Mom Dog Who Lost Pups in Premature Labor 'Adopts' Orphaned Kittens: 'Bless This Little Family'
In the wake of tragically losing her own pups, this rescue dog is mothering a few kittens!
The Sunshine Dog Rescue in Phoenix, Arizona, is currently caring for Georgia, a pregnant Australian shepherd mix who went into premature labor and lost her three baby pups in the process.
"Going into premature labor gave her babies no chance of living outside of her womb. While my heart hurts for the puppies that never got to run and play, my heart is so very sad for Georgia. She is looking for her babies and it is heartbreaking to watch," the rescue wrote in a Facebook post on Aug. 13.
After losing her whole litter, Georgia kept frantically looking for her puppies, said the rescue. Caregivers gave the grieving canine a stuffed animal with an artificial heartbeat to simulate her babies and calm her down.
Days later, however, Sunshine took in three motherless newborn kittens and introduced them to Georgia — who loved them in no time. "She LOVES them. So far we have been able to get one to latch and are bottle feeding until the other two figure it out too," the rescue wrote on Aug. 15.
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Two days later, two of the kittens were "thriving and bottle feeding fairly well" while the third "very sadly" passed away. "Georgia is extremely focused on her two seemingly healthy babies and is doing really well. Bless this little family ❤️," added the rescue.
Soon one of the remaining cats latched to the momma dog, and both kittens were given names: Graffiti and Gumball. An orange kitten was added to the mix, as well, named Goober. "They have all opened their eyes, are gaining weight (now weigh 7-8 ounces each), and seem very content with mama," read an Aug. 20 update.
Georgia — who will go by Milo at her new forever home — was pictured happily caring for her adopted kitten babies in subsequent photos and videos shared by Sunshine.
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Anita Osa, executive director of Sunshine, told KXTV that she was "certainly unsure" about Georgia taking in the cats as her own but was pleasantly surprised. The animal lover added that she would "absolutely" do it again if a similar scenario arises in the future.
"I had seen other species nurse another species before, so I thought ‘worst-case scenario she doesn’t take to them and I have some kittens I need to tend to myself,'" she added.
