Stray Cats Keep Lost Child Safe

We’ve all heard the stories of children being raised by animals, like the Jungle Book’s Mowgli, or the real-life Russian “wolf boy” discovered in a Russian forest last year. But a new discovery in Argentina reveals a nurturing spirit that you wouldn’t expect to see in one particular species: the common cat.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on December 22 2008

Recently, a police woman discovered a one-year-old boy lying by a canal in Misiones, Argentina. But, even though his parents weren’t nearby, he wasn’t exactly alone: “The boy was lying at the bottom of a gutter. There were all these cats on top of him licking him because he was really dirty,” the policewoman, Alicia Lorena Lindgvist, told the Telegraph.

“When I walked over they became really protective and spat at me. They were keeping the boy warm while he slept.”

The cats had been keeping the child alive, bringing him scraps of food that they’d collected, and protecting him from danger. “The cats knew he was fragile and needed protecting.” said Lindgvist.

Police soon discovered the boy’s father, a homeless man, who said that the baby had wandered off while he was collecting cardboard to sell. He claimed that his son had always had a close bond with cats around the area.

Looks like kitty may be a competitor for that “man’s best friend” role, after all.

Filed under: Animals and Pets, General Interest, Weird,

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