There are often many behaviours in cats that make us wonder. Have you ever notice that your cat nibbling on blanket? It is sometimes cute, but not always. These are feline traits, that common among them and here are some reasons why does my cat suck on blankets:
Why Do Cats Suck on Blankets?
Your cat is stressed or bored.
If your kitten suckling on blanket, toys, pillows, or even any part of your body like your fingers, it could be an indication that she is stressed or bored. It is the same as human beings biting their nails when stressed or nervous. Cats often need an environment full of toys to play and stimulate their minds. They need to burn their energy playing, to stroll, running, and keeping their minds stimulated and distracted.
Your cat’s milk teeth are falling out
As kittens grow old, their adult teeth start developing. This process causes pain and irritation, and they seek comfort in suckling light objects like a blanket. Cat suckling blanket could be associated with its falling milk teeth.
Your cat was prematurely separated from her mother
It can happen if a kitten is separated from her mother before the end of her weaning period. As a result, they tend to suckle on blankets or human fingers to breastfeed. The same behavior can also be seen in adult cats, indicating learning and socialization difficulties as cats prematurely separated from their mothers.
Your Kitten finds it Relaxing
A kitten gets a sense of comfort from nursing soft fabric or wool. It is similar to a child sucking his thumb to feel safe whenever he is worried. Kittens enter a safe zone sucking on to something soft, and for many cats, this habit remains even after reaching adulthood.
A Learned Behaviour
Often when kittens nibble on clothing or blankets, we find it cute and end up patting them or snuggling them. They find this act rewarding and carry this habit as a learned behavior as they grow up.
A Medical Condition
Many adult cats suddenly develop this habit of sucking on blankets due to medical conditions. No disease or condition has direct links to this blanket sucking behavior. Still, a proper diagnosis can help you get a better picture of what has happened to your cat. If the behavior of sucking on your blanket developed suddenly in your cat, you might want to take her to a vet.
Breed
Worried why do cats knead blankets? At times, behavioural patterns that a cat shows have something to do with its breed. Breeds like Siamese often tend to develop a proneness to suck on blankets.
Aggression
At times, if a cat feels that she is physically incapable of showing her aggression towards another animal or a human, she can choose to suck on blankets instead. On frequent occurrence, this might develop into a habit.
Is suckling harmful to my cat?
It is usually not considered harmful for your cat kneading and biting blanket had she been doing that since she was young. In this case, a medical condition is ruled out. Apart from destroying your expensive garments, there is one more reason why suckling could be harmful to your cat. This nursing behaviour could lead to Pica Syndrome, where a cat swallows inedible objects when there is a nutritional deficiency in her diet. These objects could choke your cat or obstruct intestinal transit, leading to more significant problems. At times the Pica Syndrome is also caused by Anemia.
How to stop cats from sucking on blankets?
There is no direct method to make your cat stop this, but here are some tips that you can try to discourage her from sucking.
Making things inaccessible
The best way to tackle this behavior is to make these things less accessible to your cat. To start with, keep all the soft objects away from her. If it is a blanket, carpet, or bed sheet in a particular room, training your cat not to enter that room might help.
Increase her playtime
Your cat needs a companion to play with. You can make it a habit that you start playing with her or give her more attention whenever your cat is starting to suckle on wool. If you can take time to play with your cat, her mind will be distracted from the woollen blanket. In a better case scenario, she will be relieved of stress. There are many modern cat scratching posts available in market, just opt for them, it will help to maintain quality play time.
Setting up the right environment
It would help if you made an environment for your cat to play in, roam around, climb and scratch on. Providing your cat with interactive kitten toys and food puzzles can also help keep it entertained and distracted when you are not home.
Consult a vet
If you think that your cat is overdoing it, consulting a vet is necessary. As mentioned, we can not term out a medical condition before diagnosis. Consulting a vet for a diagnosis is always a good idea.
Learn before you adopt
It is always advised to adopt a kitten at least 10 weeks old. This is to ensure that the kitten has been through the transitional phase. Cats are usually done with their weaning period six to seven months of age.
Final Thoughts
You might think that a wool-sucking cat results from lousy training, but this is not always true. In most cases, nursing blankets are not even harmful, so the best course of action that you can choose is acceptance. Learn to accept this till it is harmless and create a safe and comfortable environment for your cat. Hope now you never worry about why do cats suck on blankets.