The cruel life that animals live on the streets when people are reluctant to spay or neuter their pets is unimaginable to most of us.

Take Katryn, for example. Pregnant with a litter of kittens and with no one to take care of her and no source of nourishment, she fed them with every last ounce of energy left in her exhausted body.

But by the time a good samaritan found them all huddled together, the situation was grim.

Katryn and her litter were brought to Langebaan Animal Care, in South Africa, but all of her kittens died.

She was taken in by the chairperson of the organization and they wrote of her plight on their Facebook page on September 24, 2019:

“Katryn was brought to Langebaan Animal Care 3 weeks ago as being abandoned and unfortunately her kittens didn’t survive. She was still lactating so we took her in and kept her safe till we could have her sterilized.”

But before Katryn could get the final piece of care she would need to be adopted out, along came a ragtag group of puppies that needed a mom.

And it was just in time.

Marallich told The Dodo that the mother cat was “very restless” “and would cry looking for her babies, which was heartbreaking.”

In the same post, Langebaan shared the rest of the heartwrenching and heartwarming story:

“Then came along four 3 week old puppies that were handed over to us as unwanted. Katryn claimed the puppies as her own and has been nursing them since then and protects them and cleans them as her own.”

It turns out they were all being fostered by the chairperson at Langebaan, Izelle Marallich, in her home.

She told The Dodo:

“She was extremely affectionate and was not scared of any of my foster dogs — [she] walked right up to them and rubbed herself against every one of them. She had to sleep with a person and hold on to you. It was like she could not get enough love.”

Langebaan shared numerous photos and videos of the unlikely “family” that had found each other just in time. The puppies had a mother to feed and care for them (and keep them in line) and Katryn was able to put her mothering abilities and instincts to good use.

And it appears she wanted nothing more than to care for those puppies.

As a mother of any species would, the sweet cat’s instinct was to care for the vulnerable little creatures around her.

“They were a bit confused about it initially and would move away from her, but she was persistent and kept going to groom them,” Marallich said. “They started to get used to her licking them and she just lay down with them and didn’t leave their side at all.”

If your heart is already bursting at the seams from all of the cuteness, then we’d like to warn you now that the photos get even cuter from here!

Those in charge of adopting out the motley little crew shared the photos and videos just in time for the puppies to find their forever homes.

The rest of the rescue organization’s post read:

“It has been so special to see this in real life and to realize how amazing animals are to take care of the young no matter what species they are. We could learn so much from animals! These puppies are now up for adoption as they are now 6 weeks old. They are border collie x pups.”

(Six weeks is a little young to be adopted out by many standards, and commenters were curious about that decision. But it may be that the adoption process would have gone on long enough for the pups to turn 8 weeks old – it remains unclear.)

As you might imagine, offers came from around the world to adopt them all.

It didn’t take long for the puppies to each find homes – and each home also had a cat in it!

But what would become of Katryn after spending all that time caring for the puppies?

“I have never seen such a dedicated and loving mommy,” Marallich said. “She never left their side day and night!”

That’s part of the reason she held on to cat a bit longer.

Immediately after the puppies left, a pair of kittens were brought into Langebaan. Kathryn was charged with caring for them, giving them their only hope of being raised past infancy.

But offers never ceased to give Katryn a home of her own.

“She has got a lot of people interested in adopting her,” Marallich said, “but, for now, she will remain with us and continue being a loving and caring mom to orphaned animals.”

As of the end of 2019, Katryn had a home lined up once she was done nurturing the kittens – and we imagine it was carefully chosen as a place where she could live out her life happily and with all the love she deserves.

Scroll down below to see a few more clips from her time with the puppies and learn more about her special story.

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Source: Langebaan Animal Care via Facebook, The Dodo via Facebook, The Dodo