Dog adopts orphaned kittens after their mother was hit by car
Elbert Bristow, 84, of Columbia, Alabama knew that his property would be a busy place this summer — he discovered that both his dog, Molly, and his cat would be giving birth to a litter of offspring.
After the litters of puppies and kittens arrived, sadly, the mother cat, "Kitty Kitty," had been hit by a car, leaving four orphaned kittens behind.
Sure, orphaned kittens can be bottle fed with special formula by humans — but much to Bristow's surprise, that didn't seem necessary.
It seems that Molly took on the responsibility of raising the kittens herself.
This isn't the first time that we've seen a mother of a different species step in and take over. A couple of years ago, we featured a baby squirrel who had been raised by a mother cat. Click here to read that story.
"I've had dogs all my life. I've trained bird dogs and coon dogs," Bristow told the Dothan Eagle, who first reported the story.
"But this is the first time I've ever had a dog take a litter of kittens."
Molly spends a few minutes at a time with the kittens, and lies down and lets them nurse. The kittens follow the dog around, just as if she were their biological mother.
Bristow keeps the 7-week-old puppies separated from the kittens on another part of his property.
Check out this heartwarming video of the unexpected family.
Lorrie Shaw leads the pets section for AnnArbor.com and is owner of Professional Pet Sitting. Shoot her an email, contact her at 734-904-7279 or follow her adventures on Twitter.
Comments
Elaine F. Owsley
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 8:36 p.m.
Friends of ours had a similar problem when their cat was hit by a car and left five kittens. The kittens were kept in a box in the den with the door closed so the dog wouldn't get at them. The dog cried and cried outside the door where she could hear the kittens. The vet told the owners to let her in with the kittens. When she jumped in the box with them, she immediately began licking their little bottoms to stimulate urination. She knew instinctively that that was the problem. The kittens were very full and uncomfortable. It was especially noteworthy as the dog had never had puppies.
LA
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 2:47 p.m.
sweet. Let's hope they get spade after this.........
jns131
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 3:01 p.m.
Uh, do you mean spayed? Cute. I love stories like these.