Cat Suckling on skin

Question
Hi,
I have a kitten which is roughly 14 weeks old now and since we got him he has a habit of suckling on our necks, or inner elbows...is this because he was possibly taken away from his mum to early? She never really showed much attention to any of the 3 kittens but only 1 of them seems to have this problem, once he starts doing it and we move him as it can begin to get a bit painful he comes back to do it again, he has now got to the stage he is using his claws to try and hold us in place for him to carry on. Is there anyway of stopping him doing this or do we just have to wait for him to hopefully grow out of it?

Answer
Hi
yes this is learned behaviour and is a throw back to his nursing days. he is still rather young and he hasn't forgotten his previous eating routine. All you can do is to repeatedly take him off your neck etc and put him on the floor over and over again. you could also immediately put him in front of his food bowl. this will help him to associate hunger with his bowl. it may take a little while but be persistent, don't shout at him. make sure you do this every time and he will eventually stop the behaviour.

best wishes kate