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ROAR LIKE A KITTEN

© Joy Butler

Who would ever guess that, within our meek little kitties, our aloof little felines, lurks a raging lion just waiting for the right moment to emerge?

Watchdogs have long been used to safeguard homes and families. The protective nature of most dogs gives us a greater sense of security. Any dog who barks can alert us that something needs to be checked out and a small dog with a big bark can even deter most burglars. Yet many cats, in spite of their independent natures, have served their families in time of crisis.

Just last May in Derbyshire, UK, a 6 year old cat named Bonnie foiled a warehouse burglary when thieves attempted to make off with tons of dog food. They had loaded only a few bags when the tortoiseshell feline pounced on them as fiercely as a tiger. The wounded burglars fled, covered in their own blood. Their blood trail will be used as evidence. Bonnie's proud owner summed it up, "You don't need a guard dog with a tiger like her around."

In San Francisco, a 1-year-old orange and white tabby named JB had been rescued from a shelter only a week earlier when he saved his new human from an intruder. It was 2:30 in the morning and JB sensed danger. He began scratching his human's neck but, after getting the brush-off, the big street-smart cat dug his claws even deeper into her neck until she sat up. It was then she heard the sound of the screen being pulled from the bedroom window and called 911. Moments later, police arrived, frightening the intruder away. The critics who would say that JB's actions were coincidental, need to know that JB had never done this before nor since.

Burglars are not the only danger that cats alert their families to. Several years ago in Canada, a Siamese named Napoleon, defied all instincts to flee, when he screamed, scratched and bit to wake his owner who was sleeping under a smoldering electric blanket. A similar act of heroism was performed last year in Colorado by Gizmo, a beautiful Burmese cat, who had to jump on his owner's chest and meow loudly to awaken her from a medication-induced sleep when her electric blanket caught fire. Gizmo's heroism was recognized with a Hero Award.

In 1999, a sleeping Texas family was saved when their black and white cat, Duchess, repeatedly threw herself against their bedroom door alerting them to fire in another part of the mobile home. The smoke alarm never sounded. Many other cats with names like Ollie, Chelsea, Hobbes, Jack, Prissy, Whiskers, Angel, Rajah, Patches, Herman, Etoile de Nuit, Chloe, Duncan, Elizabeth, and Aggie, our own fellow Suite101 writer's cat, have saved their families from danger.

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