Miss Kitty, a beige cat in Gainesville, NC, sadly lost a litter of kittens. Her maternal instincts, still raging, she amazingly found a litter of puppies nearby that needed a mom. Smoochie, the black puppies’ mom turned out to not have the maternal instinct at all. Some animals simply reject a litter or a single offspring for reasons not totally understood by scientists. It may be because the animal is inexperienced or otherwise unstable medically.
Fortunately for Smoochie’s pups, Miss Kitty was nearby. The beautiful cat gently took each of the puppies into her trailer home one by one. Then she lay down and allowed them to nurse. Miss Kitty is now raising these adorable spaniel pups as her own. Miss Kitty essentially kidnapped the pups and stole them, but in the animal world, at least in this case, it was not a crime.
In fact, this is a wonderful display of love, or at least maternal instinct, that would not be otherwise satisfied. Poor Miss Kitty lost her kittens, but gained a litter of puppies.
Miss Kitty’s owner, was as surprised as everyone else at her display of compassion, if in fact, that’s the explanation, of her unusual behavior.
There have been cases of mammals, both in the wild and in zoos, that nursed the offspring of another species. In most cases, the offspring had been abandoned or the mother killed. Many times, the mother simply rejects the newborn for reasons not totally understood.
In most cases, as with Miss Kitty, there is a happy ending and we all love happy endings, especially when they are this cute.