the neck of his brother. After a few months he stopped doing so.
Some sphynx stop with it, others not. I don't really know a way you can stop it. You can say 'no' everytime he does it and play with him a little. But that's difficult when he's doing thid in the night. Hope others have ideas to help you stop it.

 

[Xandria]

I swear Sphynx are just orally fixated.

One of the studs I met at a breeder's house was obsessed with suckling his own tummy rolls... very loudly. The breeder was unconcerned (I giggled).

My Max (almost 2 years old) sucks his tail -- thankfully he causes no damage other than severe dry skin.

My Min (8 months of age) sucks soft fabric which is a real pain because she chews holes through blankets, sweaters, cat trees...

I've tired discipline and redirection or diversion to no avail. Because Max doesn't hurt himself, I just accept it as a quirk of his. Min... well... it's a daily challenge right now and I hope one day she stops, but at this point I don't think so.

If your naked is hurting himself, and discipline & redirection/diversion doesn't work, then a trip to the vet for possible medication may be necessary (but that's a last ditch effort).

I wish I had more news for you. Hopefully others chime in with better stories/advice.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Athena8787]

Thank you all so much for replying. Its a relief that it's a very common thing for sphynx to suckle even when they're adults. I may have to look into a feline pacifier if it continues. I just don't want him to harm himself, and I can always change the sheets hahaha.

 

[lealea]

Sucking does seem very common here, tail sucking in particular. Rosie likes to suck the corner of my cushions and pillows. Usually stopped my me folding the corners under so she can't get them.

Sucking until bruised though? That sounds determined and fairly painful. Unless he's a masochist, you might want to consider a pathological cause, maybe he's skin is irritating him somehow and he gets relief when sucking, for example. Does he always suck the same patches of skin, is there a pattern to it? I know that with conditions such as restless legs, which in itself is rather harmless, relief can be felt from not only movement, but scratching or rubbing the area. Sucking might be a sphynx alternative.

I'm sure it's nothing, but a vet visit might be useful to rule anything out. A blood check would also set your mind at ease to know his kidneys and liver are functioning well, for example. As everyone has said though, sucking is fairly normal around here, so don't start worrying! But a routine check would set your mind completely at ease.

 

[Athena8787]

Thank you

 

[Robert Matthews]

Sorry for restarting this old thread! Our new kitten is 5 months old now and suckles his stomach all the time, usually right before he goes to sleep. Has anyone tried spraying the area with some sort of bitter taste (bitter apple or similar)? I know they have sensitive skin, but he is leaving marks on his stomach, not to mention is it very loud and wet! Just wanted to see if anyone has tried this. Thanks!