Thursday, May 2, 2002 | 10:55 a.m.
Info
To adopt an animal call 384-3333, ext. 18, or to get more information about the Animal Foundation's foster care program call the same number, ext. 14.
It will be a special Mother's Day for Daisy as she spends it playing with and nursing her four babies -- Violet Lily, Tumbleweed, Cactus Jack and Stinkweed.
Daisy is a 2-year-old Chihuahua who on Sunday gave birth to stillborn puppies and the next day "adopted" four motherless 2-week-old Siamese kittens, who she now grooms, nurses and ferociously protects.
Lied Animal Foundation shelter officials say Daisy is one doggone good mom.
"I was amazed -- it's the first interspecies surrogate relationship we've had here," said Stacy Herro, manager of the shelter at 700 N. Mohave Road.
Dr. Rob Fryer, a veterinarian at the Rancho Animal Clinic, said interspecies surrogates are rare.
"I am not sure anyone can say for sure why it happens, although you will get many different opinions," Fryer said.
"In this situation you have a dog with strong maternal instincts and a high hormonal level who is an amazingly good mother. It is a case where all of the pieces of the puzzle fit and both the dog and the kittens have benefited."
Daisy, a brown and white short-haired Chihuahua, was brought to the shelter in labor on Saturday. Her owners could not afford what would have been an $800 vet bill to save Daisy's life and deliver her puppies, one of which was stuck in the birth canal.
They opted to give her to the Animal Foundation to save her. Herro immediately took Daisy to a veterinarian who delivered the puppies, but they were dead. On Sunday, Herro took Daisy to her home to recover from the ordeal.
"I was hand-feeding four kittens that had been brought to the shelter by Animal Control after the mother cat could not be found," she said. "Daisy started whimpering as she watched me, but I was cautious because I didn't know whether she would get aggressive if she got close to the kittens."
Daisy eventually was allowed to get close. She stuck out her tongue and began grooming one of the tiny kittens.
"She picked each one up by the neck and carried them to her box," Herro said. "After a while, they began nursing and she let them do it."
Teri Law, the foster care coordinator at the shelter, has since taken Daisy and the kittens into her home until the kittens are weaned.
"I wasn't surprised that Daisy accepted the kittens," Law said. "I guess I watch the Animal Channel too much. They show all sorts of pet pairings."
Herro says this should not be just a feel-good story about cuddly kittens and an endearing pooch, but rather, "it is about responsible pet ownership and the need for more foster care volunteers."
Currently, the Animal Foundation has 180 dogs and more than 100 cats for adoption, plus another 40 kittens from 17 litters that need foster homes, where the kittens are watched over until they are eight weeks old.
"We are hoping that Daisy's example will encourage people to become foster care givers," Herro said. "We hope to have many or all of our kittens in foster homes by Mother's Day (May 12)."
Daisy will nurse her kittens for six more weeks, then will be spayed to prevent other unwanted pregnancies that would add to a nationwide pet overpopulation problem that results each year in tens of thousands of animals being euthanized.
Herro said Daisy came from a back-yard breeding situation, where her ex-owner still owns an unneutered male Chihuahua. The female kitten will be spayed and the three male kittens will be neutered at eight weeks to prevent them from adding to the proliferation of unwanted animals.
All of them then will be adopted by local homes, Herro said.
"In situations like this, unhappy endings are far more common than happy endings," Herro said. "Without medical assistance, Daisy would have died trying to give birth and the kittens never would have survived without the mother cat if Animal Control had not rescued them.
"Spaying and neutering pets prevents those tragedies."
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