VICTORIA, Texas – A stray kitten has adopted a 3-year-old dog as its mother, feeding from the unusually cooperative dachshund in the morning, at night and after naps.
"That's not going to happen very often," said veterinarian John Beck, who added that the kitten "got lucky" in finding a dog with those maternal instincts.
The kitten, now named Tahoe, was found under the hood of Eunice Collins' running Chevrolet Tahoe a few weeks ago. Collins kept the kitten. Four days later, she saw her dog, Lillie, feeding him, with the kitten purring and pawing at the dog's belly.
"I couldn't believe it," Collins said. "She has just taken Tahoe on as her baby and has been nurturing and taking care of him. They're just very close."
Beck said having Tahoe in the house "induced a false pregnancy, a nursing response."
"It made the hormones needed to produce milk," Beck said. "Now, I'm sure the cat obviously had it in mind the dog was (his) mother."
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