When newborn kittens suddenly find themselves without a mother, what do they do?
The laws of nature would probably dictate that they didn't have a chance.
However, sometimes, Mother Nature flips the natural order of things on its head, as in the case of this miraculous story about Miss California, a bunny rabbit who adopted a litter of six 10-day old kittens after their mother was fatally wounded by a gunshot.
It has been a big challenge for Miss California, as her two baby rabbits only need milk once every 10 to 12 hours, while kittens need to be fed every five. When Miss California cannot manage on her own, her owners Dave and Ruth Chamberlain step in and bottle-feed the kittens.
According to Dave, Miss California has been unusually protective of her new babies. She will become aggressive if anyone or anything tries to interfere with their feeding time. While cases involving cats nursing baby rabbits have been documented in the past, this is one of the first cases involving a rabbit mother taking care of abandoned kittens.
The Chamberlain's hope is to find a nursing cat mother who could feed the kittens, or as Dave calls them, "the miracle babies". They are in need of at least another two weeks of breastfeeding before they can start feeding themselves.
And just what are Dave and Ruth planning to do with the little ones once they are independent?
Well, here's the happy end to this already amazing story.
They plan to keep them.
Images and story courtesy of CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2011/09/20/nb-rabbit-nursing-kittens-234.html
(Visit the above link to see an adorable video of Miss California feeding the mini moggies!)
