Dogs and cats don’t always get along, but every once in a while, they pull together to survive in a situation that isn’t the best. In South Carolina, an abandoned dog was found by a rescue, and she had a surprise with her.
She had adopted an abandoned kitten and was nursing her to keep her alive.
It all started when Officer Michelle Smith from Anderson Animal Control got a call about a dog barking in a neighborhood. It didn’t seem like anything strange, and she gets dozens of calls just like it every day. Still, she had to go check it out.
When she arrived, she saw the dog in a deep ravine near a creek.
She also noticed there was a kitten with the dog. Neither of them had collars or tags, so it didn’t appear that they belonged to anyone nearby. They were both likely abandoned and just happened to find each other.
Smith said:
“I think it would’ve been OK for the dog to walk down the hill. I got down there, so it should be pretty easy for the dog, but I’m thinking it just couldn’t get back up with the kitten, and I don’t think it was willing to leave the kitten.”
It was possible that the very reason the dog went down the hill was because she saw the kitten down there and wanted to save her.
Some animals just have extraordinarily strong motherly instincts. Even when they see baby of a different species in need, those instincts kick in and they try to care of them.
Smith brought the animals back to the rescue, and she attempted to separate them, so they could be bathed and vetted. The dog wouldn’t leave the kitten’s side. Instead, she wanted to bathe her and nurse her. It was clear that the dog had taken the kitten to raise.
Smith said in 17 years working with animals, she doesn’t usually see different types of animals become friends like this and had never seen a dog nurse a kitten.
It truly was an amazing thing to witness.
The volunteers at the rescue decided that it was probably best to leave them together. They realized that the dog had been keeping the kitten alive by feeding her. The strange thing is that although the dog was lactating, she had never had puppies of her own. She was experiencing a pseudopregnancy. Even though she wasn’t really pregnant, her body was tricked into thinking it was, and she was able to produce milk to feed the baby.
Still, it wasn’t enough to keep the kitten healthy, and the rescuers had to bottle feed her, too.
They assumed that the dog belonged to someone and held both animals for 14 days to give the owners time to claim them. Nobody showed up looking for them, so the rescue decided to put them up for adoption.
The shelter named the dog Goldie and the kitten Kate after celebrity mother-daughter duo Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson. They also posted the story of how they were found and the special relationship they shared. The post went viral and had 88,000 shares and 430,000 likes.
Everyone wanted to adopt the best friends.
Even people from the other side of the world were calling and sending emails because they were interested in adopting the pets. The shelter wanted to make sure they stayed together and went to a loving home. The shelter chose the Harris couple to adopt them.
They are now in their forever home, where they play all day and snuggle all night. Even though Kate is grown up now, they still have a close bond. They also never have to worry about being abandoned again.
The rescue and the police were also looking for the person who may have abandoned the animals. They were not sure if it was the same person or if multiple people were responsible for leaving these precious animals behind.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
