Kathryn formed an instant relationship with the orphaned puppies.
Katherine, red-striped, was looking for a family to call her own after she was found in an empty rental building.
New residents who discovered a mother cat contacted Langebaan Animal Care in South Africa for help. However, it was too late to save Catherine’s newborn babies.
Izel Maralik, president of Langebaan Animal Care, picked up Katherine and immediately began to beg for the warmth she had lost with her babies.
“She was very friendly and wasn’t afraid of any of my adopted dogs”, Maralik told The Dodo. “She immediately went up to them and rubbed herself against each of them”.
“She had to sleep with someone while clinging to you”.
Catherine, however, regretted her past even in foster care; “However, she was quite restless and screamed, looking for her babies,” Maralik recalled, “which was sad.”
When a brood of orphaned puppies returned home, Katherine’s world was turned upside down again. Katherine became instantly attached to the little ones, holding out her hand to them when they demanded food.
She licked the babies, trying to calm them down.
“At first they were a little confused and moved away from her, but she persisted and continued to court them,” said Maralik. “They found out that she licked them and she just lay with them, never moving away from them”.
