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.

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria...

[patriot08]

That kitten looks like to me it’s big enough to drink milk from a bowl on its own- even eat wet cat food.
Dog milk might not be good for it.

[justiceseeker93]

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

Still, breast feeding from a cat has to better for the kitten than breast feeding from a dog. Just like the human baby is better off breast feeding from a human than drinking cow's milk.

[justiceseeker93]

Are there any FReeper veterinarians out there? I raised the issue of possible health consequences of the cross-species breast feeding and would be happy to get a professional opinion.

[LucyT]

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Are there any FReeper veterinarians out there? I raised the issue of possible health consequences of the cross-species breast feeding and would be happy to get a professional opinion.

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[vetvetdoug]

Canine breast milk has less butterfat, lactose, and protein than does feline breast milk therefore the kittens have to be supplemented. As for any health issues I cannot see any problem as humans drink cow, goat and camels milk without any problems. Wholesome milk is the subject of the equation as the dog must be healthy. There are a couple of diseases that can be transmitted from canine milk to other animals but those are rare (Lepto, Brucella).

[pbmaltzman]

IF you're worried about cross-species breastfeeding, the kitten can have goats' milk, which is called the "Type O" of milks since a lot of other species can thrive on it. I guess each species has speific types and amounts of protein, fat, and milk sugars; but apparently goats' milk is good for lots of different species.

Kitten milk replacer sometimes has bad fas (vegetable oil) and carbohydrates (HFCS), neither of which is good for a baby carnivore (kitten).

[LucyT]

Thank you, vetvetdoug.

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[TheOldLady]

Thanks again to you both.