Dogs rule. You never hear stories about how cats saved their owner's lives.
The difference tween your dog n your cat? If you were switched in size, your dog would still lick you and wag its tail....The cat would try to eat you............
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2653569.stm A lucky black cat who saved his owners from a fire at their north Wales home has reached the finals of a national competition run by an animal charity.
Gerald Davies, his wife and 23-year-old son were in bed in their house in Gwersyllt, near Wrexham, when their kitchen cooker caught fire in August last year.
If it hadn't been for Barney we wouldn't be here now
Gerald Davies, Barney's owner
Six-year-old Barney woke the family by racing upstairs and making lots of noise.
His heroic antics have landed him a place in a competition run by the Cats Protection League.
The organisation, which rescues and rehomes unwanted and abandoned cats, is looking to name it cat of the year.
Mr and Mrs Davies are travelling to London on 13 February for the ceremony.
But 56-year-old Mr Davies said the black cat, who has lived with them since he was left to fend for himself by his previous owners, is already a winner to them.
"We're just doing this for Barney - if he doesn't win it doesn't matter," he said.
Plastic fumes
Mr Davies said the family were lucky that Barney was nearby on the night of the fire.
"There had been an electrical fault on the cooker and the house was filled with smoke - if it hadn't been for Barney we wouldn't be here now," he said.
"Normally he doesn't go upstairs but he went up that day and was making a loud noise.
"The smoke was dangerous and there were fumes from the plastic.
"We'd only been in here about six days, but Barney went upstairs in the early hours of the morning and woke my son.
"He thought the cat wanted to go out, but when my son put the light on he found the house full of smoke.
"After what he did, he means everything to us - I think we wouldn't be here now because the smoke in the house that night was unbelievable," he added.
http://www.homeagainid.com/news/article.cfm?storyid=10127 Feline Devotions: Tale of Life-saving Cat Part of New Book
South Bend Tribune, July 17, 2003
by DORI CLEMINS Tribune Correspondent
Cats. You either love them or hate them.
Mary Benninghoff says this while sitting in a room filled with dozens of cats.
It's obvious to which group Benninghoff of Mishawaka belongs.
She sat in the same room at Pet Refuge in Mishawaka last July and cried for nearly an hour when she lost her cat, Mahgy, after 14 years. More than a companion, Mahgy (which rhymes with "doggie"), saved her life.
Twice.
In 1988, Benninghoff found Mahgy in a no-kill shelter in Chicago when she lost her 20-year-old companion, Fat Baby. Every time she reached out for the small black cat, it growled and when she turned away it swatted at her back.
Curious, Benninghoff asked attendants about the spunky cat having a bad day.
They described Mahogany as unadoptable after three returns for biting prospective families during the previous year.
Eventually, four attendants helped Benninghoff load Mahgy into a box for the drive to another new home.
Mahgy took a while to trust the woman who took her in and who read to her every night.
When Benninghoff could finally pick up Mahgy and take her to a vet, she learned that the cat had several broken teeth and bleeding gums from gingivitis.
Dental problems solved, Mahgy changed into a different cat, and she and her owner became inseparable.
Retirement made Benninghoff more serious about her diabetes, and she decided to get it under better control.
Things were going well until she woke up one morning feeling a little under the weather. She ate breakfast and sat on the couch to read the paper.
"I woke up two hours later with a pounding on my face and chest," Benninghoff said. "When I opened my eyes, Mahgy was sitting on my chest batting at my face and chest with her paws."
Benninghoff immediately checked her blood sugar. It tested 36 instead of the normal 120. If Mahgy hadn't pounced to the rescue, Benninghoff could have slipped into a diabetic coma.
Mahgy repeated the act a month later and once again saved her owner's life.
After that, the two lived together peacefully until Benninghoff lost Mahgy last year. Now, Mahgy's story is part of the book "Cat Miracles" by Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger, published by Adams Media Corp.
Benninghoff found her new cats, Cookie and Sammy, when she took Mahgy's things to Pet Refuge.
At the time she thought she would never take in another cat because of the pain she felt over losing Mahgy.
A vet once told Benninghoff that a new pet never takes the place of a lost one, but each one creates his or her own space and that the human heart can offer many such spaces.
"These two took care of the loneliness and have certainly created their own space," Benninghoff said.
(C) 2003 South Bend Tribune. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/news/11-4-99/herocat.html 'Hero cat' alerts owners when fire breaks out
Sam, a 13-year-old tabby, may have saved entire neighborhood
Sam, a tabby cat who lives at 71 Clinton St. with Jean Milman Ludak, and her husband, Mark, woke up his owners to inform them of a fire at the neighbors.
Staff photo by Robyn Stein
By Sue Kramer
The Packet Group
Thursday, Nov. 4, 1999
LAMBERTVILLE — Sam, a 13-year-old tabby cat, is being credited with alerting his owners to a fire on Clinton Street Sunday morning.
Sam's actions, according to thankful neighbors, not only prevented the fire's spread to other structures, but possibly saved the block.
The predawn Oct. 31 mischief night fire that destroyed a storage shed at 63 Clinton St. led to initial speculation by investigators that the inferno was the work of pranksters.
But "the cause of the fire," assured Lambertville Detective Michael Bozsolak, "was faulty wiring."
Lambertville Fire Department Chief Ronald R. Tillett Jr. added, "After a close investigation, county Fire Marshal Allan R. Layton, Detective Bozsolak and I determined the cause to be electrical, due to an overloaded circuit. We also found other faulty wiring in the house and had the power turned off."
He added, "It's a shame because the homeowner had an electrical contractor scheduled to come in next week to replace the wiring."
The property, which is owned by Ronald and Karen Todd of 181 Long Hill Road in Little Falls, N.J., is currently under renovation according to Chief Tillett.
The shed, which sat along the towpath at the rear of the property and measured about 15-foot by 15-foot was destroyed in the fire. All that remained Sunday morning were the charred remains of the building's frame and the burned and twisted remains of the Todds' major appliances and furniture that were being stored in it during the renovation.
The Todds arrived at their Clinton Street home from Little Falls about 9:30 a.m. Sunday to view the damage, according to Detective Bozsolak. While insurance adjusters had not completed their appraisal of the damage, the detective estimated the Todds' loss to be in the thousands of dollars.
The first 911 call reporting the fire was made at 4:43 a.m. by Jean Milman Ludak of 71 Clinton St.
Ms. Milman Ludak was awakened by Sam around 4:40 in the morning.
"I was sound asleep," she said. "Sam woke me up initially. I heard a sound and thought it was raining. I got out of bed and looked out the window and saw flames shooting up. I ran downstairs to call 911."
Her husband, Mark Ludak, said, "We thought our neighbor's house was on fire. We were terrified."
Ms. Milman Ludak added, "We were really glad to see the fire department come."
While both admit to sometimes grumbling when Sam wakes them up in the early morning hours to fix his breakfast, Ms. Milman Ludak said, "I'm really glad he woke us up this morning. He woke us up an hour earlier than normal even with daylight savings time. It was due to the fire."
Her husband agreed. He said they had the window open, and he's also sure that Sam woke them up due to the fire. They both noted, though, that their chocolate Labrador retriever, Roxanne, slept through it all.
Chief Tillett said when he ar rived at the scene, "There was heavy fire everywhere; it looked like a bonfire. It had obviously been burning for some time. When the pine trees caught fire, they started crackling."
The chief speculated it was the crackling of the burning pine needles that upset Sam and caused Ms. Milman Ludak to think it was raining.
Neighbor Marcia Taylor, of 1 Delaware Ave., who calls Sam her "hero cat," was awakened and alerted to the fire by her neighbors who went door to door sounding the alarm.
The fire, she says, "was shooting up into the trees." She grabbed a hose and ran down the towpath to extinguish the flames that were spreading to the trees and leaves along the canal bank.
Edith Kadezabek, who lives next door to the Todds at 65 Clinton St. ,said, "I woke up during the night and thought the sun was shining. I pulled the shade up and saw the blaze. I called 911 and ran outside."
Mrs. Kadezabek, whose garage also was damaged in the fire, is waiting for her insurance com pany's adjuster to come out. Her garage, which sits about 20 feet from the Todds' shed, had all the siding melted off on the side next to the fire.
"I was lucky it just took the siding," she said. "There's a boat, some mowers and other things stored there."
Mrs. Kadezabek, who also calls Sam her "hero cat," credits him with saving not only her garage, but possibly other structures on the block.
"He saved our street. He's a lucky cat," she said.
In addition to the loss of the shed, its contents and the damage to Mrs. Kadezabek's garage, a privacy fence running behind and alongside the shed was destroyed in the fire.
Chief Tillett said about 35 firefighters turned out to battle the blaze.
"We were there about 1 hours fighting the fire, and then Station 4 (Columbia) went back for the cleanup and to assist in the investigation. They were there another three hours, until 10 a.m." He added, "Everyone did a great job."