In Alpine folklore, the cat-headed lizard demon blamed for livestock deaths is the Tatzelwurm.
The Tatzelwurm is a legendary creature of the Alps, especially Switzerland, Austria, Bavaria, northern Italy, and the French Alps. Descriptions vary, but it is usually a short, serpent-bodied or lizard-like animal with a feline face. Some accounts give it four legs; others describe only two forelegs and no hind legs, like a lindworm. It may also hiss, shriek, or possess poisonous breath.
Its connection with livestock appears in Swiss tales of a creature sucking milk from cows or mysteriously attacking herds. One reported story says that cows' udders were being drained until a cat-headed, dark-bodied creature was killed near Frümsen in Switzerland. Such stories likely reflect anxieties about unexplained animal illness, predators, and the dangers of mountain country.
The Tatzelwurm is often confused with the cockatrice or basilisk, but those are different European monsters, generally associated with lethal gazes or venom. “Lindworm” is also a broader dragon type rather than the specific Alpine name asked for here. Historical naturalists sometimes proposed snakes, lizards, or even otters as explanations for sightings, but the folkloric answer remains Tatzelwurm.