Kitten sucks its paw, what to do???

[daniel1983]

Shadow has this new habit of sucking on her paw. We have tried putting perfume, hot sauce, and the vet recommended bitter spray. We have used them all and she still sucks her paw....and I actually think she liked the hot sauce If any of you all have delt with something like this before....please let me know how you got the cat to stop.

oh...and here are some pics of me and shadow playing:

[tigerlily]

My cat used to try to nurse off my dog. Since the dog was spayed I have no idea why she did it. She's an adult cat and still does it too. I would maybe try the spray bottle thing. I can't think of anything else right now tho.

[frankykeno]

Hmmmm paw sucking is a new one to me. I've had kitten try to nurse off my dogs, my housecoat, a couch throw blanket but not suck on their own paw....hmmmmm. Is she actually sucking/nursing or is it more like chewing or picking at her paw? Is she actually damaging or licking the fur off her paw?

I've seen my adult cats pick or chew at their paws if some hair balled up in between their pads or a claw got caught in something and was a bit ragged.

My only suggestion if there's nothing wrong with her paw and it's just a wierd habit is to get or make her an irrestible toy....catnip or tuna juice on it...everytime she starts in on her paw...toss the toy and distract her. If it's a habit hopefully she'll break from it if she's encouraged to put her energy to something more appropriate!

I had a cat that plucked hair when he got stressed....did it all the 12 years we had him and we never could get him to stop making his butt and tail bald if he was upset. Nervous habits like that are a bugger to break other than figuring out what is stressing them out.


~~Joanna~~

[daniel1983]

She is actually nursing. We would try the toy, spray bottle thing....but she only does it at night....when she is laying next to my fiance, Katie. The sucking noise the cat makes keeps waking Katie up at night, and will leave a wet spot where ever the kitten is laying.

[Ginevive]

I can't help but think "that sounds so cute But I could see where it'd get annoying at night; my cat has the habit of sometimes chewing newspaper (yes, newspaper) into tiny shreds and putting it all over the house. I just want to welcome you to Cat-Owner-Ville, which is a very strange place.
I noticed that some cats retain kittenish habits, even through adulthood. They knead on blankets with their front paws, just like they would when they were nursing. Was this kitty removed from its mom too young I wonder? My friend had one that nursed off of her pregnant Boston terrier!

[daniel1983]

here is the post my fiance made on a cat forum:

"first let me say hi to everyone. this is my first post. my name is katie, my cat's name is shadow or shadow baby, and her daddy's name is daniel. he may also make a post from time to time.
okay, my kitten shadow is just shy of 3 months old now and we have had her for about 6 weeks. we got her from a woman who had 6 inside female cats and they all had kittens within about a month of each other. when we got her she was still in the house with her mother (and other mothers) so she wasn't really weaned. recently (about a 2 weeks ago she started sucking her paw when she got ready for bed, not always, only when she is laying on me or her daddy. we have tried everything from hot sauce (which she evidently loves) to most recently the vet recommended bitter spray with no success. luckily i work evenings so her keeping me up at night hasn't been a problem but i don't want her paw to get chapped and i want her to be psychologically healthy as well. any suggestions?
katie
p.s. sorry this is so long. had to put the history in."

No one really offered her any help....So I since I knew most of you all have cats, maybe ya'll could offer some input. I tried to get my fiance to register and post here herself....but nope ha ha....she will eventually be on bp.net

[frankykeno]

6 mothers and their kittens...oh lordy!

This is a wierd one Daniel. I could understand if she'd been doing this all along but to suddenly start up after 4 weeks with you is just really puzzling. Did anything happen around the time she started this behaviour, a sudden change in her environment or daily habits?

Did you try the bitter spray yet? I've never had to resort to it but I do hear it's pretty effective though I'm unsure if it has any side effects with spraying it on the paw of a young kitten. The only people I know that have used it sprayed it on furniture,etc. to keep a dog from chewing on it.


~~Joanna~~

[daniel1983]

ha...we were going to get a cat from the Humane Society....but we were told of this ladies situation, so we decided to help out

She has not really changed behaviors. The bitter spray really does not work to well. She will stop for an hour or so...but then she is back at it. The stuff that I got is supposedly save and vet approved.

[frankykeno]

Really wierd Daniel LOL. Sorry but after having cats for so many years I'd thought I'd seen most W.C.B. (wierd cat behaviour). Barney our male was the wierdest...he once lived on a fridge for 3 months...apparently he strongly objected to the color/pattern of our new kitchen flooring *rolls eyes* Our female cat groomed men's armpits while they slept (a bit disconcerting to any overnight guests!)

Hopefully she won't overdo it and actually cause her paw any harm. Maybe she'll grow out of it (you could hope).

I do hope that lady gets those females spayed. That kind of breeding ends up leading to disaster and a lot of homeless kitties.


~~Jo~~

[Brandon.O]

Hmm thats wierd, our dog had been licking her paw and chewing on it for a while and so we called he vet and asked about it and they said she could have allergys.....we stopped using the carpet powder cleaner (you know, the stuff you sprinkle one the carpet before you vacuum to make the house smell good?) That we used to use and switched to a differnt one and she has stopped licking/Chewing.

Maybe your cat could have alllergies ?