Hi all,

We got our cat P.B. (short for Pounce ans Bite, another story!) 4 years ago.
 He had been taken away from his mother at less than 6 weeks, and was put out
in the side of the road in hopes that he and his litter mates would get run
over.  Yes, it's sad but true.
Anyway, my little sister found him and brought him home to her mom who bottle
fed him for about 3 weeks, then he started in on solid food.  However, P.B..
still needed to suck, so used the pads of his paws!  (Thumb sucking in a
cat!)  When we got him he was about 10-12 weeks old ans loved to suck on
anything you;d put in his mouth!  I spent a lot of time letting this kitten
suck on the pad of my little finger!  It was very sweet.  He eventually
outgrew the need, but it took him a good 6 months.  He grew quickly into a
LARGE cat!  It was a funny sight to see this big cat sucking on his paw while
asleep!
I would hazard a guess that not only do kittens need that time with mom for
security and nutrition, but they also need to suck just like human babies do.
BTW,  P.B. is the most loveable we've ever had!  When you hold him, he has to
be hugging you!  If you try to hold him with his feet away from your body he
fights like crazy to turn around and hug you!  He is still a BOG cat.  Weighs
in at about 15lbs.
Sadly, the poor thing got hit by a car the other day and is now suffering
nerve damage to his left front paw.  It is totally useless, just hangs there.
 We are hoping for a full recovery, but these things are unsure.  So we give
him lots of hugs to make him feel better!  He's reveling in the attention!
TTFN!
Jay