QUAINT PALS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3713, 5 November 1927, Page 1

QUAINT PALS.

A DOG AND A CAT. ANIMAL THAT VISITS THE SICK. From St. John’s Hill comes a I story of quaint friendship (says the I Wanganui Chronicle), that of a dog and a cat, and the dog’s protection of his pal from the persecution of I his own tribe. j A resident of the hill who owns I a dog brought another pet, a cat into th efamily some time ago, and the dog, resenting the attentions showered upon the interloper, cha 1 - sed it unmercifully. Its vei’y existence a burden to it, the feline sought refuge in a neighbour’s place, and while there injured its | foot by being caught in a trap laid I for an opossum which had been creating minor havoc. The injured limb was treated, and an old dog of the neighbourhood regularly visited the cat, bringing bones and other titbits he collected. It is related that this dog has an instinct which informs' him when any animal in the neighbourhood is ill and he pays a round of calls on the sufferers, taking offerings which correspond to the flowers and fruit given by human beings to those of their kind who are ill. These sick-bed visits have blossomed into a close friend-ship and now the cat goes every night down the road to sleep with the dog in his kennel, where she knows she will receive protection and kindness.