Video: Milk of canine kindness saves Dunedin kittens

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Three unwanted kittens have been given the gift of life from an unlikely source - a Chihuahua named Anna.

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.