Many of us watched a TV program about a collie dog called Lassie, who performed outrageous feats to rescue her human being. Said human, a little boy, was always falling off cliffs, getting abducted by robbers, etc. What I am about to relate are two true stories which you can confirm via brief searches on the net.
The first happened in 2023 in Cornwall (AKA “Wales”), England. A black cat called Piran and his 82-year-old female human were said to be inseparable. The cat followed her everywhere. One day, a neighbor left the house and saw Piran standing in the road and meowing. She allowed Piran to direct her toward a rustic path. There, the woman saw that her elderly neighbor had fallen into a deep ravine. Were it not for the cat…
The second instance happened in California in 2014. An ordinary gray tabby cat followed a small family—mom, pop, and little boy—home from a park. They called her “Tara.” One day, while the boy rode his bike in their driveway, a dog attacked him, sinking its teeth into his leg. Tara went into action, lunging at and frightening the dog away.
My family had a black cat which basically acted as a guard. Sam would go after anything with four legs that had the nerve to set foot on our property. One morning I witnessed a confrontation between Sam and a much larger, unsuspecting hound. All the dog had to do was step one inch into the grass outside the hedge. Sam was after him and hit him broadside like a battering ram. The dog ran off. Sam is long gone, but I have every confidence that, wherever in the universe he is, he is busy knocking somebody’s block off. I tried to get the cat interested in literature, but no dice.
Now, you may have a typical cat which eats, sleeps, and generally makes your life miserable. But, people, there is hope!—Kathryn Nocerino