T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
---|
4706.1 | Mother Hen & Her Kitties | SUBURB::MARSHC | | Tue Jun 11 1991 09:10 | 17 |
| I remember once on TV here in the UK a programme called That's Life
reported a very unusual kitten story. A middle aged couples cat had
had 3 kittens and gone missing when the kittens were about a week old.
They were sure the kittens would die the first night alone (in the
shed) But on returning to the shed the next morning the kittens were
nowhere in sight, just a couple of farm yard hens this bloke kept.
It was only when the farmer heard a squeak from underneath the hen he
realised the hen was sitting on the kittens keeping them warm as she
would keep her chicks. They showed some fantastic film of these
kittens at about 5 weeks old riding on the hens back and running round
her feet. Of course the farmer was feeding the kitten with milk
formular but the hen was nursing them as a mother.
Isn't animal/bird nature amazing !!
Chris
|
4706.2 | Term for mimicking behavior. | ICS::ANDERSON_M | | Tue Jun 11 1991 10:16 | 7 |
| What heartwarming stories.
There is a term that is used when an animal 'bonds' with another and
begins to mimick their behavior. Does anyone know what it is?
Marilyn and Otis
|
4706.3 | Momma Cat | RUTLND::NRAPAGLIA | | Tue Jun 11 1991 10:22 | 11 |
|
re .0:
A similar situation happened with my friends cat. She had a litter of
kittens and a neighbors Dashcund had puppy's. Momma Daschund died
leaving 3 baby's, so the neighbors brought the babies to Momma cat and
she nursed them with her kittens. She took care of them the whole
time, and saved their lives. It was truly amazing.
Nancy
|
4706.4 | | JJLIET::JUDY | My body says yes but my mind says no | Tue Jun 11 1991 11:56 | 10 |
|
Kind of coincidental that this note is here. I have a couple
of pictures of a me and my 'pet' chipmunk in my office. One
of the guys was looking at them and remarked that a friend
of his found a newborn abandoned squirrel. He brought it home
and his cat nursed it as if it were one of her kittens. (she had
just had a litter)
JJ
|
4706.5 | GREAT TOPIC!! | MCIS2::HUSSIAN | But my cats *ARE* my kids!! | Tue Jun 11 1991 12:31 | 4 |
| Gee...talk about the warm & fuzzies!! I'm smiling from ear to ear...
thank you, noters!
Bonnie
|
4706.6 | Nice Way to Start The Day! | SANFAN::FOSSATJU | | Tue Jun 11 1991 12:36 | 4 |
| I came into the office in a sort of "snit" this morning but this note
has sure made me feel a lot better - animals are so wonderful!!
Giudi
|
4706.7 | | TPMARY::TAMIR | ACMS design while-u-wait | Tue Jun 11 1991 13:10 | 8 |
| Honey was co-raised by his feline Mom, Mocha, and a Cocker Spaniel named
Peaches. Peaches and Mocha were best friends, so when Mocha had her kittens,
Peaches was right there to help out with the mothering. It's nice to have
a Big Sister to help out!! And although it was cat-to-cat, Meggie adopted
a 6 day old kitten and raised it as her own. Scooter (the adoptee) is now
happily living with Jan and Ron Brown....
Mary
|
4706.8 | Memories are made of this... | DEMON::MURPHY | | Tue Jun 11 1991 14:32 | 4 |
| Ahh, yes. Sweet little Scooter. I'll always be grateful to both you,
Mary, and Meg for helping him. It's so nice to know he's in a super
good home with Jan and Ron too. :-)
|
4706.9 | | USDEV1::NDC | Putiput Scottish Folds DTN:297-2313 | Wed Jun 12 1991 12:22 | 3 |
| re: .2 - I think the word you're looking for is "Imprinting".
yes??
|
4706.10 | male cats give milk | TYGON::WILDE | why am I not yet a dragon? | Wed Jun 12 1991 16:38 | 16 |
| for the record:
males often take over mothering in these cases...and in two cases I know
of, the neutered male in question even began to give milk. The first male
"nursemaid" I heard of was through the CATFANCY magazine. A breeder of
Abbys has a neutered male who "nurses" her litters, even giving milk if the
kittens are prone to nurse on him. The mother cats seem to accept the Uncle
cat giving assistance and the kittens are assured of getting enough milk,
even if mom is a little "short".
My friend Rene also has Oscar, American Shorthair Silver Tabby, who has
nursed the two Ocicat kittens Rene bought 4 months ago. Oscar didn't wean
the little monsters until they were 5 months old! Kittens and Oscar
seem no worse for wear - we can tell because both breeds have that satiny,
close laying coat that reflects all variances of health immediately. Oscar
is a 4 year old neutered male.
|
4706.11 | Yup, imprinting! | ICS::ANDERSON_M | | Thu Jun 13 1991 09:07 | 5 |
| Thanks Nancy, 'imprinting' was the word that I could not (for the life
of me) recall. They say the mind is the first to go. ;^)
Marilyn
|
4706.12 | I saw something like that on T.V... | DELNI::JMCDONOUGH | | Thu Jun 13 1991 13:58 | 9 |
| Re .10
I was going to mention that..but thought everyone'd think I was
nuts!! I saw something on this during one of the documentarys on "The
Discover Channel" a few months ago... It was on animal behavior and I
think the case in point was a male dog in Great Britain who 'adopted' a
litter of puppies that has lost the mother at birth...
Wonders never cease..
JM
|