Shakira the Serval kitten finds puppy love in her addoptive home

Peeking out from among these puppies this tiny kitten may look a little out of her depth but in fact she is right at home. Shakira, the five month-old Serval cat, was welcomed into this unlikely clan after she was rejected by her mother from a local zoo near Munich, Germany. ‘Shakira came to us when she was just 14 days old,’ says animal carer Roland Adam.

‘A friend of mine contacted me from a local zoo and told me how Shakira’s mother had not produced enough milk for her litter and her other brothers and sisters had died. ‘When I heard this I decided to take her in.’

Acting as a surrogate mother, Mr Adam spent two hours each day feeding the tiny kitten who only weighed 1000 grams. After six weeks of care and attention, Shakira became strong enough to be introduced to her new family – a pack of Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs. Bearing 11 cubs in July of this year, mother Katijnga accepted the spotted cat into the clan straight away.