Is Your Cat a Hero in Disguise?

A few house cats definitely qualify. Some are protective.

Thirty years or so ago, I remember a friend telling me a story about a heroic cat. He had spent the night with his girlfriend, a single mom. In the middle of the night, the woman’s cat jumped on the bed and batted at her face. The cat meowed loudly.

After a moment, they both caught the scent of smoke. An electrical fire had started overnight in the kitchen. They were able to grab the kids, grab the cat, and get out before the fire blocked the front door.

I am owned by two housecats. They don’t seem particularly heroic. Our female is a small, grey tuxedo cat named Anya. Anya is a quiet, shy cat.

Two days ago Xander stood up on his back two legs and placed his front paws against my knees.

Xander is a larger, black and white male cat. He is the alpha of the house and has a more extroverted personality. He can be very vocal and has been known to meet me at the door.

Two days ago Xander stood up on his back two legs and placed his front paws against my knees. I picked him up and listened to his soft purr.

My cats often position themselves at the doorway into rooms I am in. Sometimes my two cats will split up. Anya may choose to lay across the entrance to the room I am in. Then Xander lays in the hall outside my husband’s home office.

I always put this behavior down to wanting to be in the same room as their humans. Tonight I paid closer attention to Xander’s behavior.

There is a deep tiled area behind my bathtub. Xander likes to nap behind me as I recline in the tub. I keep a folded beach towel back there so the spot is soft and comfortable. I will be completely relaxed, reading my Kindle, and feel a paw against the back of my head.

Last night, when I climbed out of the tub, he jumped down. As I wrapped up in a towel, he walked through the doorway into our bedroom and laid down. He placed himself in a position that blocked my path.

Yes, I could walk around him, but if I turned out the bathroom light, it would be very difficult. I didn’t want to step on him or turn on a bedroom light. My husband was asleep.

Xander is no newbie at dodging human feet. As I reached for the light switch, he stood up and began walking to the bed. We were safe again from a painful cat misfortune.

The moment I am relaying took less time to occur than it did to describe it. It made me wonder about the behavior though. If his motivation was to be in the room with his humans, why wouldn’t he immediately climb onto the bed? Why did he wait for me to turn off the light?

Google is my friend. I found information about Tara the cat defending Jeremy, her four-year-old human, from a dog. I remember the video going viral in 2014. It is amazing.

“I don’t ever wanna get attacked by a cat,” says Dr. Peter Borchelt, a certified applied animal behaviorist. “They’ve got four hands with knives on the end and they can cut you up pretty badly. Quite frankly, I’d rather be attacked by a dog than a cat.” Jessica Hullinger, New York Post

I agree with Dr. Borchelt. I don’t ever want to be attacked by a cat. It sounds scary and painful.

Intrigued, I turned back to Google. I found Chester, a cat adopted from a shelter. He put his security guard instincts to good use.

“I was working in the living room at one time and Chester was sitting on the sofa next to me. He, for what seemed like no reason at all, gave a low, throaty, and sustained growl. I realized that an unfamiliar car had pulled into the driveway, and Chester was perhaps alerting me to its presence. I’d never seen a cat do this before.” Catherine Holm, Catster

My interest caught, I searched for more heroic cats. I found a 15 lb cat named Jack. The cat lived in New Jersey and defended his yard from a bear.

“The clawless tabby confronted the bear and sent it scrambling up a neighbor’s tree. Jack hissed at the base of the tree and kept the bear trapped there for about 15 minutes. Then, when the bear tried to get away, Jack chased it up another tree.” Laura T. Coffey, Today.com

Eventually, the cat’s human called the cat into the house. Once the cat left the yard, the bear jumped out of the tree. It ran back into the woods.

The story that seems the least likely to be true concerns Tommy, an orange tabby. In January of 2006, Tommy’s owner came to believe that the cat dialed 911. Gary Rosheisen said he had fallen out of his wheelchair.

“I know it sounds kind of weird,” Officer Patrick Daugherty said, unsuccessfully searching for some other explanation.

“Rosheisen said he couldn’t get up because of pain from osteoporosis and mini-strokes that disrupt his balance. He also wasn’t wearing his medical-alert necklace and couldn’t reach a cord above his pillow that alerts paramedics that he needs help. But the 911 call got placed anyway, and when Daugherty arrived on the scene, he found Tommy reclining next to the phone.” Laura T. Coffey, Today.com

Xander and Anya have yet to call 911 for me in an emergency. To be fair, I haven’t had a 911 type emergency in the 4 ½ years they have been in our family.

Bears have also been lacking around here, but Anya has saved me from a couple of scorpions. Living in the desert, scorpions sometimes make their way into homes. I wouldn’t have died if I’d been stung, but it wouldn’t have been fun. She saved me from a painful few days.

Neither of the cats has growled when an unfamiliar car has pulled into the driveway. Anya does run as fast as she can to the other side of the house when the doorbell rings. The speeding feline bullet is hard to miss. In her way, she is warning me. It feels more like she is saying “Every cat for themselves! Run! Hide!”

Maybe Xander wasn’t guarding me last night. Maybe he wasn’t guarding me all the other times he positioned himself at the entrance to rooms I was in. Xander did inspire me to read about these heroic cats. It was a nice trip down the Google rabbit hole.

Xander deserves a treat.

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