Tiverton, Rhode Island – A Rhode Island flower farmer was shocked when she found out why her German Shepherd was so set on guarding the compost pile: he was protecting a litter of abandoned kittens!
"Last year, while I was planting dahlias, I noticed our German Shepherd was lying by the compost pile, which was weird for him," she wrote in her Instagram reel.
The flower farmer, Cady, quickly realized the reason for her dog's odd behavior.
The pup named Cooper had discovered a litter of kittens, and their mama cat was nowhere to be found.
Cady decided to bring the babies into the safety of her duck house in the yard.
She didn't just give these animals a safe space: she took on the role of mama cat and fed the fur babies with a bottle – with Cooper's help.
The Shepherd's commitment to the kittens impressed the farmer. "He was always standing guard at their house," she said.
This dog is a real cat person!
Cady and Cooper raised the kittens and kept a few of them.
A year later, one of the cats, Charlie, had a litter of her own, and Cooper was right there with her!
Cady joked that he was basically the five new kittens' uncle. She even shared footage of Cooper and Charlie cuddling with the newborn kittens.
"Now he watches them grow up & and proudly protects them," the farm owner writes.
Cady's post about Cooper's compassion didn't just get likes; it also got some criticism, as some commenters worried that the kittens were a product of incest.
The farmer dropped into the comment saying, "To clarify, Charlie did not reproduce with one of her brothers. We live on a flower farm and have struggled with a serious mouse problem in our greenhouse, which caused us to lose hundreds of dollars in seedlings this year.
"We intentionally wanted kittens, and they are very well cared for as part of our farm family and for helping around the property."
Cady added that she does plan to have Charlie spayed and is finding homes for the kittens.