Mother Cat Adopts Pup Rejected by Mother

MERIDEN, Conn. -- Who says cats and dogs don't get along? Workers at the Meriden Humane Society are marveling at a short-haired mother cat who has willingly adopted a six-day-old Rottweiler puppy that was rejected by its mother.

The tiny pup, named Charlie by Humane Society volunteers, nurses alongside a jumble of black and gray kittens recently born to Satin, who was surrendered to the shelter by an owner unable to care for her.

Happy she's helping out. How adorable!

My "dominant" (non-aggressive - they're not the same thing) German Shepherd immediately took over a tiny kitten (~3 wks) we "saved" from a weirdo brat little boy who stole her.

We didn't know where he got it at the time but we knew he shouldn't have it - and he was abusive (my cousin: "Ever notice every time you come up here they have different animals?"), even right there in front of us on a very cold day. In the cold the baby was crying like crazy.

Anyway, Shana never had puppies (although she was never "cut" until she was 10), but immediately upon my aunt dropping the kitten in our house - "stolen" from the boy - Shana was totally interested. Took her and licked her and "nursed" her, letting Scarlett lie on her tummy trying vainly to get out milk! We just fed Scarlett with a bottle, but she loved having a furry "mommy" to cuddle into.

I'd bet it's a Rottie-Pit Mix; they're getting very popular especially in CT where I live and instead of getting a killing machine by breeding the two-you get a really big dopey, drooling dog that looks really mean.
We have a Husky mix dog, a Rat terrier and the big dope. And it's the terrier you have to look out for especially if there is food within a five mile radius. Buddy, the Rottie mix, is so lovey dovey he even helps his girlfriend take a bath-and she's a cat!

My rottie is an absolute princess. She's a big tough Omen dog when she needs to be, but is often reduced to a big hunk of whimpering puppiness when faced with her best friend, our kitten, Chase.

Chase runs rings around Ursa, literally, and knows she can get her way with one well-placed kiss on the nose.

Terriers are the only dogs that actually scare me. They're tough hombres.

It's VERY common for mother animals (and mother humans, for that matter, though that usually involves drugs/alcohol) to refuse to care for their babies. First-time mothers are especially prone to this.

And that study yesterday said that adoptive parents as a whole devote more time and attention to their children than biological parents. It didn't give any statistics on gay adoptive parents, and most children of gay parents are the biological offspring of one of the parents and have not been legally adopted by the other, due to legal barriers. Nor did it say that adoptive parents were "better". Many people adopt children with shaky backgrounds (think Eastern European orphanages) or health problems who may simply require more time and attention. And all adoptive parents became parents on purpose, unlike biological parents which is a group that includes a lot of "accidents" (not to mention a lot of "slept with my crack/meth dealer"). A comparison of adoptive parents to on-purpose biological parents might well find that they devoted about the same amount of time and attention to their children.

it's funny how in our hubris we believe that we are the only species capable of nurturance.
A monster of a tom cat came to us in the middle of a cold snap some thirty years ago: his paws were frost bitten and bleeding and, after warming him up and feeding him, i took him to the vet where i had him altered and medicated. when he had recuperated and wanted to go out, i attached a note to the collar i had given him, explaining what i had done. his previous "owners" decided that they no longer wanted him, now that he was no longer a "super stud." Kitty came back to me, but this time he no longer wanted to go "out on the town."
That summer, the neighborhood kids brought me a fledgling sparrow, which i hand-fed until it tatted. To prepare it for release, i screened it in the bathroom to allow it to fly safely, away from the kitties. One day, as i entered the bathroom to feed the little bird, Gomez--by then the the faithful family retainer--darted in, snatched up the little bird, and ran off with it in his mouth. In a panic, I followed, calling my spouse for assistance. We chased them to a corner of a basement where I expected to find only the remains of feet and feathers; instead, we came upon this 20-pound cat dutifully washing the bird as he gently restrainted it with one paw.
We later adopted 2 quasi-feral littermate kittens that were less-than-fond of people but loved Gomez. They would pile on him, attempting to nurse from his private parts, and kneading incessantly. He washed them, chastised them, and brought them to understand that people--at least these people--were ok. They grew big and strong as he faded into old and frail, but even as he declined he nurtured his "babies"--a scarecrow at 10 pounds, he tried to comfort the 25-pound behemoth that still tried to suckle at his breast.
There was sadness and confusion when he passed--and grief. Animals know: they love and nurture and celebrate and mourn. It's up to us humans to pay attention, because we mostly circumscribe their world.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.