Hi all, and stop me if you've heard this one before:
Some years back, our Siberian Husky had a litter of 6; attended by my two
preschoolers (who turned out to be great birth assistants) and myself.  One of
their earliest sex ed experiences - a totally unmedicated home birth with no
routine medical interventions (tee hee)!  A few years later she had a
hysterectomy, and upon returning home became engorged and began leaking.  Our
two new kittens, weaned from their mom just two weeks prior, went immediately
to breast, and proceeded to nurse.  Much discussion ensued with our vet, over
the course of the next few days.  He said, I recall, "it couldn't hurt" and
was "pointless" to try to keep them separate from her.   As if I would have
tried to keep "mom" and babies separate!  She continued to breastfeed the
kittens for several weeks.  How much they actually got, who knows, but those
two little kitten-puppies sure knew how to bond with and become part of the
family!  My preschool sex educators brought in all their playmates to see for
themselves.  It often comes to mind when I find myself sharing with my
breastfeeding class that we're the only species that drinks another species
milk.  Well........almost the only species!
Anyone heard of similar situations?
Joyce Blangiardo RN, FACCE, IBCLC
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