Mama Dog Nurses Kitten With Her Puppies at NYC Animal Shelter [w/video]

NBC New York ^ | May 31, 2014

[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.

[Slings and Arrows]

Awww!

[Slings and Arrows]

[Sioux-san]

ditto that

[Gefn]

Baby basement kitty. Very angelic. Adorable.

[justiceseeker93]

Have a hunch that cross-species breast feeding carries some possible health risks to the kitten and is not the optimal way to feed her, but no medical opinion is given on the video.

[HiTech RedNeck]

don’t forget the dog’s role in this

[HiTech RedNeck]

That kitten is maybe half the size of the mama dog!

[HiTech RedNeck]

Kitten might stop purring and start going yap yap yap!

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Hormones are a funny thing when they kick in.

[loungitude]

See it here, cute!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLwEktLK3Yk

[rey]

We have an old dog the nurses an adult cat. Of course the dog is not lactating and the cat does not need to nurse. Actually, it is all very bizarre and rather disturbing. I think it has to do with both the dog and cat being from northern California. There is just so much perversity here.

[Slings and Arrows]

Oxytocin FTW!

[Slings and Arrows]

The cat sees the dog as a mama figure. Very sweet, IMO.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Heh!

[MV=PY]

Roadhouse: “Well I’ll be a son of a b!tch!

[patriot08]

Precious ‘lil Kitty.

[Slings and Arrows]

“I thought you’d be taller.”

[TheOldLady]

The video mentions that Roadhouse did better after the dog fed her, and having refused the bottle earlier, the breast
feeding was the only option. After she started breast feeding, she was more amenable to feeding from the bottle.

It is unlikely that she will suffer any damage since she is supplemented with kitten formula from a bottle.

[TheOldLady]

Heartwarming. Thank you for da pingle!

[Slings and Arrows]

My pleasure.