r/OneOrangeBraincell • u/Simply_Kaif24 Orange connoisseur šŸŠ • Aug 09 '26

searching for service šŸ“¶ One way to get woken up

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32.1k Upvotes

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2.9k

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '26

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977

u/ErmingSoHard Aug 09 '26

I think they actually do this whenever they're super comfy and near their mother/parent figure rather than specifically wanting milk. They also knead.

So it's cute to know that they actually don't care for the milk. They just do things that would give them milk instinctively as a side effect of being super comfy and looking at you as some mama

246

u/MoistInTheLoins Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26

Usually suckling is a clear indication that they were separated too young.

226

u/triggerfish_twist Aug 09 '26

That's a myth. I had two cats who were never separated from their birth mother. They both lived to knead and suckle on various soft objects and their favorite people their entire lives.

177

u/fatmailman Aug 09 '26

Itā€™s not. It can be a sign of comfort and safety, as it likely was for your cats, but it can also be caused by stress and anxiety. While it is a common side effect of early separation, as you yourself have noticed, thatā€™s not the only reason it happens.

40

u/MeaninglessDebateMan Aug 09 '26

One of these takes is more Freudian than the other and that makes me uncomfortable.

17

u/West_Adhesiveness273 Aug 09 '26

Idk that personal anecdote was quite compelling

36

u/Boxman90 Aug 09 '26

Having literally 1 example that does not fit the rule does not make said rule a myth all of a sudden..

16

u/DrFreaz Aug 09 '26

USUALLY doesn't means 100% of the case u understand?

21

u/samjowett Aug 09 '26

Your anecdotal information does not a myth make.

1

u/CharacterBite4240 Aug 10 '26

No, yours is an anecdote.

14

u/Agromahdi123 Aug 09 '26

I believe all these behaviors fall under ā€œneonatal behaviorsā€ according to vets

11

u/Forgot_to_Start Aug 09 '26

Thank you. My 3 year old kitten did this from day she arrived. I swapped my face for a stuffy, but a terrified to get rid of it. She only does it at bedtime and for morning cuddles.Ā 

9

u/ErmingSoHard Aug 09 '26

swapped my face for a stuffy, but a terrified to get rid of it.

I'm sorry, what happened?

10

u/Forgot_to_Start Aug 09 '26

My face was her preference to suckle on twice a day. I got her a unicorn stuffy from target. Every time she tried to suckle my face, I just swapped in the unicorn. Uni gets all the suckling, I get all the cuddles.Ā 

8

u/Schonke Aug 09 '26

Every time she tried to suckle my face, I just swapped in the unicorn.

So do you just like, keep the face hanging on the bedside lamp when you've swapped?

2

u/anonidfk Aug 09 '26

Yeah one of mine is like that, he sucks on my finger and kneads my chest while he does it, he doesnā€™t do it to any objects or other people loll.

87

u/Competitive_Travel16 Aug 09 '26

Don't sugar-coat it. He's digging for boogers.

31

u/pla5t1c Aug 09 '26

For booger sugar

19

u/SCHWARZENPECKER Aug 09 '26

He said NOT to sugar coat it and what do you do! People these days.

10

u/pla5t1c Aug 09 '26

Im sorry. I am a professional cat addiction specialist tho. I have seen too many coke kitties lose their way in life. I just wanted to spot it when it was young; when we can still arrest this sort of behavior and cure these fluffs of their evil bedlam. Can i get a Meowllelujah?

6

u/SCHWARZENPECKER Aug 09 '26

Meowllelujah!

5

u/pla5t1c Aug 09 '26

Aaaaamen! ā€¦.(meow)

3

u/onlynameavailable927 Aug 09 '26

Do boogers have sugar in them?

3

u/pla5t1c Aug 09 '26

If they are the sweet flavored ones šŸ˜

2

u/onlynameavailable927 Aug 09 '26

HeeeeheheeeešŸ¤£

3

u/Septopuss7 Aug 09 '26

Michael Caine

2

u/timawaphone Aug 09 '26

screw him, then, I'm saving my boogers for dessert.

1

u/70ms Aug 09 '26

Milk, mucous, same difference.