The German blockade of Leningrad caused mass starvation in WW2. But a mother and daughter survived thanks to their cat Vaska. Every day, Vaska would go hunting and bring home a mouse, a bird or rat. The mother would make stew or goulash with the meat for her, her daughter and Vaska. All winter the mother would save crumbs for the birds, and when spring came she would spread the crumbs to allow the cat to ambush them. Vaska also could detect incoming enemy bombers long before they could hear the noise of the planes, giving time for the family to go a bomb shelter. When he died in 1949 he was buried in the cemetery with his own cross. When the mother died she was buried next to the cat, and later when the daughter passed she was buried next to them. Today, the three lie together under the same tombstone.
A Russian cat, but probably not Vaska.
