Oakley and Blue

Mother Dog Who Lost Her Babies Found New Purpose When She Met This Kitten

It's in mother's nature to be loving. Caring most for her children and even to others who they think needed a mother's touch.

When Sam Christie started to foster two tiny, bottle-dependent kittens, she thought she was going to be their “mom.” But Christie’s dog, Oakley, a 5-year-old golden retriever, had other plans in mind.

Sam Christie with her boyfriend and Oakley.

When Sam Christie started to foster two tiny, bottle-dependent kittens, she thought she was going to be their “mom.” But Christie’s dog, Oakley, a 5-year-old golden retriever, had other plans in mind.

Christie works in Boise, Idaho as wildlife rehabilitator recently adopted Oakley from the West Valley Humane Society.

But before taking in the kittens, Christie needed to make sure that Oakley was good around cats — Christie and her boyfriend have three cats, including an adventure cat named Atlas, and they also regularly fostered kittens. So Christie tested Oakley by walking her on a leash through the cat room at the shelter.

Oakley

Christie doesn’t know a lot about Oakley’s history. She figured out that she’d had puppies at one point — and they’d probably be taken away from Oakley before she was ready.

Christie noticed when she brought Oakley home, the golden retriever displayed signs of separation anxiety. Oakley followed Christie everywhere she went, and she got anxious when Christie and her boyfriend left her alone.

Surprisingly, Oakley didn’t pay much attention to Atlas and the other adult cats living with Christie and her boyfriend. “I think they pretty much pretend that each other doesn’t exist,” Christie said.

Blue

So when Christie brought home two tiny kittens, Blueberry (Blue for short) and Huckleberry, from the Idaho Humane Society, and everything changed.

“They were kept in a separate room,” Christie said. “My cat Atlas was allowed in there, and he loved them and he played with them and groomed them, but Oakley is over 70 pounds, so she’s not allowed in there. But she’d whine at the door and pant and get stressed out whenever I went in.”

But to her surprise, Oakley doesn't mind to be around them, in fact she loves the little ones. “I could tell that she always wanted to lick their butts, which is such a mommy thing to do,” Christie said. “But she was a little too rough because she was just so enthusiastic.”

Oakley and Blue getting along.

Unfortunately, Huckleberry got really sick, and the vet diagnosed him with a life-threatening disease called panleukopenia, which is the feline version of parvovirus.

“The vets recommended euthanasia because he was so sick and so little,” Christie said. “They recommended that we’d euthanize Blue as well, just because they thought he was going to get sick, and panleukopenia has a 90 percent mortality rate in little kittens.”

While Huckleberry sadly lost his battle to panleukopenia, Christie didn’t want to lose Blue as well. So she did everything to save Blue.

Found a family from each other.

Once Blue was a little bigger, he started to explore the house. Oakley continued to get hyper around Blue, so Christie always kept Oakley on a leash. 

Christie thinks that Oakley believes herself to be Blue’s mom. Oakley grooms Blue, snuggles with him and keeps a close eye on him when he plays with Atlas.

Oakley and Blue spend all day together now, and they even go on outings. They found family and love from each other. It's one example that these animals thought to be enemies can be friends.

“Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.”

- Colette