Home surveillance cameras caught this in action. I never thought cat's were that cool. Go to radio station website and click video link. Youtube has it restricted due to content. http://tinyurl.com/qaj6fvn
If the family had a good dog, it would have been hanging close and the attack would never have happened. Most likely the cat wasn't even thinking "protect the kid", but rather "ambush the dog".
When I was a kid, we had the BADDEST ASS Siamese cat you ever saw. He would jump and hang off the screen to hit the door bell to come in. He was the cat stud of the neighborhood, he would hide under cars parked in the driveway to ambush neighbors male cats. He got cornered by a neighborhood Chow Chow and decided he had enough, he did a quick climb and flip off a utility pole right onto the dogs back, dug in with all 4 sets of claws and rode the howling dog around the neighbor hood. He calmly let go and hopped off when he was back in our yard. The dog would not leave the house after that without escort. He went out one winter night (when he wanted to go out, you didn't argue) it got well below zero but he didn't come back. About 3:00AM the doorbell rang, he wanted in. Problem was he had frozen both ear tips. They fell off a couple of days later. He couldn't have cared less. Yet, my baby sister could pull him around the house by his tail and lay on him and take a nap. He was AWESOME. I still miss him.
His name was Kippe, named ofter Rudyard Kipling, he's the dude that wrote the the poem "Boots"
I had an old lady cat (Daisy RIP) that I had rescued from the mean snowy streets of da Bronx. She was the best most gentle cat I'd ever met. Fast forward to her twilight years, and I rescued a fully grown young male cat who had an attitude problem and was prone to violence.
One day I was coming down the stairs and the male cat was crouched and hidden (I saw him and knew what was up) waiting to pounce on my ankles when I rounded the bend. Daisy saw his hunting posture, and his designs for my bloodletting. Before I could get to the last step, I saw Daisy, now about 13 years old, sprint across the room and tackle the b$%tard before he could pounce on me.
I know they are not like dogs, but some cats have really good protective instincts.
I have a big black tom, affectionately known as "Batman" aka "Smokey" , about 2 years ago, he woke me at 2 am , almost exactly at the same moment i heard the front door squeek , flew out of bed to find the front door 10inches open , quickly checked the pool , no one swimming!
My boys will often get up and swim at that hour if it's hot.
Closed and locked the door again , checked the back yard through the dining room window and saw this shadowy figure belting past the pickup parked in the yard.
Woke everybody up , boys and i went out hunting , armed , but no sign of the intruder/s.
Went back to bed around 4am , at around 7 my eldest going off to work spotted a cloth lying on the window sill outside the kitchen window , asked if i'd left it there , we checked and realised that the perp had come back to wipe off his finger prints!
The 2 dogs did'nt even move - totally useless - so "Batman" probably saved some lives that night!!
Home invasions are commonplace here , usually on the old and weak.
He will call me when the neighbourhood feral cat comes for dinner , every night , if the bowl is empty , let me know when the dogs waterbowl in the bathroom is empty, though they just drink from the pool , and pester me when it's time for me to go to bed !
Also fears no dog and has been known to ride along aways , like a jockey on a racehorse !
I will be waiting to see this neighbor on Judge Judy trying to explain how good their harmless dog is while they try to get out of paying the kid's medical bills.
I always had a cat growing up, usually with a dog, and they got along fine. I figure most guys that don't like cats just never had one. They're cool animals, they're just NOT dogs.
One of my favorite cats died a few years back; she lived to be 16. The old cat looked like she could hardly move sometimes, she'd sit there upright but looking half asleep. On more than one occasion our other cat walked a little too close in front of her and faster than you could blink, she'd whip out a paw and POW-POW-POW right in his face. Holy crap she was fast! He'd look like "WTF did I do?"
I had another one a few years ago, found abandoned as a kitten at a local golf course. He was cool. We had a mutt dog at the time that was half Husky and half who-knows-what that did not really cotton to cats. She'd chase our other cat if he wandered in the back yard and looked like she'd eat him if she got the chance. This other cat would walk right in. If the dog charged him he'd just stand there nonchalantly and look back at her- he wasn't intimidated at all and the dog wouldn't bother him. Poor dog looked confused as hell; you could just see her brain saying "But wait, you're supposed to run!"
A dog, that's nothing, our big guy thinks he's a damn mountain lion. After a few nose to nose encounters with some foxes, he felt he could handle something bigger, ELK!!!
This is the herd looking back and wondering what in the hell chased them out of our yard. He's also chased a herd of four buck mule deer up the same hill. I've often wonder what he would have done had caught up to them!
Here he is in ambush, waiting for our local mosquitos (humming birds)!
That cats got "tude" if ever i saw it!! Interestingly we have 5 , all cats that have come to us in a roundabout manner!
Usually by way of failed adoptions and "Batman" who's so called owner's wanted him put down because they were'nt prepared to take care of his medical expenses.
The wife's in Veterinary practice and they take in all sorts from a local organization called "Cat Care"
Of all 5 i'm only allergic to the big ginger boy and the gray tabby , who's the neighbourhood trouble maker - if there's a fight , sure as nuts "Roland's" involved.
Cats are generally cool especially once you've learned how to "talk" cat!
Interestingly, it seems the most vocal are black , black and white / Tuxedo's. I once happened upon a Tuxedo on the front porch of a customer who's bike i had gone to see to , i woke him with a start and we had a conversation 30 mins long - yeah i'm crazy!!
Hoot, yup, one of the craziest things I've ever seen in the pet realm. Funny as hell but the dog owner failed to see the humor especially since he now had to be with the dog whenever it was outside.
Hamish, you've never had a Siamese have ya. You want to talk about a vocal feline. Man, they can really make a racket if they want. They have a TON of different inflections and sounds. If you are paying attention, you know exactly what they want or are thinking. I really miss our Buster (Siamese of course). He was 19 and seriously cool to the very end. We only have a Dachshund now, had Buster at the same time, they were BEST buddies.
Hey Bluz , i stand corrected , i'd quite forgotten about them , those i have come across are indeed very talkative !!
We may have had one , way back in my distant memory , but i would have been very young at the time .
Our dogs and cats are the best of buds too , my youngest son usually ends up with the 2 dogs and the tabby all sharing his bed and on occasion the Black cat too , just depends how cold it is!
I stay out of the practice as much as possible , it's all too easy to end up fostering a small abandoned kitten and end up with more cat's! 5 and the feral is quite enough!
While some are bashing cats I'd like to add I'm not a big fan of dogs. Sure, if I had a farm I'd love to have a dog but I live in a townhouse with wood floors and wood furniture. I can't tolerate any animal that's going to piss on my floors, chew on my furniture and bark at every passing person at all hours of the night. I think fish make the best pets....lol
My Ex wife had 35 cats why she a ex wife! 5 inside the rest out. Her life totally revolved around cats. 24/7 Not just her's but all her cat freak buddies as well.
1 cat is cool 2 if you don't have a dog for a buddy any more is mental illness! If you have working cats say barn cats on the farm you have as many as you need for the job.