Dog Rescued With Her Unweaned Kitten

I can’t resist putting this story on PoC because it is a Christmas heart warmer despite being all over the internet. This purebred-mix dog (Shih Tzu) was found in trouble and hurt in bushes in Anderson, South Carolina. The animal officer, Michelle Smith, rescued her and discovered a little kitten close-by when she went to pick him up. This is a classic case of dog-mothers-cat. It is a total and settled relationship. They are mother and offspring. They just happen to be different species of animal.

I guess people do that quite a lot as well when you think about it – people raising kittens is one example – but never naturally as is the case here, with the cat suckling……uhm that got me thinking too..I won’t put it on this page but there are some YouTube videos that are entitled, “baby kitten sucks human breast”. These videos showed a cat sucking on the woman’s clothes covering her breast….

…Then I found the real McCoy, a video of a Japanese woman actually breastfeeding her cat! Ouch, you know how cats knead to encourage the flow of milk…..Well, there it is. It never occurred to me to go down this route until I saw these pictures of this cute dog nursing, protecting and raising her kitten. They are currently at a shelter waiting for an adopter to adopt them together, of course.

Rescued dog nursing kitten as her own

Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Thanks to DW for finding it for me. Here is another one: Golden Retriever raises litter of kittens.

Useful links
Anxiety - reduce it
FULL Maine Coon guide - lots of pages
Children and cats - important
Useful tag. Click to see the articles: Cat behavior

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.

Michael Broad

Hi, I'm a 74-year-old retired solicitor (attorney in the US). Before qualifying I worked in many jobs including professional photography. I love nature, cats and all animals. I am concerned about their welfare. If you want to read more click here.

8 Responses

  1. Leah says:

    I so hope they remain together what a beautiful bond she really is that kittens mom doesn’t matter to her that she didn’t give birth to him she loves him all the same. I would be curious to know how they came upon one another yet I would imagine any little creature desperate to survive would go to any lengths. This story reminded of when our horrible ex neighbours threw their kitten out into the snow because he had a poorly tummy I went out to get our German Shepherd in and found the kitten lying snuggled up to his chest. I hate these unfeeling people who just want rid of a problem 🙁
    Sorry Im getting maudlin
    This is a lovely story and I’m so glad they found the kitten as well or she may not have survived and that gorgeous little dog would have pined as well. So glad they are both safe 🙂

  2. Dee (Florida) says:

    Sorry, Boys! But, if I were lactating, I wouldn’t hesitate to nurse any animal in need.
    There is no unwritten rule that says nurturing must be species specific.
    We are the prejudiced ones.

  3. Yikes on the humans breast feeding cats. This is truly a beautiful story. What sweet dog.

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