Hero Cats

Some cats are not content by merely lying in their favourite armchair by a roaring fire, but choose instead to engage in various heroic adventures to save their masters from peril. There are a multitude of stories on the internet ranging from cats saving children, other cats, the elderly, and even dogs from sudden disease, poisonous gasses and the odd heathenry beast. The most heroic of cats seems to have been Le Chat Botte who in the tale of Contes de ma Mere l’Oye by Charles Perrault catches no less than a sack full of grey partridges; he then sells them to the king and gets paid in gold. The cat then goes on performing many other heroic deeds before meeting an unfortunate end.

However, today’s “hero cats” do not catch partridges for gold, rather they save lives for free! Here are some tales about heroic felines…

In March 2006, Mrs. Doreen Hunt collapsed in her bathroom during the night. Her 15-year-old cat Gizmo found her and began meowing loudly. After a while Mrs Hunt’s husband, Peter woke up thanks to the meowing and found his wife slumped on the floor of their house in Stafford and called an ambulance. Mrs. Hunt recovered at hospital and thanked Gizmo for saving her life.

Another story of a daring cat comes from Quebec, where a young woman was working in her garden when she was suddenly confronted by a vicious snake, an Easter Cottonmouth. The snake was just about to strike when her cat, Sosa, intervened attacking the snake and thereby saving the woman. During the fight with the snake Sosa was bitten in the paw but eventually survived.

Our last one is truly remarkable! In 2007, in New Castle, Indiana, a faulty gasoline-powered water pump in the basement of the Keesling family caused carbon monoxide to build up in their home. At around 1 am, their 14-year-old cat, Winnie, started jumping on the bed of Mrs. and Mr. Keesling, nudging Mrs. Keesling’s ear and meowing at full volume. When she got out of bed she realised she was queasy, feeling like she was going to faint but every time she started to pass out, Winnie screamed to keep her awake. When Mrs. Keesling couldn’t wake her husband, she called 911 but was incapable of speaking. The police were able to trace the call and get to the Keesling’s residence. Paramedics found the couple’s 14-year-old son, Michael, unconscious on the floor near his bedroom. The Keeslings were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and soon recovered.

Sources:

squido

wikipedia

Images by random mcrandomhead, feature image by Carlin Joe