Kitten trying to nurse on people?

Question
We adopted a stray kitten when it was 6-8 weeks old.  Adorable, with a lot of spirit and energy.  She is now 4 months old.  Everything is going great with one exception...  When you hold her in your lap and she is comfortable, she will begin to nose around on you and start a sucking sound and will drool alot.  Almost as if she is trying to nurse on you.  We've noticed it happens more often if we are wearing a certain type of material, such as silk.  Is she trying to nurse?  We have pushed her nose away, but she is so persistent we end up putting her off our laps.  How do we curb this problem - I'd hate to have a visitor experience this!

Answer
Ashley,

What you are seeing is the behavior of a kitten that was weaned too early. The nursing behavior is a way for your kitten to soothe herself. I have a 9 year old cat that I hand reared, she still does the nursing, but it really took some time to get her to confine it to herself (she was over a year old when I persuaded her to nurse on herself) rather than people, clothing, or other pets. I have yet to find a way to completely stop the behavior. In the meantime while you are looking for a solution you may have to explain this kitten's situation and the reason for her behavior and ask that anyone she tries to nurse on gently place her on the floor and ignore her and the behavior. If the kitten comes to you or anyone in your home simply to get some pets or play then it's okay to play with her and pay attention, but as soon as your kitten tries to get her self soothing behavior started then it's back to ignore...It is important that you not ignore the kitten, it's not the kitten that is the problem, in your household you are uncomfortable with the behavior. If you do happen to find a humane and effective way to get this behavior to vanish I would certainly be open to hearing about it so that I can help others in your situation. You could try asking your vet for some ideas, but this may be a quirk of your new family member that you will have to warn friends about...You could try using bitter apple or hot sauce on the hands of everyone in your household, but that is a recipe for stains on furniture or clothing as well as the potential to rub your eyes and burn them with the hot pepper. It is important that you realize before trying to do anything to stop this behavior that it may be something that continues regardless of how hard you try to stop it. I think that it's fair to warn  you that redirecting the behavior may mean that you don't like the alternate object or place that your kitten chooses to nurse on to alleviate her anxiety. This behavior is somewhat equivalent to a young child that sucks their thumb, has a security blanket or uses a pacifier to soothe themselves. The more pressure that you put on this kitten to stop this the more anxious she will get and then the more she will try to nurse to soother herself...It becomes a vicious cycle that becomes very difficult to stop.... Ultimately it will take some creativity and patience to help your kitten understand that she isn't being punished (because that will make her more insecure and increase the behavior). Your vet may be able to recommend an animal behaviorist which is a person that has studied animal behavior and how to change it. I am sorry that I wasn't able to give any overnight cures or concrete answers. I do hope that you have found the information that I have been able to provide helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, or you would simply like to send an update or some pictures my way, please don't hesitate to contact me again.