9 Cats That Are Serious Heroes

We often hear stories about dogs that are heroes, but furry friends of all types can also be heroes -especially cats. In fact, these nine cats have come to the rescue of humans, cats and even dogs.

1. Tara

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This brave little kitty made headlines across the world after she fought off a dog that attacked her four year-old owner, Jeremy Triantafilo. Jeremy was on a bike in front of his home when a neighbor's dog attacked him, pulling him off the bike and dragging him along the sidewalk. Tara immediately attacked the dog in return, scaring it and chasing it away from the family's house. Security footage of the attack went viral, getting five million views within only two days.

2. Pudding

Amy Jung headed down to her local Humane Society one day to play with the cats. While she didn't plan to adopt any new pets that day, she ended up bringing home two cats, Pudding and Wimsy. That very night, Amy went into a diabetic seizure during her sleep. Pudding then jumped on her and woke her up so she could call out to her son, Ethan, but he didn't hear her cries as he too was sleeping. Amazingly, Pudding then ran into Ethan's room and jumped on his chest to wake him up. Because of Pudding's efforts, Ethan was able to get his mother medical attention before she slipped into a diabetic coma. All this is more incredible when you keep in mind that this was still her first night at Amy's house.

Since the incident, Amy had Pudding registered as a therapy animal so she can always have the cat with her.

3. Tommy

No one knows how the cat did it, but when Gary Rosheisen fell out of his wheelchair and couldn't get back up, his cat, Tommy, managed to dial 9-11. Gary didn't have his medical alert necklace on and couldn't reach the cord above his bed that could call the medics or a telephone. When police arrived at the apartment, they saw an orange and tan cat lying beside the telephone that was off the hook on the living room floor. Police couldn't find any other explanation for the emergency call that led them to arrive on the scene other than Tommy dialing the number.

4. Schnautzie

Dogs might be known for their great sense of smell, but cats also have an enhanced sense of smell and Schnautzie used hers to save her owner. Trudy Guy was asleep when her 3 year-old cat, Schnautzie,  jumped on her chest and started pawing at her nose. Fortunately, Trudy didn't just push the cat off the bed before going back to sleep. Instead, she decided to look around and ended up hearing a roaring sound in her bathroom. That's how she discovered a gas pipe outside the bathroom had broken and was leaking.

She called 9-11 to have the pipe shut off and her house cleared for safety again and the responding firefighters informed her the house could have easily blown up because there was so much gas inside.

5. Charley

47 year-old Susan March-Armstrong suffered from a collapsed diabetic hypoglycemic attack unconscious in her bathroom one night while her husband, Kevin, was in the bedroom asleep. Fortunately, her cat, Charley, was awake and she knew something was wrong. The cat quickly ran to her bedroom, jumped on the bed and started licking and pawing at her husband's face until he woke up. Charley then led him into the bathroom in time for Kevin to give his wife the glucose injection that saved her life.

Susan explained the event merely stating, "I have no recollection of what happened after I went to the bathroom, but when I came round Charley and Kevin were both next to me and she was purring away. Kevin explained she had woken him up and raised the alarm and had not left my side since."

6. Leo

You've heard of cat burglars before, but you probably never heard of cats stopping burglars. But that's exactly what Leo did when two robbers woke him up from a cat nap. Leo immediately started releasing a series of hisses and shrieks that caught the burglars off guard. They ended up running away without taking anything and Leo's noises also woke up his owner, who called the police. “He’s a lovely cat but he is obviously quite territorial," noted his owner, John Higgins.

7. Smudge

You don't have to save lives to be a hero. Five year-old Ethan was playing in his front yard when he started getting picked on by three older bullies. When one of the bullies pushed Ethan, his cat, Smudge, ran after the bullies, jumping on one of them. The boy stumbled backwards, started crying and ran away, along with the two other bullies.

8. Scarlett

Most of these cats were heroes to their owners, but Scarlett was a hero to other felines. In 1996, Scarlett and kept her recently born litter of kittens in the garage of a rundown house that police believed to be a crack den. When the house caught on fire, Scarlett pulled the kittens out one at a time. She was burned and her eyes were blinded by blisters. Still, she kept going back to get her kittens until the last one was safe. Firefighters watched as she touched each kitten with her nose to make sure they were all safe before collapsing from exhaustion.

Firefighter David Giannelli took Scarlett and her kitties to the North Shore Animal League clinic. After news programs told the story of the heroic mother cat, people quickly fell in love with Scarlett. The rescue group received over 7,000 adoption requests for Scarlett and her kittens. Amazingly, Scarlett survived completely, although she did suffer from badly damaged eyelids and ears. Eventually, her story was made into a full-length book and a children's book.

9. Sammy

Dogs are widely known for sticking up for their friends, but Sammy is one cat friend that any dog would be lucky to have. As it turns out, he even saved his friend Izzy's life. When the small terrier, Izzy, was attacked by a much bigger dog, Sammy puffed up and did everything he could to get the other dog's attention. The aggressive dog dropped Izzy and chased after Sammy, who managed to escape by climbing up a tree.

Izzy suffered from a punctured abdomen, traumatic hernia, and severe muscle trauma, but without Sammy's help, he probably wouldn't have made it at all.

I've had some good kitty friends, but never one that came to save me from death or even bullies. Have any of you ever had a cat come to your rescue -even if it didn't necessarily save your life?