cat drooling

[meganchad]

2months ago my boyfriend and I rescued a 2week old kitten who had been abandonned by her mom. she soon began to kneed and suck on the back of my neck, which I quickly discouraged, but, 2 moths later she still seems to be attracted to my hair. although she has stopped suckling my neck, she purrs loudly and even drools as she tries to make a go for my neck! I have tried everything to get her to stop. is this normal? I've never seen this type of behavior before
thanks
megan & chad

[Luba]

She was 2 weeks old and taken from her litter mates??? What kind of a shelter was this??? Thats awful!!!

Do you have any other cats?

Your kitten IMHO is trying to learn to socialize and receive nurturing it should have rec'd from its mother and litter mates.

[meganchad]

My boyfriend rescued them from a barn. the kitten had been dropped off by someone and had been left to die. Ace (our kitten) had somehow received a bad injury to her left front paw (leaving a patch of white fur where the injury occured), so he took her home.
just two weeks ago, he brought home another kitten which we named Jack, and the two are geting along fine.

[Luba]

They are this young, I hope you've taken them to the vet. What type of formula are you feeding them?

[Lucky Rescue]

Yes, the kneading and drooling is normal in kittens taken away from mom too soon! I've seen it many, many times and some will continue to do this even as adults.

This is comforting for kittens, and is a habit, like a child who sucks it's thumb. It makes them feel happy and secure, hence the purring.

You can try gently distracting her when she starts, with a "Ah ah!" and with a toy or little treat. Getting her a little playmate was a good idea!

Hopefully she will grow out of it.

And as Luba says, they need to be dewormed and vet checked too.