Until She Met This Dog, A Heartbroken Kitten Wouldn’t Even Eat

The small, fragile kitten appeared to have given up on life at just two weeks old. The kitten was found alone on the streets of San Jose, California, and given to Thoa Bui, a lady who had previously saved animals.

Despite Bui’s best attempts, the kitten, called Rosie, refused to eat. Or, for that matter, responding to anything at all.

“We attempted to take care of Rosie when she came our way,” Bui tells The Dodo. “Nothing we tried worked.”

Until one of Bui’s dogs, Lilo, a husky, became involved. Lilo snatched the kitten from beneath her paw. Literally.

The dewy-eyed kitten gradually awoke to her new world, a world where motherhood isn’t limited by species.

“After a couple hours of simply snuggling,” Bui recalls, “she started eating.”

Lilo and Rosie are still refusing to let anything come between them a year and a half after that crucial relationship was formed.

“They can’t not be touching while they’re sleeping in my sister’s room at night,” Bui adds. “It’s hysterical.”

In reality, Rosie’s experience of being mothered by a Siberian husky has left an everlasting mark on her. She could be having an identity problem now that she’s all grown up.

Rosie had observed her surrogate mother going outdoors to potty. As a result, she began conducting her restroom business outside as well. Rosie began to insist on being leashed when out for walks.

Rosie even found a sister in Infinity and a brother in Miko among Bui’s other pets.

“She definitely has her catlike traits since she lives with other cats who are also her pals,” Bui adds. “But I believe she is well aware that she was raised by a husky. And she has a lot of those characteristics. She considers herself to be more of a dog than anything else.”

“Lilo also serves as a mentor for her,” Bui says. “She instills in her a great deal of bravery.”

You might excuse Rosie for thinking she was a dog. After all, a dog stepped up when all the human goodness in the world couldn’t replace a mother’s love. Since then, the dog has been at her side.