Dog Adopts Kittens
This story comes to us from MagicValley.com in Twin Falls, Idaho. If Ellie isn’t a Dogster, she sure needs to be! The Catsters would love her!
Weaned kittens look to dog for supper
By Will Sites
Times-News writerJEROME Its a crazy world at the end of Liz Batchas dead-end road, a place that common everyday farm critters have seemingly turned upside down.
A few miles east of U.S. Highway 93 along a stretch of tall corn and short side roads, Batchas place doesnt stand out to the ordinary eye. But upon closer inspection, something strange is indeed afoot.
Ellie always meets me at the end of the driveway, but one day she wasnt there,” said Batcha, talking about her Norwegian elkhound cross dog. I found her on the porch and a kitten was nursing on her I couldnt believe it.”
Actually, Ellie was feeding three kittens that were previously weaned from their mother, Special Kitty, one of several characters roaming the grounds of Batchas 1920s-era farmhouse.
But how does a dog without pups suddenly turn into a full-blown surrogate mother of three?
With some (admittedly) bad personal decisions behind her, Batcha moved back to Magic Valley with her 13-month-old daughter, Jolie, in tow. As a single mother with an old house and horse-training facility to fix up, a good mouser-dog was in order. The animal shelter in Buhl had just what she needed.
After I got Ellie from the pound, I went back and told them that they had given me exactly what I wanted she was great,” Batcha said Friday afternoon. Someone boosted Ellie over the pounds fence because they couldnt keep her, but the pound kept her until the right person came along.” The lanky 13-month-old Ellie could have been put to sleep within a few days of arriving at the Buhl shelter. But she wasnt.
At some point after fitting in with Batchas other animals several horses, Dixie the border collie and Special Kitty Ellie ran into Dammit, the neighbors full-of-life male border collie. Soon after, Ellie was pregnant. But the pregnancy was troubled, and Ellie was spayed without delivering pups. The pregnancy-induced high levels of progesterone allowed Ellie to still nurse.
My cat had already weaned her kittens three months ago,” Batcha, a trained emergency medical technician/paramedic, said while Ellie and one of the kittens snuggled on the porch. However, the kittens must have seized the opportunity for an easy dinner even if it was from a dog. Everything seems to be fine, and now Special Kitty has new kittens to take care of.”
But thats not quite the end to this story.
