Siberian husky plays foster mother to kittens

When Sarah Kidder adopted a 12-year-old female Siberian husky named Tamerack last year, she knew she was getting a loving, friendly playful dog. But she never suspected that Tamerack had a hidden talent: as a foster kitten raiser. It all started last month, when Kidder, who lives in the Grand Lake area, was taking Tamerack for a walk.

"About a block away, I saw this beautiful, blue-eyed, chocolate point Siamese adult and two little black kittens playing in a driveway," she said. "I was like, 'Why would those little kittens be there?'" After talking with the neighbours, Kidder found out that the family who lived there had moved away and abandoned the Siamese — which she assumed was the mom — and the two kittens. So she decided to take them home.

"It wasn't safe for them to be out there. And we don't need any more feral cats in the neighbourhood, because they would keep on breeding. Plus, they were just ridiculously cute." That's when Tamerack unveiled her hidden talent.



"She was like, 'Oooh, kittens!' I was a little concerned at first because she was so excited, but then I realized she was excited because she wanted to mother them. She would follow them around and lick their heads and make sure they were OK. After 24 hours, they started following her around. Whenever she sat down, they sat down, too." By the next day, Tamerack was sharing her food with her little feline friends.

"Even when she was gnawing on a bone, she'd let them munch on it, too. I just sat there, slack-jawed, for a week." Now Tamerack and her kittens are inseparable. They sleep together, eat together and play together.

"She understands that she's a lot bigger than they are, so she's very gentle with them. If they're gone too long, she searches for them and hangs out wherever they are. If I'm looking for them, I just look for her because I know she'll be where they are."