Ladybug and Her Babies

I have a dog, named Ladybug, and she was a rescue. I picked her up off the side of the road after almost hitting her with my car, fully intending to find her owners and return her. Funny how fate works out, but she is my precious mama puppy. About six months after I got her, I realized that, during one of her 'escapes' from my backyard, she had gotten pregnant. I was ecstatic, but when the time came for her to have her babies, they were both stillborn. We were both very upset, and Ladybug was a very sad not-mama for the next few days. 

I say few days because, I think day 3 after she had her stillbirths, I went to my garage to look for something, and heard tiny mewing sounds. I searched around for a few minutes, and found five week-old kittens in a box! Their mama had gotten cold, as it was the middle of winter, and had left her babies in my garage. I had left the door open the day before because I needed to air the place out, and I guess that's when she got in. I had seen the cat around the neighborhood, so I left the garage open, hoping she would come back to her babies, but she never did. About eight hour later, I decided to take them inside to warm them up. I locked them in Ladybug's travel crate with a blanket and a microwaved rice-sock, and went to go get kitten formula. 

Fast forward a week, and I no longer needed to bottle-feed the kittens. Ladybug was very calm and gentle around them, and so I started letting her near them while I fed them. One day, I was feeding the largest one, Kianta, and realized that I had forgotten to latch the door to the crate. I turned around, and saw Ladybug, in the crate, nursing the kittens! I realized that she was no threat to the babies, and so I let her nurse them. They stopped needing me to bottle-feed them, and I did keep them all, albeit spayed and neutered as soon as they were old enough. I am now a proud cat-momma to Kianta, Coma, Ceian, Scott, and Piccolo. 

-Cairo

Welcome to the site!  Your story is amazing and brought a tear to my eye about how things happen in life.   Congratulations on being a new cat momma!  You and Ladybug (I love that name) I'm sure are very busy and entertained as well.  Is everyone doing good?  I look forward to hearing so much more about your babies.  All the best and welcome again from Marianne (@raysmyheart)  and Speedy!

Thanks Marianne! It has been about three months since I became a cat mom, an I could not be happier. I love how different they all are in terms of personality, but they all get along so well! I never thought that a dog would be able to mother five tiny kittens, but I am blessed to have such a sweet dog who loves my cat babies. Coma is definitely the most outgoing and adventurous, Kianta is the most willing to sit and cuddle. Ceian and Scott are BFF's, and they just love to sit and 'talk' back and forth. Piccolo is the oddball, very spazzy but completely adorable, even when getting into trouble. I love my little snugglies!

Yes, this is amazing.  I am so sorry for your dog's miscarriage, but to happen across this litter of kittens and your female dog taking right to them as if they were her own, how fortunate for  those kittens and for Ladybug.  Can you please post pictures of the new family??   Kittens and Ladybug??  And, do keep us informed and any questions you may have, feel free to post.    And Welcome!!!

Sadly, until I get a new camera, I can't post a picture (Kianta likes to knock thing into the sink!) All of the kittens are doing well, but I was wondering, I have heard some mixed information about how to train cats to stop scratching at furniture. I am completely opposed to declawing them, and got them a cat tree to play on instead, but Coma likes to scratch the sofa. Does anyone have any idea as to how to get them to stop?

Hi @CairoDupree, my Speedy loves the cardboard scratchers.   The one I have for her now is like a tent that I got at Petsmart so she can scratch vertically, but I have gotten her other shapes too.  She used to scratch on a sisal mat that I have, which was good for her, but now she prefers the cardboard scratchers.  Speedy is my first indoor cat and I do think it is important to have somewhere the cat can scratch, because it is a need for them.  Someday I hope to get her one of the tall sisal scratching posts.  Try giving Coma some sort of scratching place/material to see if this will help.  I know some other members will have some experience with this too!   

thanks @raysmyheart! I will definitely try to get one of the cardboard scratchers for her, hopefully that keeps her from shredding my sofa anymore. So, this morning I took the glass top off of my coffee table to clean it, and all of the cats love to lay down on that table. The top is clear, so they have all gotten used it looking like nothing is under them. So, when I took the top off of the table, Ceian decided he wanted a nap, so he attempted to jump up on the table... And promptly fell right through. You would think that he would be smart enough not to try that again, but he did, with the same results. I swear, Ladybug was doggie laughing at him the entire time It seems like my babies get bigger everyday! 

Heartbreaking and lovely, all at the same time. Sorry about the puppies but I'm so glad ladybug decided to about the kittens. That is so sweet.

Please give us an update on your canine/feline family.  Again, so heartwarming yours and Ladybug's story. 

hey guys! Sorry to not have updated for a few, it's been kind of busy! Everyone but Piccolo is doing 100%. Pic jumped off the counter, and I guess he landed wrong? He was limping really bad and so I took him to the vet. Vet says he's going to be fine, just a sprain. Ladybug is doing really well, she's still trying to keep up with all the kitties, and I think that all the cats think that they're dogs!