A dog in Jordan, Minnesota, has become the mother to an abandoned kitten.

The youngster, named Bootsie, was found in a barn at the home of Patricia Weber.

"When it meowed my dog Mittens came running over and was jumping up trying to see what it was - and I put it down on the floor and she started licking it and turning it over and looking all over, just mothering it like crazy.

"Then she laid down by it, kept licking it and the kitten ran over, crawled over and nudged into her belly and started suckling on her," said Patricia.

She explained that, over time, Mittens became biologically convinced she was the kittens mother: "It was like three days and I was checking my Mittens over and her breast were really large, and I took her to the vet and she had milk.

"I said how did that happen? And he said 'well, hormones are strange, and do funny things,' and I thought... Oh my God what a miracle."

Patricia is usually allergic to cats, but says she intends to keep Bootsie anyway: "I haven't had a cat for a long time, when I found out I was allergic to them.

"But I guess I will just double up on my allergy pills and go for it, its such a cute baby and it will grow up to be a beautiful cat."