Dogged determination! Lovable pugs raising abandoned TIGER cubs as if they were their own after the cats' mother abandoned them



These abandoned tiger cubs have found a new home with the unlikeliest of wet nurses - a pair of pugs.

Born at the Oktyabrsky Health Resort in Sochi, on western Russia's Black Sea coast, the cubs have been taken in by the pint-sized dogs after their mother abandoned them.

While they will soon grow to dwarf their adopted mothers, they seem perfectly content to suckle from them for the time being.

Maternal instinct: Two abandoned tiger cubs are nursed by a pug at the Oktyabrsky Health Resort in Sochi, Russia

Proud: The pug seems completely unconcerned at the litter of tigers relying on her milk for survival

Cute: Dogs have been known to nurse cubs and even kittens, however the baby felines cannot generally rely solely on dogs' milk for nutrition as cats' milk is quite different in composition

For their part, the little pugs, whose idiosyncratic physical characteristics are something of an acquired taste even among dog lovers, seem proud of their role in rescuing the tiny infant felines.

It's not the first time that little big cats have been taken in by dogs - which popular culture pits as the avowed enemy of their smaller domestic cousins.

Bitches that are lactating - and of a friendly temperament - have even been known to take in kittens.