A mother rabbit is helping feed six orphaned kittens after their mother was shot over the weekend.

Miss California, the pet of Dave and Ruth Chamberlain in Turtle Creek, N.B., has two of her own baby rabbits, but she’s now adopted the 10-day-old kittens.

The Chamberlains found their pet cat, Tea Biscuit, fatally wounded on their doorstep on Saturday night. The injured cat was able to nurse her kittens one more time before she died.

The orphaned kittens were hungry so Dave Chamberlain said he put the kittens in with their pet rabbit.

Chamberlain said it's unheard of for a rabbit to look after kittens, but Miss California has become very protective of the kittens.

The Chamberlain family is feeding the kittens by hand when Miss California is resting. (CBC) However, the pet rabbit is unable to keep the kittens fed throughout the day.

The rabbit nurses every 10 to 12 hours, but the kittens have to be fed every five hours.

So it's been quite a job for the Chamberlains to help out between the rabbit’s feedings.

When Miss California is unable to nurse the kittens, the family feeds them by hand with bottles.

The Chamberlains are now trying to find a mother cat to help out with the feedings.

It is expected that the kittens will need at least another two weeks of help before they are old enough to feed themselves.

The family plans to keep the kittens as pets.