I am OK with mothers nursing their young (even on the bus or on the subway). But I'm a newbie with cats. I have owned dogs all my life and when my bitch Susan was done with her pups she would growl and snarl at them if they tried to grab a nipple. Susan lived to be 19 (yes, 19!) but when she was done with nursing she let the world and her pups know it.

Now that I am the owner of three wonderful cats I am befuddled with their behavior. Sometimes I can search the house and find none of them. Sometimes all three are napping together. Sometimes the three of them are napping in plain sight but apart. Sometimes the three of them are rolled up in a ball together for a nap behind a sofa with their legs jammed up against a wall with no room to stretch.

And then I catch this tonight:



Mister Mittens cannot be producing milk from early July. Mister Mittens cannot be welcoming two of her kittens into her nipples from early July. Dr. Wallach told me it's remotely possible if they keep coming to her and her instincts are deeply ingrained. She could still be producing milk. The large hump Trouble had tuna, whitefish, chicken, and turkey today. He also caught some scrambled eggs and sausage this morning from Jim's Deli. Shiloh ate everything all day except the stuff from Jim's Deli.

Trouble is growing like a runaway weed and it just blows my mind that Mister Mittens still allows a cat Touble's size go grab a teat and work her belly with a paw to stimulate milk flow. I understand he's her son but Wow!

Any cat folks want to talk about this? I'm a newbie cat man.

I've never owned a mother cat with her kittens. The human babies though I'm pretty good at when it comes to nursing.

The large male cat Trouble is a nice fellow. He's a gentle huge slob. He's just a nice guy.

His sister Shiloh is "all cat" and a tough little girl but together they are buddies.

It's November 1st. The kittens were born on July 7th.

Sweet Little Shiloh finally got a nipple up front from her much larger brother. That's probably a carryover from when she kicked his ass in a "cat fight" earlier today.