Usually the line between Dogster and our sister site, Catster, is clear and distinct. Dogs stay on their side of the line, cats stay on theirs. It’s a good system, and makes it easy for me to know where I should file the news items, even if the caffeine is still wandering around in the lower intestine and has decided that it might drop around the central nervous system for a chat when it can make time in its busy schedule.
But sometimes it gets a little more complicated, as in the case of Beignet, who’s a Chihuahua, and Gumbo, a kitten who she mothers.
The story of Beignet and Gumbo is adorable and heartwarming, if a little disorienting to uncaffeinated news writers. Beignet was discovered nursing the small kitten in an abandoned house in Barstow, California. The family had moved away in early January. Neighbors investigated when they heard the sound of the abandoned dog in the backyard. Thinking that she was taking care of a new puppy, they found Gumbo. The neighbors brought the couple in to the Barstow Humane Society, and from there they wound up at the Helen Woodward Animal Center.
Needless to say, the old phrase “fighting like cats and dogs” doesn’t apply here. The two have bonded and become family, just as if Gumbo were Beignet’s biological child. “They love each other,” said Helen Woodward Animal Center Inventory Manager Labeth Thompson. “That’s all there is to it. It’s not complicated. They needed each other and they were there for each other.”
The two will be making their public debut tomorrow, as part of the Center’s 2nd Annual Doggie Gras Parade and Fat Cat Tuesday Celebration. Both are up for adoption, but they’re going to be kept together, the Center says. Regardless of species, they are family now.
If you’re in the Rancho Santa Fe area, and would like Beignet and Gumbo to become part of your family, or want to inquire about the Center’s other adoptable animals, contact the Adoptions Department at (858) 756-4117 ext. 1, or come by 6461 El Apajo Road in Rancho Santa Fe.
