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.