8 month old kitten producing milk.

Dr. Marie replied:

I don't believe that it is possible for a cat to start lactating because a kitten is nursing off of her. If Lola has not been spayed, is there any possibility that she is pregnant? Pregnant cats will start producing milk near the end of their pregnancy.

With that being said, there still is a small chance that the kitten could indeed be lactating. I have found case reports of male cats that were able to produce milk after they had been exposed to human estrogen products such as estrogen cream.

If Macy was recently spayed, it's possible she has a condition called mammary hyperplasia where the mammary glands get enlarged within a couple of months of being spayed. Sometimes this can be a sign of an ovarian remnant so that is something worth asking your vet about.

To stop this habit there are a couple of things you could try. Probably the most practical would be to find a way to keep the nipples covered. The pet store likely sells t-shirts for cats or small dogs that she could wear. Or, you could try finding doll's clothing. Lola probably won't like it but should get used to it. It can take a week or more for the lactating to start and you might even have to have her wear it for several weeks for Macy to break the bad habit.

Alternatively, you could put something that tastes bad near the nipples such as bitter apple spray. But, this is not really fair for Lola as she would get the bad taste when she grooms herself.

One final way to stop this would be to find a way to separate the two cats for several weeks. This may seem cruel, but it probably would work.

Hope that helps!

Dr. Marie.



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