Who among us proud dog parents doesn’t think their pups are one of a kind, right?
But for Anise Tooley and her boyfriend, Greg Fucich, from Mississippi, there’s no doubt their pups are special without any explanation needed.
Recently, their two Pitties, Pearl and Harley, welcomed a litter of puppies the couple had been waiting for. But while checking on the proud mom and her newborns, Tooley and Fucich made a shocking discovery: one of the puppies was green.
The Cutest Little Intruder
It was both the sweetest and strangest sight.
At first, Tooley didn’t even realize the newborn’s fur was green since she was the first one born. But when Pearl delivered another, the truth became clear. Her first-born looked completely different in color.
“I didn’t notice at first she was a different color. Then when she had another one, and another one, I’m like, the first one is a different color,” Tooley told WLOX News.
She had the same pink ears and nose, and she was the same size as the others, but her coat stood out. How about that!
Shocked by what they had seen, Tooley and Fucich didn’t know what to think. They had never encountered a puppy with a coat like this before, and they were left wondering.
The Mississippi couple quickly turned to Google. After hours of searching, they learned the green hue came from a bile pigment called biliverdin.
The amount of biliverdin in her birth sac was unusually high, which explained the rare coloring. Thankfully, it posed no danger at all.
Amused by their puppy’s unusual look, the couple decided to embrace the moment with humor.
They named her Fiona, after Princess Fiona from the movie Shrek. Honestly, could there be a better fit?
Before long, Fiona’s story spread across the country, bringing smiles and reactions from her growing fanbase.
Fiona Isn’t Alone
Although rare, Fiona’s green coat is not one of a kind.
Not long ago, a Golden Retriever pup named Shamrock amazed the world with the same lime-colored fur, caused by the exact pigment. Shamrock quickly stole hearts too, though his unusual coat faded as he grew.
Fiona, however, is just at the beginning of her journey.
She’s still a tiny pup, waiting for her first steps, her first tail wags, and those inevitable zoomies. And even if her green coat fades with time, she’ll always be remembered as Fiona, the Shrek princess whose story began with a birth unlike any other.
And really, what better memory could there be?