Posted on 06/03/2014 8:01:01 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows
A dog that recently gave birth to a litter of puppies at a New York City animal shelter is helping to raise an orphaned kitten named Roadhouse, nursing her along with the tiny pups.
The dog, a white Maltese named Coco, was brought to the Animal Haven pet shelter in SoHo after being rescued from a hoarding situation, the organization says, and gave birth to a litter after she came in.
A few days after the pups were born, shelter employees decided to try to get the kitten to nurse with Coco's litter because Roadhouse wouldn't take formula from a bottle, according to Animal Haven associate director Kendra Mara.
"We said, 'What would happen if we put the kitten with Coco,' and it was instantaneous," Mara said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnewyork.com ...
That kitten looks like to me it’s big enough to drink milk from a bowl on its own- even eat wet cat food.
Dog milk might not be good for it.
Still, breast feeding from a cat has to better for the kitten than breast feeding from a dog. Just like the human baby is better off breast feeding from a human than drinking cow's milk.
Are there any FReeper veterinarians out there? I raised the issue of possible health consequences of the cross-species breast feeding and would be happy to get a professional opinion.
Are there any FReeper veterinarians out there? I raised the issue of possible health consequences of the cross-species breast feeding and would be happy to get a professional opinion.
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Kitten milk replacer sometimes has bad fas (vegetable oil) and carbohydrates (HFCS), neither of which is good for a baby carnivore (kitten).
Thank you, vetvetdoug.
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Thanks again to you both.
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