Swedish cat cares for newly hatched chicks

STROMSUND , Sweden, March 23 (UPI) -- A cat in Sweden let its parental instincts kick in after being introduced to a pair of newly hatched chicks.

The cat's owner Ingela Ljung shared video of her 1-year-old cat Elsa cuddling with the baby chicks, which had just been hatched in an incubator. She joked about the fact that even her cat decided to help out in caring for the newly born birds.

"She was walking around meowing last night, and honestly being a right pain, when she heard them chirp. I thought she wanted to eat them, it's food to her," she told The Local. "But then I thought, okay fine, I'll let her closer so she can look at them."

Ljung said to her surprise, Elsa picked up the chicks by their heads as cats often do to their kittens and began to groom them.

In addition to the grooming, Ljung added that Elsa also wanted the chicks to suckle with her. She said that the bond between the animals had become so close that she's now afraid to separate them.

"I am also scared that she will be completely devastated if I take them from her," Ljung said. "She seems to be completely convinced that they are her kittens. It's so cute I tear up, but it also looks so strange."