approx. 5 month old kitten still trying to nurse

Question
I adopted a shelter kitten over the holidays who was thought to be 4 months old. She had had a very tough start having been found abandoned and near death in the Hurricane Katrina destruction area and was much tinier than another 5 month old kitten that we adopted at the same time.  She is now thriving on dry kitten kibble (Nutro), is catching up with the other kitten in size and is very playful and affectionate.  My question is whether there is anything that needs to be done in response to her continuing to try to nurse (on us, blankets, sweaters, etc.)  It may be that she simply lost her mother too young/abruptly.  But is she lacking in some nutrient that her mother's milk would have provided?  

Answer
Torre,

You have hit the nail on the head.  Although it is not always the case, many situations of nursing and sucking and chewing on material (especially woollens or woollen blends) long after being weaned are due to being taken away from mama way too soon.  Hopefully, Sable will outgrow the nursing thing.  

It is a common olde wives tale that they do this becuase they are lacking in some basic nutrient.  Nutro is a fine premium cat food and your kitten can thrive on that.  The only thing I would try for the heck of it is to supplement both kittens with some wet cat food (Nutro makes a fine canned cat food as well, but 9 Lives and Friskies are also pretty good).  There are two issues with a dry only diet. (1) They may not be able to take in enough water to keep up with the lack of moisture in their diets.  (2) Cats are obligate carnivores and their bodies cannot use plant protein, so any protein they get from grains is useless to them.  Canned food has more moisture and more animal protein, so it is good to supplement any cats, but especially growing kittens with a good canned food.  You can mix the canned and dry together if they are not sure of the canned.

Best regards... Norm.