Pets: Dog adopts orphaned kittens after their mother was hit by car
Elbert Bristow, 84, of Columbia, Alabama knew that his property would be a busy place this summer — he discovered that both his dog, Molly, and his cat would be giving birth to a litter of offspring.
After the litters of puppies and kittens arrived, sadly, the mother cat, "Kitty Kitty," had been hit by a car, leaving four orphaned kittens behind.
Sure, orphaned kittens can be bottle fed with special formula by humans — but much to Bristow's surprise, that didn't seem necessary.
It seems that Molly took on the responsibility of raising the kittens herself.
This isn't the first time that we've seen a mother of a different species step in and take over. A couple of years ago, we featured a baby squirrel who had been raised by a mother cat. Click here to read that story.
"I've had dogs all my life. I've trained bird dogs and coon dogs," Bristow told the Dothan Eagle, who first reported the story.
"But this is the first time I've ever had a dog take a litter of kittens."
Molly spends a few minutes at a time with the kittens, and lies down and lets them nurse. The kittens follow the dog around, just as if she were their biological mother.
Bristow keeps the 7-week-old puppies separated from the kittens on another part of his property.
Check out this heartwarming video of the unexpected family.
Lorrie Shaw leads the pets section for AnnArbor.com and is owner of Professional Pet Sitting. Shoot her an email, contact her at 734-904-7279 or follow her adventures on Twitter.
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