Just curious. Will a cat ever guard or physically defend the people it associates with?
Happened just the other night actually. The cat lady in my area was petting our dog, and one of the street cats tried to attack my dog to protect her.
Here’s video proof of cats protecting their owner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zATogM8p3FM
It starts off a little slow, but it’s worth it.
Insane as it sounds, I kind of think our old lady cat was guarding me from the snowplow last winter. I’d be curled up in bed with her, and when the snowplow would go by, she’d go into full-on “Bring it, beeyotch!” mode–up in the window growling, ears pinned back, tail swishing, fur bristling. Then when it got past, she’d get down, lick me a few times, and curl back up facing the window, watching. She completely ignored any other traffic, just like always. She was less aggressive if I was asleep, but I woke up a few times with her standing over and partially on me, the way a mother cat does with kittens, growling under her breath. And, sure enough, the snowplow was going past.
I have no idea what brought all this on–I’ve had her 10 years and never seen anything of the sort until this past winter.
Our cats will regularly try to protect my wife from things like the garbage truck. They will get between her and the monster and hiss until it goes away in fear.
Wow. My cat runs away if I sneeze.
But to me cat don’t seem as stupid as dogs when it comes to fights.
I mean my friend used to have a great dane. That thing was over 6 feet tall (when stood up on it’s hind legs) and well over 200 pounds. I’d be walking it and little “foo foo” type would come running up and yip and yap it at the great dane. Of course the great dane couldn’t be bothered and never really reacted to these tiny dogs, but clearly if the tiny dog bit the great dane he’d fall over on the tiny dog and crush him to death.
But the point is the tiny dogs didn’t seem to understand the SIZE of the great dane. They would attack or at least try to prove how tough they were.
Cats on the other hand pretty much understand how big their opponents are. Oh sure a cat will fight when cornered and I’ve seen many a dog worse for wear in a cat/dog fight but given a choice a cat will run away or up a tree rather than fight something bigger than it.
And cats aren’t pack animals. Once their kittens are grown they have no interest really in group dynamics. I know I had a cat when I was younger and a few times it seemed like it was protecting me. You know hissing at people, it probably was that the cat that it was being threatened as well.
In a previous marriage, we had a Siamese cat that attacked a burglar who broke into our apartment.
My cat will warn me when people are at the door, people he doesn’t know. He also growls sometimes. Not the same as a watchdog, of course.
They’re just protecting their future food supply…
I’ve related this on the Board before, but it bears repeating.
Our cat Maggie adopted MilliCal as her own kitten, even before she was out of the womb. MilliCal kicked Maggie as the cat was laying on Pepper Mill’s pregnant belly, and Maggie backed away in wonder – and didn’t sleep on Pepper Mill’s stomach any more.
When MilliCal was born, Maggie watched over her. Sometimes literally, lying atop the ottoman and looking down at MilliCal lying on the flor. If she cried or showed that she needed something, Maggie would come and get one of us.
At night, Maggie jumped into the crib and slept at MilliCal’s feet. We put a cover over the crib to prevent this, but Maggie found a way through anyway.
When MilliCal started walking, she really surprisede Maggie, who then started following her around.
Then one day we were all outside, including our two cats, and the neighbor came over with their dog. Maggie got the idea that the dog was attacking her young charge. Her back went up and her hacles rose. The hair on her tail frizzed out, and Maggie charged the dog. You must understand that Maggie was a standard-sized cat, not a big bruiser of a Maine Coon like Midnight was, or Clarence would be. And this was a standard middle-sized dog. He must have outweighed her by a factor of ten. Maggie didn’t care. She charged at him, one paw raised with claws out. She chased him up and down the yard, past the startled Midnight (Midnight liked dogs, and wasn’t afraid of them, but she wasn’t protective of MilliCal like Maggie). Maggie wasn’t satisfied until she had chased the dog down the street.
Darn right cats will protect their humans.
Allow me to present the tale of the Attack Cat. 
Your last sentence explains it. Most animal confrontations are not decided by an actual fight, but by one participant intimidating the other into backing down. Thus the aggressive charging and barking of the small dog is their best option – this display might make the bigger dog back down or just decide it’s not worth fighting about (which is basically the only way the smaller dog can ‘win’ this encounter – if it gets to an actual physical fight, he’ll lose).
So small breeds of animals generally appear more aggressive, while bigger breeds are calmer & quieter. When you’re a 6 foot Great Dane or a 3/4 ton draft horse, you don’t often have to be aggressive.
Sweet jumping Jebus that was freaking hysterical! I had to bookmark that!:D:D:D
I seriously doubt if either of our cats would defend us. If we were attacked, they just might wake up, open one eye, and watch the goings-on for a while before dropping back to sleep.
Still’n all, we love them.
My SO had a cat that was hers (or she was his). She was trying to give another cat a pill and it fought back a little. Her cat thought the other cat was attacking her and he went into full attack/kill it mode. Apparently it got pretty scary, bloody, and ugly for everyone involved. Least the vets and doctors made some good money.
My cat will defend me. Sometimes I play a game with my pug where I’m on the couch or in bed with a blanket over me, and I go “Oh no! Attack Pug! Ohhhh no! Why?!” and hide under the blanket and flail about in mock distress while the pug happily jumps all over and play-bites the blanket. If the cat’s around when this happens, he gets upset. He growls, and if the dog doesn’t take heed, he’ll jump down and whap the dog repeatedly in the face with his (clawless) paw. He’s done this a few times with other games where the dog growls, like intense tug of war, too. He never does this during play. Even if the dog lays down on him or traps him in a corner (these happen daily), he’ll just meow for help rather than hitting the dog or getting angry.
I’ve never heard him growl in any other situation, nor show any aggression towards the dog. He’s normally a very mellow, affectionate cat. He really likes the dog and will wrestle with him on the floor, steal his toys so the pug will chase him around, cuddle with him on the couch, and so on. But Attack Pug makes kitty angry. Do not attack the bringer of food!
He seems concerned for my well-being in general. He often brings me offerings. Fortunately, not dead animals, but the dog’s toys, or his own toy mice. He is particularly partial to the floppy stuffed animal filled with crinkly-sounding stuff. He will come and lay this at my feet, or leave it in my bed.
Tell that to Jack.
I’m sure you can find plenty of anecdotal evidence of cats protecting their owners. I remember reading a story in a cat magazine of a blind cat that attacked and chased an intruder.
The thing is you just can’t count on your cat potentially defending you.
My mom’s kitteh is part Turkish angora, a breed known as a one-person cat. Sure enough, Kitty K gives special wuv to mom, including purring, kneading and cuddling.
Occasionally, my dad, a stroke survivor with some cognitive problems, will get frustrated, rant and yell. When this happens, Kitty K will go straight to mama’s lap, as if to comfort her.