Across the pond in the UK, Andy Williams of Bracknell, Berks, is alive because of the quick-thinking heroism of neighbor cat Hugo, who roused him from sleep when his house caught fire.
Williams woke in the middle of the night to find two-year-old tabby Hugo clawing at his face, trying to awaken him. He quickly realized his home was on fire.
Williams said, “I was in a really deep sleep until I felt Hugo’s clawing. As soon as I was awake he flew out the door. I got up to follow him and saw thick black smoke in the hall.”
The blaze was caused by an electrical fault. Firefighters told Williams that he would have been dead within minutes without Hugo’s intervention.
Williams added: “It is hard to comprehend that I owe my life to my neighbor’s cat.”
Darren Hill, Hugo’s owner said, “I am so proud of him.”
Nineteen years ago, a brown tabby was tossed from a car in Palo Alto, California, and ended up on death row at the Humane Society.
A woman named Leslie showed up, looking for a year-old cat to adopt. After looking at the inventory of very old cats and kittens, she was about to leave empty handed when a volunteer suggested that she look under a pile of kittens. There she found a big pre-neutered male tabby who was serving as a surrogate mother. “How could I resist?” she laughs. She took him home and named him Ozboz.
Later, when her boyfriend, Phil, first visited her in her apartment, Oz leaped into Phil’s lap, curled up and went to sleep. Leslie took that as Oz’s purrsonal stamp of approval. Leslie and Phil later married.
When their daughter Sarah was born, Oz’s surrogate mother experience proved valuable. He stuck by Sarah’s side until she was able to walk on her own.
Once, the infant Sarah, lying on her back in her crib, spit up — a lot. Knowing something was wrong, Oz raced to Leslie and Phil in the living room, and yowled and ran back and forth between the two rooms to get their attention.
Sarah recalls, “My parents knew something had happened, so they followed Ozboz into my room,” Sarah said. “If Oz had not reacted, I might have aspirated and developed pneumonia.
“Instead, all my parents had to do was clean up a big mess.”
Sarah is now thirteen years old, and thinks she might be a marine paleontologist when she grows up. Ozboz died in November at age 18.
The family won’t soon forget Oz and his heroics. “I know this story can seem very funny and gross to some people, but to me it is very special,” Sarah said. “I will never forget what a special cat he was, nor how he saved my life when I was too young to get help for myself.”
The August issue of Reader’s Digest features five pet heroes who saved the lives of their loved ones. Of all the heroes, my purrsonal favorite was not a cat… but a Quaker Parrot.
The parrot’s name is Willie, and he’s just 11 months old. When 2-year-old Hannah Kuusk began choking on a Pop Tart, Willie sounded the alarm using a word he’d never spoken previously: baby.
Shrieking “Mama, Baby! Mama, Baby!” over and over, Willie called for the babysitter, Meagan Howard, who’d left the room momentarily to go to the bathroom. Meagan ran in to find out what the commotion was and quickly administered the Heimlich maneuver to Hannah, who had already turned blue. The Pop Tart was dislodged and Hannah’s life was saved. Willie immediately stopped screeching.
Another Reader’s Digest hero is 14-year-old Winnie the Wonder Cat (pictured above).
A barn cat who was abandoned by her mother, Winnie was adopted by the Keesling family in New Castle, Indiana when she was just a few days old. The Keeslings feed her with an eyedropper until she was old enough to feed on her own.
That small act of kindness was repaid a hundredfold one cold March night when Winnie saved the entire family from certain death from carbon monoxide poisoning. You can read Winnie’s story here.
A chihuahua, a Palomino horse and a rescue mutt join Winnie and Willie as finalists. The winner of the Reader’s Digest Hero Pet of the Year Award will be announced on August 11th. Click here to vote for your favorite hero.
Is there any better a bundle of love than a big orange tabby?
In a new twist on the Therapy Pet model, an elderly depressed orangutan at ZooWorld in Florida has a new lease on life after being paired with an orange tabby. Tonda lost her mate a few years ago, after which she fell into a depressive funk. “We thought we were going to lose her a couple years back because she did get depressed,” said Stephanie Willard, ZooWorld’s director of education. “She got off her food and off her activities.”
Finding Tonda a new mate was problematic. Tonda was deemed too old for another mate and too fragile to move to a new location.
ZooWorld remembered how Koko, the sign-language literate gorilla, had successfully bonded with a series of pet cats over the years, and decided to see if some purr therapy would be beneficial to Tonda.
The cat who was selected for the job, T.K. (for “Tonda’s Kitty”) was chosen for his mellow yet playful disposition. “He’s more laid back than the female cat probably would be,” Willard said. “He loves the attention and is a typical tabby cat. Nice, fluffy, ‘love on me’ anytime.”
“Tonda very quickly got attached to the cat and got real mad at us when we would take him away,” Willard said. “The cat has added so much to her life.” In addition to bringing her out of her funk, the cat’s companionship seems to have helped Tonda’s respiratory issues.
Zookeepers can’t tell you why this interspecies love affair works, but one thing is certain: their love is here to stay. “It’s heartwarming,” Willard said. “It doesn’t get to be an old story. It’s very, very close to all of those of us involved.”
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Giving new meaning to the term “CAT scan,” Tiger the Cat successfully detected lung cancer in his owner, Lionel Adams, thereby saving his life.
Now recovering from surgery, Adams described how Tiger alerted him to a mass in his lung: “He would climb into bed and take his paw and drag it down my left side — he was adamant there was something there,” he said.
“And it was right where the cancer was.”
Adams showed no symptoms of lung cancer before Tiger’s behavior prompted him to discuss it with his family doctor. The doctor referred him to a specialist. An X-ray revealed stage 1 lung cancer in his left lung, right where Tiger said it should be. Doctors subsequently removed a portion of the lung during surgery.
Adams credits Tiger for saving his life. “I think if he hadn’t done the pawing part it could have gone on for another five, six months undetected,” he said. “I feel like it could have been a lot worse if the cat hadn’t had tuned in to something there, to something he felt was wrong. I would say he’s my hero.”
Barbara Walmer, head of animal behavior at the Calgary Humane Society, verified that Tiger is not alone… cats and dogs have been reported acting in similar ways to detect health problems in their owners. “I think we see more predicting in dogs, but for sure many pet owners have reported pets can have a sixth sense when knowing when something is wrong.”
Ironically, Tiger has never been one to show affection. “He’s never had that much to do with me except to come over for a pet,” Adams said, with a laugh.
A month ago we reported on a tragic fire in Iowa, in which Baby (right) –appropriately enough, a flame point Siamese cat–bravely alerted her owners that their home was in flames, saving the lives of three people as well as the family dogs, cats and goats. At that time, the fate of our heroine, Baby, was unknown. After saving the family, she disappeared into the frozen Iowa snowscape.
I’m happy to report that Baby is safe and sound, and in an exclusive Cat’s Meow interview, we talked with Baby’s owner (John Hadley) about the fire and the fate of the family’s other animals.
Cat’s Meow: What did Baby do to alert your family to the fire? John Hadley: Baby jumped from the dresser to the bed to wake me. Several times, over and over and over again, she went from the dresser and sprang three feet through the air to land on me to alert me of danger. I finally was awake enough to smell smoke. Thanks to Baby I was able to get my mother and the rest of the family out in time.
Cat’s Meow: You have 4 cats and 3 dogs. What are their names? John Hadley: My family includes Mom, Jim, Baby (Flame point Siamese), Oscar (golden striped, Large Cat), Apopphis (gray calico Cat), Meiko (gray striped Cat), Ricky (black Toy Poodle), Lucy (mostly white Jack Russell ), Prince (Black with white JackaPoo), Rick and Lucy’s pup and the two goats: Cindy (brown with spots, pictured in news article) and Nanny, an all-white female.
Cat’s Meow: Was it difficult to make sure they all got out of the burning house okay? Were any of them injured? John Hadley: It was kind of hard to make sure everybody was out. The dogs are always ready to run out the front door, so they went right out quick. The cats live inside and had to be gathered and accounted for. With the smoke and commotion it was a miracle that it did go so smoothly. The goats being nearest and first to know of the danger ran free to their safety in the back yard. The only injury to any of us was some singed hair on Cindy’s back and some minor smoke inhalation. Thank our hero Baby for getting us up in time.
Cat’s Meow: Has either of the goats fessed up to who started the fire? John Hadley: Neither of the goats have admitted guilt, but knowing how Cindy is the oldest and bossy, I believe she was bullying Nanny for a spot closer to the heat lamp and pulled it down from its hanger.
Cat’s Meow:Baby was missing after the fire. How long was it before she returned home? John Hadley: The Red Cross was very helpful to us in this time of need. The Fire chief called them and they were on the location within one hour. We were on the way to board the animals at the kennel and they waited for us to return from getting our animals boarded and out of the subzero weather. That took a couple of hours, and when we were done we went back to the house and Baby was there waiting for our return. The fire was still smouldering, with firemen putting out the hot spots.
Cat’s Meow:Was it difficult to find housing for your family and all of your animals after the fire? John Hadley: Baby, Meecko and I are staying with friends. Jim and Mom are with her cousin, and the goats were given to a local goat farmer equipped to keep them permanently. The three dogs and other two cats are still being boarded at a kennel. Unfortunately, this is going to be quite expensive for the 40+ days they will have to be there.
Cat’s Meow:How are your cats and dogs coping after the fire? Were they traumatized, or is it business as usual? John Hadley: They all seen to be adapting to their surroundings quite well considering being uprooted so quickly and traumatically in the freezing weather. We are very anxious to get into a new home in town and all be back together.
Cat’s Meow:Did your family lose everything in the blaze? John Hadley: Yes, everything is gone. The fire burned the house completely to the ground. We were all in complete shock for a week or more after this. Each day we think of something we need and had that was lost. Jim had let the Homeowners Insurance lapse when he had been unemployed and working at a part time job. When he was rehired full time he just never got the Insurance reinstated. What a lessen for ALL to learn by. Have INSURANCE or you will lose everything.
Cat’s Meow:Is there any advice you could give to our readers on evacuating animals from a burning home, based on your experience? John Hadley: Yes, Stay calm which is very hard to do. Do a head count and make sure the animals don’t run back into their familiar home to hide. Make sure everyone is safe and don’t risk your safety, let professionals do their job with the proper equipment.
Thanks, John, for taking the time to give us an update on Baby and your family. We sincerely hope you will all be back together beneath the same roof soon.
If any of our readers would like to help, a fund was set up by the community to help the family get back on their feet and to pay for boarding the animals until they are relocated into a new home. The Fire Relief Fund was set up for “James Giles and Family” at:
Bank of The West
211 East Boston Ave.
Indianola, IA 50125
(515) 961-7411
As this story proves, no one can predict when disaster will strike. But you can increase your chances of making it out alive with your pets by planning ahead:
Get a window sticker to alert firefighters that there are pets in your home. Some companies and shelters give these away for free.
Microchip and tag your pets. Together Tags help ensure that even if your house burns down and you can’t be reached by phone, you and your pet can be reunited. You can upload photos of your pets to Together Tag so that you will have a photo from which to make a lost pet flyer, even if your home and computer are destroyed.
Have one carrier for each of your pets. We keep extra cardboard folding carriers upstairs and downstairs. This ensures that if you’re able to get your cats into carriers as you evacuate that they won’t sneak back into the home or wander off.
Keep copies of your pets’ medical information in more than one place. Scan it and email it to yourself, keep a copy at work, give a copy to relatives.
In Toronto Canada this week, Domina the Cat is being considered for an award to acknowledge her life-saving actions in alerting her owner to a fire and saving three lives in the process. “We are looking at some sort of recognition,” Fire Capt. Mike Strapko said, adding he has to do a little research to determine what kind of award Domina would be eligible for. “We’ve never given an award to an animal before.”
A quick-thinking Domina alerted her owner, Rob Smits, to the 3-alarm blaze that was spreading through the walls of his roominghouse from the vacant house next door. Smits called 911 and woke up fellow tenants Sean Conway and Peter Lam. Once everybody was out of the house, Smits darted back inside to rescue Domina, who broke free outside and ran away.
The 20-lb bundle of love was found later hiding under a neighbor’s porch. A very happy Smits went to the Animal Services shelter to be reunited with Domina. “This cat has given me a lot of joy,” Smits said. “I feel great.”
Smits, who volunteers four to five days a week at the Parkdale Community Food Bank, escaped with only the clothes on his back and Domina. The only photo he has of his birth mother was destroyed in the fire.
Smits was adopted at an early age, and said he shares a “mutual history” with Domina because she was bounced around the Toronto Humane Society shelter before finding a furever home with him.
Sadly, Smits can’t take Domina home because he doesn’t yet have one. Ecuhome has set him up with temporary housing but Smits doesn’t yet know if any of the other tenants are allergic to cats, so Domina can’t join him until those details are hammered out.
If he is unable to take Domina to his new home, he’ll put her up with a friend until he finds his own place. He promised Domina that she wouldn’t have to stay in the shelter longer than a week — if that.
This week in Warren County Iowa, a cat rousted its owner from sleep as their house was burning, saving the lives of three residents, two goats and the family dog.
One of the goats was the likely culprit, when a space heater in an attached shed — placed there to protect the goats from the bitter cold — was knocked over. Neither of the goats was willing to give a statement.
“My cat woke me up and I saw smoke coming out of my fan,” John Hadley told KCCI-TV, Des Moines. “I made sure I got her (Hadley’s mother) out and then I know she loves her animals, so I rounded all her animals up, and by that point, flames and smoke were everywhere.”
The three residents had to wait in the freezing cold for firefighters, who battled frozen roads with tanker trucks to get to the fire scene. There was little they could do once they arrived — the house was swallowed in flames and battling the blaze in the frigid weather was tough on both the firefighters and the equipment.
The cat bolted after escaping the burning house and has not been seen since, but was assumed to be okay.
In Macks Creek, Missouri this week, a big ole’ orange tabby named Tommy saved the day when he alerted his owner, Avrell Nuanez, that a nylon jacket had fallen onto a room heater and started melting
“Anything could have happened if he hadn’t woken me up,” Avrell Nuanez said.
In the wee hours of the morning, Tommy crawled onto Nuanez’s bed and persistently swatted her head with his paw to wake her up. Despite repeated pleas for him to stop, and rolling over to ignore him, Tommy continued poking her and batting at her eyes. Finally, Nuanez got out of bed, only to discover that a nylon jacket had fallen onto the room heater and was melting.
The previous afternoon, Nuanez had done some early Spring cleaning and placed a nylon jacket and papers in a box beside her bed. Although she didn’t want to point the finger at savior Tommy, it was likely the cat who knocked the items onto the heater.
The jacket was badly damaged, but there was no other damage.
Tommy is about 1 year old, and has spent most of his life as a stray, eeking out an existence on the mean streets. Nuanez and the other residents at the Macks Creek Senior Center began feeding him and several other stray cats when the landlord handed down an edict: they had to stop.
Nuanez says she asked to adopt Tommy and was granted permission, on one condition – Tommy had to be vaccinated. What a bargain! From that point, Tommy had a home. “He’s a loving cat, very friendly,” says Nuanez.
[PHOTO CREDIT: Deanna Wheeler/Lake Sun]
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If you’re a cat owner, it’s not all that unusual to awaken in the wee hours to your cat clawing your face and meowing. But when Charley the cat woke up John Griffin from a sound sleep, he wasn’t looking for a midnight snack or playtime: Griffin’s house was ablaze, with flames leaping 50 feet into the air.
Griffin said, “The cat came in the room I was sleeping. He jumped on the pillow and proceeded to scream: meow, meow.” Griffin explained that Charley often wakes up in the middle of the night asking for food or to be let out. But this time he was acting differently. And his dog Blondie joined in, nudging Griffin from one side while Charley pawed and meowed from the other side. “If it wasn’t for them, I probably would have slept through it.” Griffin got up, saw smoke, and the three of them evacuated the house. A half hour later, the home was destroyed.
Sadly, Charley has gone missing and has not been seen since the fire was extinguished. Put your paws together and think pawsative thoughts for Charley’s heroic return. For full video coverage by Fox13 in Tampa, click the thumbnail on the right.
Across the pond in the UK, Andy Williams of Bracknell, Berks, is alive because of the quick-thinking heroism of neighbor cat Hugo, who roused him from sleep when his house caught fire. 
Giving new meaning to the term “CAT scan,” Tiger the Cat successfully detected lung cancer in his owner, Lionel Adams, thereby saving his life.
A month ago 
As this story proves, no one can predict when disaster will strike. But you can increase your chances of making it out alive with your pets by planning ahead:
In Toronto Canada this week, Domina the Cat is being considered for an award to acknowledge her life-saving actions in alerting her owner to a fire and saving three lives in the process. “We are looking at some sort of recognition,” Fire Capt. Mike Strapko said, adding he has to do a little research to determine what kind of award Domina would be eligible for. “We’ve never given an award to an animal before.” 
In Macks Creek, Missouri this week, a big ole’ orange tabby named Tommy saved the day when he alerted his owner, Avrell Nuanez, that a nylon jacket had fallen onto a room heater and started melting
Griffin explained that Charley often wakes up in the middle of the night asking for food or to be let out. But this time he was acting differently. And his dog Blondie joined in, nudging Griffin from one side while Charley pawed and meowed from the other side. “If it wasn’t for them, I probably would have slept through it.” Griffin got up, saw smoke, and the three of them evacuated the house. A half hour later, the home was destroyed. 
