“She kind of gave me an odd look” the first time Chloe the dog was given with two newborn babies to feed and care for, says foster mother Mary Rowland.
And that’s fine. Chloe had a lot on her mind already.
The highly pregnant dog had only been in a Houston animal shelter for about a month when she was quickly placed on the euthanasia list.
Chloe was rescued by Houston Pets Alive and placed in Mary’s home. Chloe, who was 12 pounds at the time, gave birth to eight puppies two weeks later. Three died, but Chloe kept herself occupied by caring for her remaining five children, who were a cute and demanding group.
Then, outside a local PetSmart, where Houston Pets Alive keeps a cattery, someone placed two tiny kittens in a shoebox.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have any nursing mama cats that could feed them,” explains Kristen Auld, volunteer marketing manager at Houston Pets Alive.
Mary had seen recordings of interspecies feedings — such as a dog who mothered an orphaned raccoon and a cat nursing kittens — and it had occurred to her that Chloe could be a surrogate and therefore expand her family in the most lovely way possible.
Two veterinarians enthusiastically approved. Only a smidgeon more skeptical was Chloe. It took her only a few moments to welcome the newcomers into her fold.
“She’s a fantastic mother,” Mary says. “The kittens began nursing right away. That was the end of it.”
Every day, Basil, Phoenix, Clementine, Hazel, Jasmine, and their kitten siblings Olivia and Smokey grow in size and strength. That’s wonderful to see, even if it may pose a challenge now and again.
The kittens have only recently been introduced to wet food in order to wean them off of Chloe, but the puppies have developed a taste for it as well. So there’s some wrangling going on at lunchtime.
The puppies, while still small, are much larger than the cats. Mary must keep a close eye on them to ensure that no deadly roughhousing occurs.
But the main takeaway for Mary is how simple and rewarding it was to save all of these lives — the pregnant mother, her puppies, and the unexpected kittens — owing to some resourceful animal rescuers and the miracle of the dog.
“I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat,” Mary says. “She’s an incredible, incredible little puppy.”
This bunch will be spayed and neutered in a month or so, and then put up for adoption. Keep an eye on the Houston Pets Alive Facebook page for updates. Here’s where you can help them out by donating to their cause.
