The Maternal Instinct

Cats have a reputation for being a bit stand-offish, a bit aloof, a bit snobbish. Their detractors say they’re too independent to be really loving, too self-centred to be truly loyal…

Of course, we at Cat Diaries know how ridiculous that is. We know that the right cat with the right owner can be a match made in heaven, with years and years of mutual love and enjoyment to follow. But even we were surprised to discover the following tales of kitty devotion – particularly as the objects of the cats’ affections aren’t people. In fact, they’re not even other cats! Which just goes to prove that motherly love has no boundaries.

Satin and Charlie

There probably aren’t that many cats that would adopt a Rottweiler, but Satin did. When Charlie, a Rotty-cross was rejected by his mother as a tiny six-day-old pup, Satin stepped in. A new mother, she fed him and cleaned him just like he was one of her own kittens. She was still grooming him even when he had grown to twice her size!

The puss and the panda

This heart-warming tale comes from the Netherlands. When a pair of red panda cubs born at Amsterdam Zoo were abandoned by their mother, the zoo keeper’s Tabby took over. Sadly, one of the baby pandas died, but the other thrived thanks to the care lavished on him by his new mother. Perhaps, though, this story isn’t quite as surprising as it first appears. Unlike their giant black-and-white cousins, red pandas only grow to the size of a large cat, so the motherly Tabby needn’t worry about over-exuberant displays of affection!

Cat and mouse games

Here’s a tale of a cat that was brought in to catch mice in a children’s clothing store in China… and ended up adopting one of them! The cat, another new mother (are you starting to see a pattern here?), not only allowed the mouse to play with her kittens, but even protected it from outside interference. At one point, the shop staff threw the mouse out, but the cat immediately went and brought her brood’s tiny playmate back again.

Mother moggies

According to veterinary experts, if the circumstances are right, it’s far from unusual for cats to adopt other baby animals. Certainly, stories abound of cats adopting fawns, rabbit kittens and baby squirrels. Even big cats have been known to get in on the act – like the leopard Legadema. Having killed an adult baboon, Legadema was about to leave the scene when she noticed a tiny orphaned baboon baby on the ground. With hyenas ready to pounce on the helpless monkey, Legadema picked it up and carried it to safety in the tree, spending the night keeping it safe and warm. Sadly, the tiny monkey was too small to survive without its mother, but the love shown by the leopard to its natural enemy was touching.

But even that was nothing compared to the lioness who adopted not one, not two, but three baby antelopes over several months, endeavouring to protect them from other lions and even allowing an adult female antelope – normally a delicious meal for lions – a few minutes to feed one of the calves.

So next time you hear anyone talking about how ‘unfeeling’ cats are, tell them these stories and help them change their tune. And if your cat has adopted anything unusual, we’d love to hear about it…

Images from BBC News and msnbc