551rcg@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS) (09/14/84)
When I was in high school, a neighbor across the
street had a cat and a dog, who got along very well.
The cat roamed our yard occasionally, but never came
into our house. The dog was confined to their backyard.
The neighbors went on vacation, leaving me to
feed the animals for them. The cat was very cool, and
never came too close to me, so I was very surprised
one night when the cat came into my bedroom (I left
my outside door open since it was summer) got up
on my bed and kept pestering me. I would put her
back outside, and she would come right back in, crying
and knocking things off shelves and walking all over
me. The cat had never done anything like this before.
Finally, I got up, got dressed, and grabbed the cat
and disgustedly (it was about 2:00 a.m.) carried her
over to the neighbors yard. I noticed that the gate
was slightly open (it was usually kept latched), and
huddled in the corner of the back porch was the dog,
bloody, terrified, and obviously seriously injured.
Apparently, the dog had escaped his usual confinement
to the yard (probably due to my carelessness) and
had been hit by a car. He managed to get back to
the yard, where the cat noticed his condition and
came and got me for help.
I have always had a healthy respect for feline
intelligence since that episode.
Incidentally, the dog recovered.