[dollydaft]

Sorry not been online much lately..and this is a quick post, as today my husband and I are celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary.
Thought I'd give you an update on our kittens Molly and Lilly, they are thriving and getting bigger. They are booked in to get spayed in a few weeks time, they will be microchipped at the same time. They are very afectionate and playful, both Molly and Lilly are cheeky and like to steal my hairbands and hide them..(wee monsters,) but we love them.

[supersmithy]

Hi, happy anniversary! Hope you had a lovely day

Great to see new pics of Molly and Lilly - they have grown quite a bit haven't they, but still so sweet and pretty I love to watch our kitties play even though they are full of mischief, hehe!

[dollydaft]

Hello

Thank you, we did have a lovely annivarsary, we are having a get together next week with family members who are coming to visit, (they couldnt come in time for today, so we're having another wee celebration then.)

Yes Molly and Lilly are funny to watch, earlier today Lilly was playing with a toy, (jingly mouse thingie,) and Molly was watching her with great interest....then molly did the usual bum wiggle, (they always do this just before they pounce,) and Molly pounced and stole the toy from her sister....They have plenty of toys, so Lilly just looked miffed for a second before deciding to play with the cat tunnel, (pink fluffy crackly tunnel they got for Christmas, lol.) Lilly loves the tunnel, molly occasionaly plays with it, but not much.

One moment they are all cuddled up together, then they are speeding round the house, like two wee blurs.

They got a vet check up recently so we could book them in to get spayed in a few weeks, they got a clean bill of health, and are apparently the perfect weight for their size...no wonder they run around play and get into everything at 100 miles an hour....ok maybe slight exaggeration regards speed lol.

Molly has developed a strange habit and we are worried it might be a behavour problem, but then it could be normal...vet says it could be either or...wish Molly wouldnt do this though....

[hallan]

Congratulations on your 16th wedding anniversary!
Molly & Lilly are such beautiful cats.
Ripley drives me mad stealing my hair bobbles!
What strange habit has Molly developed?

[dollydaft]

Originally Posted by hallan

Congratulations on your 16th wedding anniversary!
Molly & Lilly are such beautiful cats.
Ripley drives me mad stealing my hair bobbles!
What strange habit has Molly developed?

Thank you, we think Molly and Lilly are beutiful too, and they are good wee kittens, who are growing up to be brilliant cats.

Molly and Lilly groom themselves and each other which is fine...and this is a habit Molly has been doing since she arrived...and at first we thought it might just be that she felt a wee bit insecure in a new home etc. (Also we suspect they were a lot younger than we were told they were.)

At night, Lilly will settle and Molly will start to groom her on the one side of her neck....only on that spot, Molly will press her paws into Lilly, (Almost like a tiny kitten suckling at its mammy, and the noise is the same.

We have tried removing Lilly, but Lilly goes back to Molly and vice versa, we dont want to seperate them at night, because one gets really upset if she can't find her sister....the vet says that apart from a light brown mark, where Molly suckles the white fur, there is no reason why Molly should do this, they both eat well, love their toys, and follow us around, and are very affectionate with us, even strangers who visit both kittens will run up to and purr round their legs, and if picked up, will settle happily on that persons lap.

Maybe it started as a security thing, and became a habit, but at night poor Lilly always ends up soaking on the one spot...or maybe its normal, but I've never heard of a cat doing it...we're even concerned that in some way it could be our fault.

They act confident and happy, even the vet is pleased with their progress...just wish I could find a way for molly not to do this...we dont want to shout at her, or tell her off, because that might frighten her, so we just gently lift one of them away from the other...but its a waste of time because they will go right back to it within seconds.

Any idea's

[supersmithy]

It sounds like what we were discussing the other day about kitties suckling on our clothes.

Firstly do not blame it on anything you have or haven't done. My Tippy suckled on my shoulder and kneaded when I picked her up all her life until she was 17 but her brother Ben never did and we got them together at 8 weeks old. I think it depends on the nature of the cat.

I think it's definitely a security/suckling instinct thing especially as they were very young and Molly has fixated on Lilly. If Lilly doesn't pull away then it's obviously not bothering her and she also may get comfort from it. They may grow out of it but they may not - I think it sounds sweet and endearing, certainly don't get too hung up about it!

[che]

Hi sweetie, congratulations on your anniversary.

Molly and Lilly are adorable as ever, and growing so fast.

Love the pic of Molly in the box. Don't they just love them?

Like Heidi says, don't worry about the suckling.
My Finn still does it to Bolan now and then, I think it's quite cute, especially as Bolan is a boy. LOL. xxxxx

[hallan]

I think Heidi & Che are right and the suckling is a security thing and you've no need to worry. Ripley has a blanket she has had since she was a kitten and she still pads and suckles it. It seems to comfort and relax her so I've never discouraged her. She really purrs while she's doing it. Newt pads my lap when she jumps up for a cuddle. They were both really young when we got them too.
It's lovely that they are so affectionate with each other. My two aren't cuddly with each other at all although I'm sure Newt would be if Ripley gave her the chance. Newt will often go up to Ripley and nuzzle her face, she's usually rewarded for this display of affection by a smack on the nose poor thing!