Cat sucks own nipple

Question
My girlfriend's cat, Kisa, is a little over one year old. She has an obvious weaning problem. Often, she sucks and licks her own nipple. Because of this, her right eye is constantly rubbing on herself and is extremely irritated, swollen, sometimes shut, and produces an excessive amount of goop (a.k.a. eye boogers). She has seen a vet and they said that this behavior is normal and that she will eventually grow out of it. This was approximately eight months ago and since, the situation has improved at times, but still varies in extremity. We have considered getting her a collar to keep her eye from rubbing her body, but aren't sure if that's the proper course of action. What should we do? Her eye is not improving and it requires constant care to remove the liquid and goop.

Answer
Jay,

I wouldn't advise a collar. They are extremely stressful and frustrating for a cat. I would advise a different vet. She needs some Teramyacin ointment for her eye. That should clear up the problem.

Her behavior could be from early weaning, but it also sounds like an emotional problem too. Is she stressed about anything or is she bored?

Have you considered a kitty friends for her about her age and temperment? Cats need another cat to play kitty games with, to cuddle with, and to comfort and keep them company when no one is home. She could groom another cat instead of herself.

If she is doing that because of stress, the vet can prescribe a short or long term therapy of kitty Prozac' to calm her. That is commonly used in emotional problems and is very popular now.

There is also a very popular cat calming spray and plug-in you can use called Feliway. It is available at pet stores or on-line. It copies relaxing pheromones that cats produce from rubbing their faces on things.

There is also another cat calming product that you can add to her food that reduces anxiety called Bach's Rescue Remedy. It is available on-line and in health food stores. Here is a link about it: (copy and paste, or type the whole links into your address bar)
http://www.bachflower.com/Pets.htm


I hope this helped.
Tabbi