Doberman Nurses Abandoned Newborn Kitten Alongside Her Puppies [Video]

• Ruby, a Doberman Pinscher, may look scary but this dog mama has a big heart.
• When her owner, Brittany Callan, found an abandoned newborn kitten, she took it home and introduced it to Ruby.
• Ruby welcomed the tiny kitten and nursed it alongside his own litter of puppies.

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When we think of Doberman Pinschers, we see scary-looking guard dogs. They are often portrayed as highly aggressive and sometimes even ruthless.

Given proper training and socialization, modern breeding practices, and a happy home, Dobermans can be fun and loving pets. The American Kennel Club even describes Dobermans as dogs “with huge hearts.”

That is certainly true of one of six Dobermans owned by Brittany Callan of Geneseo, New York. Her name is Ruby.

When Brittany found a tiny newborn kitten abandoned in the Livingston County hamlet of Retsof, she took it home.

To her surprise, her Doberman Ruby started to nurse the tiny kitten she named Ramblin’ Rose. The four-year-old Ruby is also nursing a litter of six puppies she delivered a couple of weeks ago.

“She was meant to be a mother to anything,” Brittany said of Ruby. “We’ve had baby bunnies, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks,” she said. Ruby “licks them like she’s cleaning them, like she’s their mother.”

Ruby’s nurturing and motherly behavior made Brittany think she might accept the kitten as her own.

She cupped Ramblin’ Rose in her hands and held it up for Ruby to smell.

Then, “She started cleaning it like a mother does,” Brittany said. “Then I put it down and hooked it up to her nipple.”

The next moment is magic.

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Ruby continued nursing the kitten for another three to four weeks. Brittany made sure Ramblin’ Rose was getting enough nutrition, so she has been supplementing the natural feedings with servings of kitten formula.

The kitten has gone from weighing 4.37 ounces to 7.27 ounces in just a week.

Ruby also carries the kitten around the house by the scruff of the neck like she would her puppies. The puppies don’t seem to mind the kitten’s presence, Brittany said.

When Ruby puts the kitten down, it is in front of her own paws, “so she knows where it is,” Brittany said. “She’s tending to it more than her own babies.”

Brittany said she’s not keeping Ramblin’ Rose because not all her Dobermans are fond of cats. She also has a husky-shepherd mix who doesn’t like cats at all. The kitten will be adopted by a relative.

Once the kitten leaves, Ruby likely will still have her paws full with her own high-energy offspring — three males and three females.

Source: USA Today