Pa. Cat Nurses Rejected Pug Puppy

Pa. Cat Nurses Rejected Pug Puppy

CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. (AP) - A pug puppy rejected by his mother has found a new, more welcoming family - a cat and her three kittens.

Kelly Kent, of Connellsville, said her 2-year-old cat, Zoey, has been nursing a black pug puppy since he was rejected by his mother in late March. Zoey doesn't usually like dogs but seems to have made an exception, Kent said.

The puppy, who belongs to Kent's neighbor, is about the same size as Zoey's kittens and regularly lines up for milk with his adopted feline siblings.

It is not unusual for mothers to adopt in nature, even if the baby is of another species, said William Shepherd, a Uniontown veterinarian. Shepherd said a puppy can drink a cat's milk, but warned that Zoey might not be able to produce enough as the young pug gets older and bigger.

The pug puppy, the runt of his litter, doesn't yet have a name.