My Cat Defended Me!

[varsettie]

First, some background information on my cat Atari for you guys. She was adopted by myself when she was six months old and for the first few months of her life I was unemployed and so was home all day to play with her. She grew very close to me as a result and has decided that I am ‘her’ human. She is now almost five years old and has spent the majority of her life being super relaxed and has never showed aggression towards anything other than one particular male cat I handed over to the SPCA. I’ve taught her tricks like ‘sit’ and ‘shake’ and she follows me like a shadow all over the house, yowling if she loses me to make me talk to her so she can come find me again.

Having said that, I'm currently trying to help my mother-in-law with her highly insecure and aggressive small dog. Pug/Shitzu. The dog has fear-based aggression issues and has bitten a few people in the past hard enough to draw blood. I have dealt with dogs like this before and they’re usually not much of a problem for me once I can gain their trust. While I was working on training him I told him to come to me and instead he looked the other way and wandered off. I went to go and grab his leash to lead him to me and he turned on me and tried to bite me. I had to stop him and try to roll him over. The problem was that rolling this dog over is like trying to roll a cement block that's fighting back. Needless to say he got upset and started making all kinds of loud growling sounds. He was also throwing his head back and forth because he was trying to bite me while I had a grip on the fur on the back of his neck.

All of this commotion attracted my cat and as soon as Atari saw that Ripley was trying to bite me she came charging down the stairs and attacked him! My finance and I separated the animals quickly and I got Ripley under control very easily after due to his shock of the cat, who was buddy-buddy with him for the last two months, attacking him. Atari was put at the top of the stairs and held there until I could calm the dog. This whole time Fawkes, my finance’s cat was sitting at the top of the stairs acting like it was no big deal, meanwhile Atari was bottle-tailed with her hackled raised spitting at the top of the stairs wanting to get back at the dog again. She remained there until I calmed Ripley down, let him up again, and then we brought them together again.  Neither animal had was sore or bleeding and Ripley listened to everything I told him to do for the rest of the night, a perfect little prince. Both animals now are cuddled together again in the sun, buddy-buddy like nothing even happened.

The reason this is such a big thing for me is because Atari is my first animal that doesn’t belong to ‘the family’ and even then none of the animals we’ve ever had before have defended me against anything, even when I was attacked previously. Finally understanding how much Atari cares for me is monumental to me and I just had to share it. I always thought I was just ‘food dude’ to her, but for her to act that way when Fawkes didn’t shows that she really cares on some level. It just makes me feel all bubbly inside.

Has your cat even protected you from another animal or person? I hear about dogs doing it all of the time, but I’ve not heard of a cat doing this before, not that I’m complaining. xD

 

[di and bob]

My youngster, Casper, 6years old, will come running to help his 'brother' Burt when our feral is attacking him. He'll jump right on the feral and Burt will run away. It's amazing to me that he will do this, and he'll come running too, if he hears a dog or another cat in his yard. Of course we try to give them supervised outside time, but the feral does sneak past us once in a while. So far no one has been hurt, but there sure has been a lot of screaming and huge tails!

 

[payaza2000]

I don't know if this counts as "protecting me." But I share a bedroom apartment with my brother and a good friend of ours. I sleep parallel to the balcony door entrance in the living room. In December during a windy night, where we didn't completely close the screen door after spending some time on the balcony, I was awakened by my five month old cat Flea standing on top of me hissing and growling at the screen door on balcony which the wind was blowing agansit and making noise.

 

[betsygee]

Our cat Rico (who's definitely a daddy's boy) doesn't defend my hubby, but definitely looks out for him.  Hubby's had several surgeries leaving him walking with canes or crutches and Rico has taken it upon himself to be hubby's protector to get across the street from his car and up the stairs and safely into the house.  When hubby's car pulls up and parks across the street from our house, Rico will run across the street (don't worry, folks it's a cul-de-sac with only three houses and mostly no traffic except us) 

.  He waits for hubby to get out of the car and then walks with him across the street, up the driveway and then the really cute part is that Rico will go up two or three steps of the stairs from the basement to the house, then sits and waits for hubby to get up those two stairs on his crutches--then Rico goes up two more stairs, sits and waits for him again--all the way up!

I didn't really believe it until I saw it myself--Rico was making sure hubby got up each step before going up any further.  So cuuuute.  

@varsettie :  How neat that Atari did that for you.  I cracked up at your expression 'just the food dude'.  LOL

 

[varsettie]

Di and Bob: I have had experiences before with protective sisters or brothers, even if they weren't actually related. The most intense one so far has been when Fawkes took it upon herself to go through the screen door at a stray cat who tried to hit Atari through the screen once. That poor cat, I didn't even get to check and see if he/she was alright. :/

Payaza: Could be take either way. She could have been scared and sucking up to you, or she could have genuinely been trying to protect you. Either way it's cute!

Betsy: That's really neat! I've never heard of a cat doing that either. I had one living in the country who would follow me everywhere but not guide me. That's too cool. I got food dude from my mother-in-law. She's the 'food lady' for her dog and because I feed the cats that's what she thinks they call me. x3

 

[angelinacat]

My cat, Toogie--who was afraid of men--was my Mother's cat.  I brought him to her as a small kitten.

Anyway, my Mother was starting to go into Alzheimers, but she was still well enough to be coherent to observe what happened.

Mother's brother, P, came over to visit.  And he hated cats.  My Mother was in bed at the time, and Toggie was at the foot of the bed.  P came in and talked to Mother, but he kept his eyes on Toggie [I frankly was surprised that he (Toogie) didn't hide]  And about every other sentence, P would utter:  "Look at that cat!"  As Toogie's jade green eyes bored into him.

After about the fifth utterance of that sort, and P didn't understand why I would not remove the cat, I replied:  "This cat lives here; you do NOT.  And further, he is guarding HIS Mother against an aggressor, and that is YOU. You may now LEAVE!"

(P was a bully and acted that way all of his life.)

Toogie & Angel.jpg

• angelinacat
• Feb 2, 2014

Here is my buddy, Toogie, and one of my other loves, Angel.

 

[varsettie]

That's pretty cool! Atari being my first cat I never knew that cats could form such a strong bond with humans. It's in their nature to be solitary creatures after all, isn't it? One would think that solitary creatures wouldn't choose to bond to another creature that was not their species with such strength. Dogs are pack animals, so it makes sense as to why they would, but cats are just surprising me every step of the way.

 

[stewball]

Cats are known to look after their 'pets'
They can do the same things dogs can. Know when a fit or something similar is going to happen. Stay with an autistic child. Even stay with a woman in ls labour until help has arrived.
Funny your fiance has a cat called fawkes. My cat in England when I was a child was called Stewball 'Fawkes'.

 

[happybird]

I had one of my dogs protect me and one of my cats from another one of my cats. :lol3:
This was years ago when had 2 labs and only one cat, my now senior, head kitty in charge, Frannie. Frannie is known for being a bit moody and dominant, to put it diplomatically. I decided to get another cat, so I went to the shelter and picked out a kitty. Not too young, so Frannie wouldn't potentially hurt it, but not too old, so Frannie wouldn't feel threatened. That is how my sweet Wheezie came into my life.

As soon as I brought Wheezie home, she immediately fell in love with Hunter, my big black lab. The first thing she did was go sit on his paws. Hunter had often been the victim of Frannie's anger issues, so at first he was terrified. It was a bit hysterical, watching a 90 lb. lab cower in fear when confronted by a little, talkative Tortie kitten. Hunter was a very sweet guy, and once he realized Wheezie wasn't going to smack him and just wanted to snuggle, he absolutely adored her. Wheezie was his baby. She shared his dog bed and he would gently bathe her a couple times a day.

About a week later, I was working on an introduction session between Frannie and Wheezie, with Hunter looking on like a nervous mother hen. The introductions had not been going well. Frannie was not pleased to get a new little buddy. If anything, Wheezie made her even more grumpy and growly. I was sitting on the floor with little Wheezie in my lap, trying to lure Frannie over for a supervised sniff. As Frannie drew closer, Hunter dashed over with a panicked look on his face and shielded me and Wheezie. He stood in between Frannie and us, and leaned his whole side against me so Frannie couldn't get closer. He was a big dog and a champion leaner, so I couldn't really move (plus, I was laughing too hard to do much). Wheezie was safely secure between me and the dog. He didn't growl or act aggressive towards Frannie in any way, he just pushed against me as he blocked Frannie's path. And he wouldn't budge. I could tell he was terrified by the look on his face, the brave guy. After a few minutes of this, Frannie shot us a final look of disdain and left the room. Hunter laid down by his baby and proceeded to check every inch of her for injuries, even though Frannie never got close enough to touch me or Wheezie.

We could never decide if Frannie was the alpha dog of the house or if it was my other lab, Maggie. Both dogs deferred to Frannie in all things, like stepping aside if Frannie wanted to eat out if their dishes and giving Frannie their spot on the couch if she wanted. It. Frannie is now 16 (or 17) and still rules the house with an iron paw. Fortunately, she eventually accepted Wheezie and enjoyed having a cat companion. Hunter and Wheezie remained best friends until the end.

 

[k malachi james]

Dear Varsetti,

What an amazing, wonderful story!  My story is a bit different.  One day there was a knock at the door.  I went to answer it, my cat Malachi behind me.  I opened the door and it was a friend of ours standing there with his German Shepherd dog.  Malachi took one look at leaped on the dog's head, clinging on.   The dog was screaming and trying to shake Malachi off.  My cat finally, mercifully, let go of the dog, once he had driven the dog away from our door.  I was absolutely astounded!  I, too, had never been protected by any animal before.  I loved your story and kudos to your kitty!

 

[allmomskitties]

 
Dear Varsetti,

What an amazing, wonderful story!  My story is a bit different.  One day there was a knock at the door.  I went to answer it, my cat Malachi behind me.  I opened the door and it was a friend of ours standing there with his German Shepherd dog.  Malachi took one look at leaped on the dog's head, clinging on.   The dog was screaming and trying to shake Malachi off.  My cat finally, mercifully, let go of the dog, once he had driven the dog away from our door.  I was absolutely astounded!  I, too, had never been protected by any animal before.  I loved your story and kudos to your kitty!

Wow, I never knew that about Malachi!  Way to go! 

 

[mycatwasthebest]

my cat always hissed at people she thought posed a threat to me...and therefore, of course, her. so those stories are numerous.

But about 8 years ago (when she was 8) I came home REALLY drunk to the point where I said hi and passed out with my clothes on altho I thought I smelled something funny. 10 minutes later she was yowling waking me up because the crackhead in the next entry in our courtyard had started a BIG fire.

smoke was coming in through the kitchen cabinets and I grabbed her carrier and she jumped in it voluntarily (for the first and only time in her life). I opened the door as the firemen were coming up to break it down. Unfortunately the girl next door to me was not as lucky. The fire was below her and the firefighter THREW HER GERBIL OUT THE (2ND FLOOR) WINDOW...CAGE AND ALL. It was lucky I came home when I did and luckier still she woke me up to save us and all our stuff.

 

[varsettie]

I'm finding out more and more that cats are just awesome creatures. I had decided not two months after adopting Atari that I would always have at least one cat in my house, but now it's concrete. I will always have an adopted fluff ball by my side, with or without a dog.

 

[catmomma627]

Not exactly protecting but my cat we had when I was young, Lady would come running when I was upset. If I was crying she'd jump on my chest and put one leg on either side of my neck, basically hugging me. It sure made me feel better as a kid.

 

[tuxedoontheloos]

When I was a teen we had a giant tom who'd come to us as a stray. He was huge. Over twenty pounds of pure muscle but friendly as a lamb.

Anyway, there was a family member who came over regularly who had a few issues and kitty was normally vert calm and understanding about it. He seemed to get that something wasn't right. One day this family member went off meds and became violent.

Twenty five pounds of hissing, growling cat got bbetween him and my mom. Kitty pounced and batted at his legs, but the cat never scratched or bit. He kept the ill family member away from everyone else until theyd calmed down.

My mom called him the family's guardian angel.