CRANBROOK, Canada - A family awoke Tuesday to find their cat nursing two mice - along with her seven week-old kittens.
Irene Weller said one of her daughters found some baby mice in a nest that ended up in their home the day before.
"I didn't want mice in the house," Weller said. So the baby rodents were promptly thrown outside.
But on Tuesday morning, the Wellers saw their cat Patches nursing and caring for the mice as if they were part of her litter.
"I don't know where she found them," Weller said. "But clearly she found them and brought them in instead of killing them."
It appears Patches is in a real maternal groove.
"She's actually feeding the mice," Weller said.
At one point during the day the Weller kids were playing with the mice outside the den area.
"Patches was upset they weren't in the bed," Weller said. "All she wanted to do was lick them.
"When we put them back in the bed Patches calmed right down."
Assuming the cat doesn't revert to her genetically programmed instincts, the mice may become part of the family.
Weller said the family plans to buy a cage for the little rodents, who have yet to be named.
Regional wildlife biologist Bob Forbes said Patches' behavior isn't uncommon among animals.
"I've seen this kind of thing before," Forbes said. "I've seen a dog nursing squirrels. I've seen documentation of lions nursing wildebeest calves."
But there's rarely a happy ending to such stories.
"The milk is not compatible so the animals being nursed won't thrive," Forbes said.
Eventually, the mother loses interest in the unusual offspring, which Forbes said usually wander off and die.
About the only scenario where this sort of arrangement works is when a grizzly bear cub is introduced to a black bear mother.
Forbes said biologists in the region have had good results by introducing orphaned grizzly cubs into the den of a black bear.
"But a mouse trying to nurse off a cat?" Forbes said. "The kittens might have something to play with in a week."
Irene Weller said one of her daughters found some baby mice in a nest that ended up in their home the day before.
"I didn't want mice in the house," Weller said. So the baby rodents were promptly thrown outside.
But on Tuesday morning, the Wellers saw their cat Patches nursing and caring for the mice as if they were part of her litter.
"I don't know where she found them," Weller said. "But clearly she found them and brought them in instead of killing them."
It appears Patches is in a real maternal groove.
"She's actually feeding the mice," Weller said.
At one point during the day the Weller kids were playing with the mice outside the den area.
"Patches was upset they weren't in the bed," Weller said. "All she wanted to do was lick them.
"When we put them back in the bed Patches calmed right down."
Assuming the cat doesn't revert to her genetically programmed instincts, the mice may become part of the family.
Weller said the family plans to buy a cage for the little rodents, who have yet to be named.
Regional wildlife biologist Bob Forbes said Patches' behavior isn't uncommon among animals.
"I've seen this kind of thing before," Forbes said. "I've seen a dog nursing squirrels. I've seen documentation of lions nursing wildebeest calves."
But there's rarely a happy ending to such stories.
"The milk is not compatible so the animals being nursed won't thrive," Forbes said.
Eventually, the mother loses interest in the unusual offspring, which Forbes said usually wander off and die.
About the only scenario where this sort of arrangement works is when a grizzly bear cub is introduced to a black bear mother.
Forbes said biologists in the region have had good results by introducing orphaned grizzly cubs into the den of a black bear.
"But a mouse trying to nurse off a cat?" Forbes said. "The kittens might have something to play with in a week."
