Kuini - funny story from my childhood

A little background first (for the photo)
For most of my childhood/teenage years grew up in NZ, living on the North Island. When we (my family) lived in Kerikeri we had 12 acres of land with a lovely big house. We had room for lots of pets, cows, chooks and a horse. It was a wonderful time during my teenage years.

I had a dog called Kuini (pronounced Queenie - its Maori), we got her from a Maori family and they had already named her. Another name for her was Hamu (which meant greedy). She was a lovely dog. We also had two cats, one of which had kittens about 2-3 times during the time we had her. This particular time she had 3 kittens, I think 2 died and 1 lived. The one that lived was spoilt by her, she kept feeding it till it was about 3 months. Then she got pregnant again and kicked the kitten/cat out. The kitten feeling sorry for itself, looked for the next available mother, Kuini. Kuini set about motherhing the kitten, loving it and then producing milk for it.

Yes! Producing milk. This dog had never ever had puppies before and she produced milk for a half grown kitten. I couldn't resist photographing this incident - which are the above photos. This happened about 7-9 years ago. It is an amazing story. Not only can cats and dogs get along they can also 'mother' each other. Amazing!

Another story involving Kuini:

We often bought alot of calves and raised them. This involved feeding them milk and caring for them. My Dad bought about 22 or calves and a 15 or so calf feeder. A calf feeder is a container that one puts the milk in and there are teats for the calves to drink from.
The calves had to be fed 2 times a day at first and then once and then were weaned.
After the calves were fed, they would want to suck your fingers. My dad and brother would often let the calves suck their fingers. I wasn't so keen on it. On particular day, my dad called us all out to the top paddock (it wasn't that far from our house) to have a look at Kuini. There's Kuini, standing there, a calf either side of her and sucking her ears (she had quite long ears for a little dog). She's just standing there enjoying it. It was hilarious and so cute.

Animals always have a way of making me laugh and showing me the odd things in life. I enjoy that.