Did I miss something in the article?
Draw and fire does not take more than a second or two.
Cats are born hunters and stalkers, ever watch a house cat stalk a bird?
These creatures could be on you in a split second.
If you were one of the woman's companions and had a pistol what would you do?
The cat and the woman are on the ground and mixing it up.
Chances are if you pulled the trigger you would have killed the woman as easily as the cat.