206 AFFECTIONATE NATURE OF THE CAT. 
Many instances are recorded of misplaced, or rather strangely placed, affection in Cats. 
They have been known to have taken compassion on all kinds of animals, and to have 
nourished them as their own. The well-known anecdote of the Cat and the leveret, which 
she brought up, is too familiar to be repeated in this work, but I have been lately 
favoured with an account of similar conduct on the part of a Domestic Cat. 
A lady possessed a young rabbit, which fell ill and was carried by its* mistress to be 
warmed before the fire. While it was lying on the hearth-rug the Cat entered the room, 
and seeing the sick rabbit went up to it, and began to lick and fondle it as if it had been 
one of her own kittens. After a while she took it by the neck, in the usual manner 
which the Cat adopts for the transportation of her young, and carrying it upstairs laid it 
in her own bed, which was snugly made up in a bandbox. However, her benevolent 
wishes were frustrated, for in spite of the attention which she lavished on her protégée, the 
poor little rabbit continued to pine away, and at last died. 
Pussy’s grief was so distressing that another young rabbit was substituted, and for a 
while the Cat bore it to her bed, and seemed as affectionate towards the little animal as 
towards its predecessor. As, however, with all her benevolent intentions she could not 
feed the rabbit, it was taken to its own mother for the purpose of receiving the nutriment 
which its foster mother was unable to give. Being thus separated from ‘each other, the 
temporary link that bound the two creatures together appeared to be broken, and the Cat 
soon forgot her dead and living foster children. 
A Cat has been known to take to a family of young squirrels, and to nurture them in 
the place of her own little ones which had been destroyed. This circumstance took place 
in the vicinity of the New Forest. The squirrels were three in number. 
Cats are possessed of a large organ of love of approbation, and are never more delighted 
than when receiving the praises and caresses of those whom they favour with “their 
friendship. To earn such praises puss will often perform many curious feats, that of 
catching various animals and bringing them to her owner being among the most common. 
My own Cat would bring mice to me quite unhurt, and permit me to take the terrified little 
creatures out of her mouth. She appeared not to care what happened to her mice, only 
looking for her reward of caresses and laudatory words. 
It would be well if our favourite Cats would restrict themselves to such game as rats 
and mice, for they are rather indiscriminate in their zeal, and pay a tribute which may 
appear very valuable to themselves, but is by no means acceptable to the receiver. For 
example, when pussy jumps on one’s knee, and deposits a cockroach, commonly called a 
“black beetle,” in the hands or on the shoulder, it is impossible to resist a wish that she 
had tempered her zeal with discretion, and either left the long-legged nauseous insect to 
wander where it chose, or destroyed it at once with a blow of her paw. Birds, stoats, 
weasels, rats, rabbits, fish, and all kinds of animals, have been thus brought as a tit-bit of 
affection, and on more than one occasion the owner of a grateful Cat has been startled by 
the sudden gift of a living snake, which has been laid writhing and hissing in his hands. 
The birds and mice that have been thus captured are seldom injured, although they often 
feign death as soon as they are within the resistless grip of their feline foe. So, after a bird 
has been laid on the floor or placed in the hands, it has often been known to awake as it 
were from a swoon, and to fly away. Perhaps the sudden grasp of the Cat’s paws and 
teeth may have the same effect as has been already related of the lion’s teeth and claws, 
and for a time produce insensibility to pain, and in some instances utter unconsciousness. 
When Cats have been several times deprived of their kittens they become very 
cunning, and conceal their little ones so closely that they rear several successive families 
without detection. One of our own Cats was singularly ingenious in contriving a hiding- 
place for herself and family ; taking advantage of some defective laths in an outhouse roof, 
she squeezed herself through the a aperture, and made her nest in a spot between the 
ceiling and the slates, where she could not be reached unless the slates were removed or 
the ceiling broken through. We could always hear the little maternal conversations that 
were carried on between the mother and her children, but could never get at one of the 
family until they chose to emerge on their own account. 
One of them turned out a thorough vagabond, and after he had attained his full growth 
