Maternal instinct takes over
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/s_446072.html

PICTURE: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2006-04-21/0421DCcatdog-a.jpg

Kelly Kent, of Connellsville, was surprised when her 2-year-old cat,
Zoey, decided to adopt another mouth to feed, especially since Zoey
already had a litter of kittens -- three to be exact -- on March 26.

"This is Zoey's second litter," Kent says, "and she loves and cares for
each of her kittens."

But this wasn't another kitten Zoey took in -- it was a pug puppy.

The strange adoption took place soon after Zoey gave birth to her kittens.

Kent's neighbor approached her with a problem. The neighbor's dog had
puppies at almost the same time Zoey had her kittens. However, one black
puppy, a pug with no name, was a runt and wasn't getting fed by his mother.

Kent, a self-professed animal lover with one dog and two cats already,
in addition to the kittens, decided to take the puppy in and try to hand
feed it with an eye dropper. She had no luck.

"He wouldn't eat," Kent says. "He was weak and shivering when the
neighbors brought him to me."

Since Zoey was nursing her litter anyway, Kent saw no harm in seeing if
the puppy and Zoey would work together.

They did.

"The cat took to it," Kent says, watching Zoey lie down on her side
while her kittens and the runt puppy, which is smaller than its adopted
siblings, gather side by side to feed. The puppy kicks his legs and
struggles to get his share of Zoey's milk just like the kittens.

Zoey has not stopped with just nursing the puppy, either. She will also
bathe and clean him just like he was one of her kittens.

"It's odd," Kent says. "I'm surprised because she (Zoey) is not a fan of
dogs."

While Kent says a cat nursing a dog is an odd thing to see, she has seen
something else just as strange.

"I have an aunt that had a dog that nursed a pig," Kent says.

Dr. William Sheperd, veterinarian for Camelot Veterinary Services in
Uniontown, says that in the animal kingdom, it's not at all unusual to
have a surrogate mother nurse another animal, even if it's from another
species.

"It's their maternal instincts," Sheperd says.

He adds that there have been cases where horses and cows have nursed
offspring that was rejected.

While Sheperd says there is no health risk of a puppy drinking a cat's
milk, his only concern is if the mother cat would make enough milk for
the puppy.

"Puppies sometimes require more milk than kittens," he says.

But in Zoey's case, it might not be a problem.

"She might make enough milk for a pug," Sheperd says. "But if the puppy
is crying a lot, it is not getting enough milk; if the puppy is eating
and sleeping well, then there shouldn't be a problem."

About two weeks after the pug arrived at Kent's house, she said he has
greatly improved. He now gets along fine with the bigger kittens, "even
though one keeps attempting to scratch his head."

While Kent's three children are eager to keep their still unnamed puppy,
she isn't sure what to do with him. She knows what she wants to do with
Zoey, however.

"She's going to be spayed on April 30," Kent says, putting an end to
Zoey's long and strange nursing days.

"We always encourage them to be spayed," Sheperd says.

PICTURE:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2006-04-21/0421DCcatdog-a.jpg