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For about as long as she can
remember, Debby Cantlon says, friends and strangers have
brought her animals in need. So it wasn't much of a surprise
when someone asked her if she'd care for a newborn squirrel
found at the base of a tree somewhere near
Renton.
Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Finnegan,
the young squirrel, back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant
squirrel after it was brought to her house. Cantlon, who has
cancer, says rescuing injured animals is therapeutic for
her.
When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began
caring for him, she found herself with an unlikely nurse's
aide: her pregnant Papillon, Mademoiselle
Giselle.
Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just
days before Giselle was due to deliver her
puppies.
Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog
dragged the squirrel's cage - twice - to her own bedside
before she gave birth.
Cantlon was concerned, yet
ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out - and the
inter-species bonding began.
Finnegan rides a puppy mosh pit of
sorts, burrowing in for warmth after feeding, and eventually
working his way beneath his new litter
mates.
Two days after giving birth, mama
dog Giselle allowed Finnegan to nurse; family photos and a
videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her
litter of five pups.
Now, Finnegan mostly uses a bottle,
but still snuggles with his "siblings" in a mosh pit of
puppies, rolling atop their bodies and sinking in deeply for a
nap.
Finnegan and his new litter mates, five
Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant
to.
Finnegan naps after
feeding.
Finnegan makes himself at home with
his new litter mates, nuzzling nose-to-nose for a nap after
feeding.
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