Emaciated and Suffering from the Flu, Katzen-Mama Fights Off a Vicious Fox in Order to Save Her Four Kittens

An Injured Katzen-Mama on the Examination Table at the Vet

"Eine Mutter mit einem Loewenherz."
-- Gabi Bayer's description of Katzen-Mama

Suffering from the debilitating effects of the cat flu, Katzen-Mama's weight had plummeted to only two and one-half kilos. Plus, she was nursing four, eight-week-old kittens.

Starved half to death and as weak as water, the brown, black, and white mother cat must have looked like easy pickings to a rapacious fox when it strolled onto the grounds of a recycling plant in the Dortmund suburb of Deusen in the German state of Nordrhein Westfalen on June 7th.

Appearances can be deceiving and, as the intruder discovered to its chagrin, no predator should ever underestimate the lengths that a mother cat will go to in order to protect her newborn. (See Cat Defender posts of July 3, 2008 and September 15, 2005 entitled, respectively, "Phoenix Is Severely Burned but Still Manages to Save One of Her Kittens from the Humboldt Fire" and "Scarlett, the Cat Who Saved Her Kittens from a Burning Building in 1996, Is Still Alive on Long Island.")

A violent altercation ensued during which Katzen-Mama sustained several bite wounds to her sides but in the end it was the fox who was forced to flee not only empty-handed but for the sake of saving its own skin. "Eine Mutter mit einem Loewenherz," is how Gabi Bayer of Arche 90 in Dortmund described the cat's courage to the Halterner Zeitung on June 11th. (See "Katzen-Mama schlaegt Fuchs in die Flucht.")

Sometimes even bravery is insufficient in order to ensure survival and Katzen-Mama easily could have died from her wounds and that would have left her kittens to fend for themselves in a hostile world.

Fortunately, she had a guardian angel in the form of an unidentified worker at the recycling plant who had been feeding her for the past two years. Consequently, the kindhearted employee wasted no time in contacting Bayer who immediately came and collected Katzen-Mama and her kittens.

Katzen-Mama Is Examined by Veterinarian Malinda Waechter

Katzen-Mama was taken to veterinarian Malinda Waechter who stitched up her wounds, placed her on antibiotics, and poured some much needed nourishment into her emaciated body.  "Sie bekam auch Antibiotika. Gerade Fuchsbisse koennen schlimme Infektionen ausloesen," she told Bild on June 11th. (See "Tapfere Katzen-Mama schlug Fuchs in die Flucht.")

At last report, Katzen-Mama was still at the veterinary hospital although it is conceivable that she could have been transferred to Arche 90 in order to continue her convalescence. In any event, Bayer does not anticipate any difficulties in procuring a permanent home for her.

"Die Integration duerfte nicht schwer werden, denn die drei bis vier Jahre alte Katze ganz zahm," she told the Halterner Zeitung in the article cited supra. Her docility could be the product of the kindness that she was shown by the plant employee or she previously could have had a home.

As for her kittens, they have been placed in foster care and later will be put up for adoption. Anyone interested in giving either this brave cat or any of her kittens a permanent home is encouraged to contact Arche 90 by telephone at 49-231-875397 or by e-mail at info@arche90.de.

Photos: Cieminski of the Halterner Zeitung (Katzen-Mama) and Stephan Schuetze of Bild (Waechter and Katzen-Mama.)