Dog adopts orphaned kitten

An orphaned kitten has been saved in Wisconsin - thanks to the maternal nature of a Pekingese dog.

Pat Weber's teenage grandson found the kitten on the floor of a barn at their home in Jordan, Wisconsin.

Mrs Weber feared the worse when she saw the tiny kitten, its eyes still shut, was only a couple of days old, reports the Star Tribune.

"He brought her into the house and said 'I think she's dead,' " she said. "But I held her in the palm of my hand, and I could tell she was moving."

As Mrs Weber put the kitten on the floor to call a vet, her four-year-old Pekingese Mittens took over.

She nuzzled the kitten and let her suckle, even though the dog wasn't pregnant or nursing a litter. Three days later, she began producing milk.

"I couldn't believe it at first. Later I took some pictures and took them to church and told people I had a miracle to share," said Mrs Weber, who named the kitten Bootsie.

"The miracle was that after three days my dog had milk to feed the kitten with, and I didn't have to get up every two hours to feed her formula out of bottle."

John King, executive director of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association, said: "There's a strong maternal instinct in many animals, and they will foster other species.

"It depends on the temperament of the individual animals, both the baby and particularly the mother."