[1] A shorter version of the tale was included in the Brothers Grimm's manuscript collection of 1808, and published in the first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen in 1812.

Their version is based upon an oral tradition communicated by Gretchen Wild (1787–1819) in Kassel.

That they might have something to fall back on in time of need, they buy a pot of fat and hide it away in a nook of a church for safekeeping.

After a short time, the cat tells her housemate that one of her relations has given birth and that she has been asked to be godmother.

Instead of going to a christening, though, the cat goes to the nook of the church and eats the top layer of the fat in the pot.