By Elisa Black-Taylor
A Siamese cat living in Liverpool, UK, named Coco is now the proud parent of a Shih-Tzu puppy named Hope, who was rejected by her dog mother Diamond. Hope’s owner, David Cohen, was persuaded by Coco’s owner, Paula Ball to introduce the pair after Diamond rejected the newborn.
Note from Michael: Coco is described as a Siamese cat. All Siamese cats are pointed. Coco is chocolate coloured and no points. In America this cat would probably be a Havana Brown, a rare Siamese hybrid. In the UK, Coco is probably a Chestnut Oriental Shorthair called a “Havana” by the GCCF. I am guessing a bit but that seems to be the case. There is a Siamese connection and the original Havana Browns are believed to have been imported from Thailand.
Hope was born next to a stillborn puppy, and Diamond tried to bite her surviving puppy. Hope had survived five hours in the birth canal, and it’s a miracle she survived. Paula knew she had to do something to save the puppy. Her Siamese Coco had given birth to three kittens the same day Diamond gave birth. A fast thinker, Paula rubbed a little of the kitten scent on Hope before introducing the puppy to her surrogate mother the day after Hope was born.
Coco accepted her new baby and allowed Hope to nurse. She cleans her new puppy and treats her like one of her own. Here’s a two minute video showing the two together.
Hope is now three weeks old and doing well with her new mom. Right now Hope is the same size as the kittens, but that will change soon. Hope also has a different way of playing, as dogs use their mouths more at playtime. So far the kittens haven’t realized Hope is a dog. When Hope learns how to bark it could affect how they all play together.
The family vet, Lizzie Goldstraw from White Cross Vets in West Derby, treats Diamond And Coco. Lizzie says ‘It’s quite unusual for a cat to take a puppy on as its own but it helped that they were born on the same say and that Paula acted so quickly to introduce the puppy.’
Paula says of her new family member ‘We’re going to sell the kittens but I’m going to keep Hope. She’s part of the family now! I’m so proud of Coco and how she’s taken on Hope. It’s such a heartwarming story.’
It’s not that uncommon for a dog to take on a newborn kitten. Pseudo pregnancies are common. But for a cat to take on a newborn puppy is unusual. Have any of you ever had a mother cat as a surrogate mother to a puppy?
Elisa
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2385900/Abandoned-Shih-Tzu-puppy-adopted-Siamese-cat-rejected-natural-mother.html
Sweet story.
What a beautiful news item. Mummy cats are such wonderful mothers and it’s no surprise to me that the puppy was accepted.
This puppy is going to grow up into a dog who loves cats too.
Our Cujo grew up with cats as his teacher. he learned to stalk and pounce and jump from heights that scared us. After a year with just cats he’s finally learning to be a dog. He wrestles with the cats every day though.
I’ve heard about mama cats accepting puppies very rarely and the other way around, dogs accepting kittens, much more often. I know they do this in rescues if they have a chance because some mamas have lost their babies and some babies their mamas, so regardless of species its important to try and help them. Its a real testament to the fact that when we are born we don’t have any nonsense in our heads, kittens and puppies are alike even to eachother. It’s beautiful actually – very kind and yet instinctive. It’s something that some scientists should be spending alot more time analysing since humans could use a bit of this intuition or understanding to be better off.
Agreed. Here is an example in India:
https://pictures-of-cats.org/cat-and-dog-story-from-thiruvaniyoor-india.html
I agree that there is a lot to learn in this. It is instinctive and all the barriers of species are removed. I wonder if we can remove all the barriers of race and colour in the human race? It is a beautiful thing to witness.
hi michael thank you for posting coco n hope..:) yes coco is an oriantal havanna
Hi Paula. Thanks.