Question:
Two weeks ago, I followed a faint mewing sound and discovered a newborn kitten in my garage. The day before I found the newborn, the painter left the garage door open when he left. I suspect a neighborhood feral cat had a litter and didn't get the last kitten out before I locked up.I immediately started feeding the baby. I kept it warm and in a box. It responded well. I'm an ASPCA volunteer and we have several cats in the house. Pip is an unspayed female, not quite a year old. Pip got very excited. Later, she went to the box and moved the baby twice. After the second time I found it, Pip seemed to settle down. I put the kitten back in the box; Pip jumped in, too. Well, it seems Pip is producing milk. She has adopted the infant and is an excellent mother.I'm at a loss to explain this. I've heard myths about mammals that produce milk apparently at will, but I didn't really believe it. My vet says she's heard of cases of "immaculate lactation," but has never seen one. The kitten expert at our local ASPCA chapte
K.J., Bowie, Md Sep 26, 2004
Answer:
Many readers will enjoy your account of Pip's "immaculate lactation." A kitten can be a potent stimulus in triggering a female cat's hypothalamus-pituitary gland to produce prolactin and other hormones, which cause her to produce milk.False pregnancies in cats (which are more common in dogs) can also lead to spontaneous lactation. I theorize that, in the wild, social animals who do not conceive may act as wet-nurses or surrogate mothers for other females who give birth and either die, have many offspring, or do not produce sufficient milk for all their offspring.
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