Families can come in all shapes, sizes and species.
Such is the case with Bobby, a tiny Chihuahua who found himself alone at 5 days old when his mother was struck by a car.
A passerby found him on the side of the road and brought Bobby to Michigan Humane Society, where volunteers struggled to give him the care he needed.
He was too young for solid food and required constant attention.
"The calories and nutrition to keep him healthy and growing need to come from his mom. Bottle feeding can be inconsistent, laborious, and risky, even for those that have the resources and time to do so," the humane society wrote on its website.
But there was one problem. There were no nursing dogs at the shelter.
"They had a mom cat that was recently still nursing and they thought — ingenious idea — to maybe see if this puppy could go along with these guys and see if mommy cat could treat him like one of her own," said humane society employee Faith O'Georgia. "And it actually worked."
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Now 5 weeks old, Bobby has several feline siblings, including one small kitten who follows him around.
"You think about Mother Nature and how cats and dogs aren’t supposed to like each other but as we all know at the Michigan Humane Society that’s not always the case and this is certainly an extreme example of that," said Ryan McTigue with the humane society.
Bobby will move to a foster home with other dogs when he's old enough to eat solid food.
