Daisy the dog is the perfect mum – to cats!
AN UNLIKELY TALE...
THEY may not be the same species, but this little family are completely devoted to each other – and it’s incredibly cute.
When these tiny kittens lost their mum shortly after birth, they would have struggled to survive by themselves.
But they soon found a foster mum who would care for them as though they were her own.
After a visit to Westgate Ark cat shelter, Laura Simpson, from Chapel Park, Newcastle, agreed to take in the litter of newborns, who were in desperate need of care.
She knew that her six-year-old cavachon dog, Daisy, would be friendly to the new arrivals, but she had no idea how much she would take them to heart. Laura said: “When we took them in, they were skin and bones. Daisy just went into mothering mode straight away, she started licking them, cleaning them up – she wouldn’t let them out of her sight. “She is a very loving dog and will mother anything – we rescued a kitten four years ago, when she was young herself, and she cuddled and cleaned it, but we’ve never seen anything to the extent of this.” Maternal Daisy has fully embraced her role – she’s so convinced that the kittens are hers that she’s even begun to lac- tate. Meanwhile, the kittens, two ginger boys and one black-and-white girl, seem totally at home with their new “mum”, climbing up to sit on Daisy’s back or cuddling up against her to sleep. Though sadly the smallest of the litter of four d i e d shortly after arriving, the loss only made Daisy more protective, and now her remaining three charges, nearly five weeks old now, are thriving under her care.
Laura said: “They’re doing really well, they’re just starting to play with each other.
“The vet told us if it hadn’t been for Daisy, they might not have made it.”
Westgate Ark, the sanctuary which rescued the kittens, is often in need of donations of cat and kitten food, as well as volunteers and people who can foster cats. For more information, visit www.westgateark.org.uk