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Dog serves as mother to four puppies, four kittens

In a shady spot on the front law, six of Sadie’s eight children latched onto their mother for an early afternoon meal.

Sadie fed Stella, Bell, Sarge, Selina, Star and Spot while Butterscotch and Sylvester waited nearby for their turn.

The scene one day earlier this month was ordinary in that a mother was nurturing her young.

Yet, it was out of the ordinary at the same time. You see, Sadie is a dog, and while four of her young are puppies, four of them are kittens.

Even more, the 2-year-old dog is a terrier — one of the last breeds you’d expect to treat cats kindly.

Her foster parent and veterinarian attribute this rare occurrence to a couple of factors: timing and Sadie’s loving spirit.

What makes this feel-good story extra emotional for Sadie’s foster parent, Renee Schneller, is that the whole thing almost didn’t happen.

When Sadie was pregnant, the man who ran the out-of-state shelter where she was staying was going to put her down if he couldn’t find her a home. He was planning on being gone for a while and didn’t have anyone who would be able to care for her and the puppies-to-be.

The man contacted Second Chance Pets, a local organization that matches animals with owners. Schneller volunteers with the organization and welcomed Sadie, a small dog with a rust-colored coat, into her home May 28.

“What is so incredible is that Sadie was almost put down, and now she’s a mother to eight,” Schneller said, as tears started to well in her eyes.

From Sadie’s first day with Schneller, she was extra affectionate.

“She always wanted to be right next to me from the beginning. She would climb under the covers at night to be as close to me as possible,” she said. “She’s just so loving.”

Sadie gave birth to Sarge, Selina, Stella and Spot in Schneller’s home two days after her arrival.

Then, two weeks later, Schneller’s husband realized a few days had passed since he had last seen a cat who had been hanging around his trucking company in Kansas City North. Then he heard faint kitten screams in a storage area. The missing mother had babies.

Those kittens — Sylvester, Bell, Star and Butterscotch — joined Sadie and her four puppies in the Schnellers’ Smithville home.

“She was going crazy. She wanted to get to them so bad,” she said. “I thought she wanted to eat them alive.”

Schneller decided to at least allow Sadie to sniff the kittens. So she held Sadie as tight as she could and let the dog near a kitten.

Much to Schneller’s surprise, Sadie began licking the kitten.

“Here I thought she wanted to kill the kittens, and she really wanted to mother them,” she said.

She placed the kittens on Sadie’s nipples to see if they would nurse. From there, instincts took over.

Schneller has sought advice from Dr. Joan Hankins with the Lakeside Mobile Veterinarian Clinic in Smithville.

Hankins said it is extremely rare for a dog to take in a cat.

“They usually don’t want to accept anything that is not theirs. And they do not want anything foreign next to their babies,” she said.

When the rarity does occur, she said it usually involves a large, laid back dog — such as a Labrador or a Golden Retriever.

“Terriers, like Sadie, are bred to kill rodents. And a kitten looks like a rodent to them. Normally, they would want to kill the kittens. But not Sadie,” Hankins said. “Sadie is just so laid back and calm. Her feathers aren’t going to get ruffled very easily.”

Soon, Schneller will find homes for Sadie, the kittens and the puppies through Second Chance Pets. She’s become so attached to Sadie that she knows letting this dog go will be tough.

In the meantime, she’ll focus on taking in each moment.

As feeding time in the shade winded down, the dogs and cats all started to nap and play together. For now, they’re just one big happy family.

WANT TO ADOPT?

Interested in adopting Sadie or one of her eight? E-mail secondchance This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 913-814-7471.

Smithville Editor Nancy Hull Rigdon can be reached at 532-4444 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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