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Three unwanted kittens have been given the gift of life from
an unlikely source - a Chihuahua named Anna.
Click photo to enlarge
Carole Wiffen's Chihuahua Anna feeds 2-week-old Persian
kittens Hamish, Sam and Hope, at her Dunedin home. Photo by
Peter McIntosh.
The 2-week-old Persian kittens were adopted by Carole
Wiffen, of Dunedin, following a visit to her local vet on
Friday.
The 63-year-old said she was dismayed to learn the kittens,
which had been abandoned, were likely to be put down.
"I thought 'this won't do - I will have to care for them'."
The proud owner of eight Chihuahuas said she had been unsure
how her pint-sized pooches would adapt to having the kittens
- Hamish, Sam and Hope - around the house.
But the action of one Chihuahua soon put her mind at ease.
Three-year-old Anna, who had a litter of five puppies earlier
this year, began to take extra interest in the kittens.
By Sunday, the pedigree Chihuahua "had little droplets of
milk appearing on her nipples".
"[Anna] was sitting on my knee as I was feeding them and they
started to feed from her."
Miss Wiffen said she had been feeding the kittens every two
hours, "but this has made my job much easier".
With Anna becoming increasingly protective of the kittens,
the unorthodox family was moved to their own enclosure - a
converted cereal box.
Anna would continue to feed the kittens for a further six
weeks before at least two of them went to new homes. "I am
hoping to keep one... I think Anna would still like to have
one of them around," she said.
St Kilda Veterinary Centre vet Tony Malthus said the case was
"most unusual" and the first he had heard in his 25-year
career.
While there was little difference between cat and dog milk,
it remained to be seen what behavioural traits the kittens
would pick up from their adopted mother.
Animals could experience "phantom pregnancies", producing
milk as a result, and in the case of Anna, "the kittens have
latched on to that", he said.
