Cats and dogs are known for their fierce rivalry – but at a Durban home the perennial opponents are in harmony after Roxy the dog mothered an adopted stray cat.
The Masefield family owns two golden cocker spaniels. Stray feral kitten, Susy, arrived in February after Richard Masefield’s son, Chris, eight, found her near the Stables while riding horses.
Chris decided to keep the kitten as a gift for older sister Jessica, who turned ten a few days later.
Days after arriving at the family’s Morningside home, Susy would be seen nestling up to one-year-old Roxy, as if she was yearning for milk.
After two weeks of the kneading and pleading, Roxy’s maternal instincts responded and she started producing milk for Suzy – Much to the family’s surprise.
At first Masefield did not think it would come to anything as Roxy had not bred.
“It’s unusual for any female to produce milk unless they are pregnant or have given birth,” he said.
Masefield’s initial thought about the suckling had been that Roxy was being “stupid” for letting a cat get that close to her.
“I can understand why the cat did it, she’s a survivor,” he said.
Veterinary expert and animal behaviourist, Dr Quixi Sonntag from Ondestepoort Veterinary Institute at the University of Pretoria, said it was natural for animals to seek refuge with each other.
Sonntag, with the Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies at the university, said she had witnessed on TV a baby baboon being nurtured by a leopard.
Although the baboon did not survive, “it seems that female animals realise the need to nurture and protect helpless little animals, irrespective of species”.
“Canine milk can be nutritious for kittens, but it lacks protein and fat. The kitten will require more of that, but they can survive,” she said. Sonntag said kittens that had been abandoned by their mothers before eight or nine weeks were likely to seek mothering from another species.
“The kitten was lucky to have found a willing substitute mother,” she said. - Daily News
*To view kitten Roxy suckling Susy, see www.coweyscorner.co.za