Cat called 911 to help ill owner, police say

[Algorem]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2005-12-31-cat-called-911_x.htm

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police aren't sure how else to explain it.
But when an officer walked into an apartment Thursday night to answer a 911 call, an orange-and-tan striped cat was lying by a telephone on the living room floor. The cat's owner, Gary Rosheisen, was on the ground near his bed having fallen out of his wheelchair.

Rosheisen said his cat, Tommy, must have hit the right buttons to call 911.

"I know it sounds kind of weird," Officer Patrick Daugherty said, unsuccessfully searching for some other explanation...

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

1. There are reasons these creatures were thought to be gods

Perhaps some of those reasons are still valid today.

[sasha031]

2. what a beautiful story

[Warpy]

3. I'm not surprised

Our companion animals are a lot more intelligent and observant than they're given credit for.

[IndyOp]

4. Smart, a Godsend, not quite magic --

The phone in the living room is always on the floor, and there are 12 small buttons — including a speed dial for 911 right above the button for the speaker phone.

Rosheisen got the cat three years ago to help lower his blood pressure. He tried to train him to call 911, unsure if the training ever stuck.

:)

[crispini]

17. Ah. Well that's pretty cool in and of itself.

Apparently the training worked! Wonderful! :applause:

[Surya Gayatri]

5. Anyone who has ever lived

with a cat knows that they constantly connect with us in the 4th dimension, and have at least 6 senses (if not several more). Obviously, Tommy just tuned into his masters thoughts and did what he had to do. Nothing unusual--just a feeling feline! SG

[Kingshakabobo]

6. What the article doesn't say: The cat pushed him. n/t

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

16. LMAO

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

7. Though I love cats, This was obviously one hell of a fluke.

Or the guy in the wheelchair dialed it first but then the cat laid next to the phone.

I love cats, but there ain't any that have the capability of awareness enough to do that intentionally lol

[newswolf56]

8. I would readily believe this of a dog, but cats are usually...

too self-centered to regard a fallen owner as anything more than food: note how -- entirely unlike dogs -- cats never intervene to rescue people from fires or drowning or to protect them from attackers: canine behavior that as a newspaperman I have written about several times over the years. Moreover it has recently been proven dogs can count and recognize symbols -- and therefore probably have the capability of learning to read. But I suppose cats are like other living beings: there is always a first time for any given behavior -- and as another poster said, it's a beautiful story.


Edit: typo in head (and headline).

[hyphenate]

15. I beg to differ on your estimation

of a cat's ability to perform herooic acts. You have a bias toward dogs--this is obvious. However, if you have never heard of cat heroism you are either looking in the wrong places or it is for a lack of trying.

Cats have a different goal in mind normally when they have performed rescues. While dogs tend to have a pack mentality which designates their human master as the head of the pack, cats have no such inferior regard for humans. We are, to them, companions--companions that they can either be with, or without. A smart cat will explore all his/her options, and instinct alone will prevail over all other considerations, such as food and shelter issues.

There are probably dozens of stories about cats who have been heroes. The TV show, "Amazing Animals" always featured stories on cats who have done noble deeds for their families, and many more have been written up in the past as well. Perhaps the "rescues" have not been as dynamic as those performed by a canine, but a life is a life and saving one is equal, whether it is from a burning house, or one that is likely to go up in flames.

Here is one such tale:
http://www.21stcenturyradio.com/articles/04/1116314.html

Here is another link to several more stories:
http://www.mykitten.ca/heroes.asp

Yet another:
http://www.the-cats-meow.ca/stories.html

Even PBS has acknowledged the accomplishments of cats as heroes:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/excats/

While there may not be as many feline heroes as canine ones, NO ONE should ever underestimate the contribution to human society from its friends, the cats. We have long been in awe of cats, and perhaps a little afraid of them at the same time, but we must always remember they are on our side--never beneath us, but beside us all the time.

[newswolf56]

20. Very interesting and thank you for posting this.

I will admit I profoundly dislike cats, to the point I will not allow them in my house and am extremely uncomfortable anywhere cats are about -- no doubt because a cat attacked me without provocation when I was a child and gave me a nasty facial scar I carry to this day: I was four, napping in a bedroom while my parents were visiting the people who owned the cat, and I awoke in sheer terror to discover the cat had dug its foreclaws into my face, holding me while it bit at my eyes and mauled my chest with its hind legs; the one remaining scar, on my right eyebrow, is from the biting, and 61 years later it is still all but impossible for me to fall asleep on my back.

Though the only cat stories I ever heard (or wrote) in my years on various police beats were stories of people who had died and thence were eaten by their own cats -- according to every cop I knew, a disgustingly common occurrence (particularly since dogs in similar circumstances typically starve themselves to death), after reading these reports I am nevertheless willing to concede your point that felines are indeed capable of heroic behavior.

As to "dynamic" rescues, most people seem to think these have to do with canine size: the Labrador who saves a child from drowning, the Rottweiler who pulls an unconscious woman from a burning house and then goes back into the smoke and flames and rescues the woman's two children as well, the infinitely gentle mixed-breed Seeing-Eye Dog who suddenly rises up in bared-fang wolfen righteousness and protects a blind man from assault by muggers.

But for sheer dynamism, no animal story I have ever heard beats the police-authenticated account of the tiny Dachshund who saved his owner from a serial rapist about 30 years ago in White Center, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. The dog's owner, a nurse returning home at midnight from the 3-to-11 shift, was attacked as she was opening the door of her condo. The little Dachshund -- such dogs were originally bred for badger hunting -- lurked out of sight until the rapist was preoccupied with the preliminaries of his crime. Then the dog pounced from behind with all the relentless fury for which his breed is known. Not only did he prevent the rape, but in his initial onslaught he made certain the perpetrator could never rape again: not much longer than a computer keyboard and less than a foot tall, the 20-pound dog inflicted wounds that required nearly 300 stitches to close and several weeks of in-hospital recovery before the perp -- now and forever a eunuch -- was transferred to the King County Jail.

The dog's tactics were so successful he was unhurt in the incident. As the grateful nurse afterward said to the cops, "from now on this little guy gets all the steak he wants."

[misanthrope]

23. I can tell...

...from your concise writing that you were a journalist. You're still very "AP."

I'm an editor for a local paper, so that's a compliment.

[newswolf56]

25. Thank you; I still freelance rather extensively:

If you're in Washington state, or perhaps in the market for analytical reporting about elderly issues (my main client these days is an advocacy journal for seniors) -- please PM me.

In any case, Happy New Year!

[hyphenate]

31. That's a great stpry

about the dachshund. Sounds like he is one helluva great dog!

I empathize with you about your fear of cats. I know there are people out there that have problems with them for their sheer cheekiness. One of my own, many years ago, a quietly beautiful tiger named Sandi swiped at my niece and caught her on the forehead. It's difficult to understand why she did it, but it's not in a cat's nature to be questioned. They are a different species and we cannot--nor should we--anthropomorphize their behavior just because we can't understand them completely. We share our homes with them, but yes, they are not humans. They are capricious in many ways that we can not comprehend. As well it should be. Henry Beston said it best:

The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth. ~Henry Beston, The Outermost House, 1928

One interesting factoid that I can share with you is that many dictators throughout history have feared and hated cats. I can't recall the whole list, but among those who were terrifed of cats were Adolph Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte. And indeed, the obverse is true: many great men loved cats, including Gandhi, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln.

For many of us, our companion animals are what help us live day to day, sometimes they are lifesavers merely being there--how often have I wanted to "give up" completely, only to realize I need to feed the cats.

[misanthrope]

22. Well, I don't hate cats...

...and live with a couple, but I don't anthropomorphize them either. To most domestic cats, humans are merely something too large to eat. Not putting a value judgement on it, just stating it as a simple fact.

Cats are not social animals and were it large enough, your cat would eat you, make no mistake. However your cat is smart enough to understand what it needs you for and what it doesn't and will act accordingly, such as waking someone that can operate a doorknob when it has no escape from a burning structure.

Humans can never understand the feline psyche. They are just far too different.

Canines are more like humans in their social tendencies. Hence the reason that so many Native Americans related to wolves so intensely, recognizing the traits they shared.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. I beg to differ.

Some years ago my own cat saved me from a potential house fire. He woke me up in the middle of the night, frantically yowling and pulling on the blanket. He had never, ever done anything like that before. I discovered that the furnace had gone haywire and was overheating, was later told that it could have been much worse. The cat could have gone to another part of the house instead of waking me, but he didn't. I can't explain it, but that's what really happened.

[OneBlueSky]

9. cat was trying to order a pizza and dialed wrong . . . that's all . . n/t

.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

10. LOL... THAT'S the type of cats I have owned.

[DBoon]

27. Wrong!

Cats don't eat pizza

The cat was obviously trying to order sushi to go.

[OneBlueSky]

28. it was a sushi pizza . . . duh! . . . n/t :)

.

[OneBlueSky]

11. in a similar vein . . . many years ago, I was about to embark on . . .

a holiday drive from Massachusetts to New York to visit my family for Christmas . . . my traveling companions were a co-worker I was dropping off in Hartford and my black lab, Duncan . . .

before hitting the road, we decided to stop at the local McDonalds for a cup of coffee and whatever they served that passed for breakfast . . . we were in the place for about 15 minutes when we heard a horn honk . . . then it honked again . . . and again . . . every 10 or 15 seconds, the horn would honk, and it was getting rather annoying to everyone in the place . . .

suddenly, someone came in and asked who owned the blue Audi Fox in the parking lot . . . I confessed, and when I headed out to the car, there was Duncan in the driver's seat, his paw on the horn and pushing down on it every few seconds . . . true story, I swear! . . . guess he felt left out or something . . . :shrug:

[malaise]

12. Your story is more way more believable than the cat's

Happy New Year to everyone.

[newswolf56]

21. One of my dogs used to do this if he was in my car or pickup truck...

and needed to be let out to relieve himself. This was a very large (half Rottweiler/half Golden Retriever), uncannily intelligent dog I raised from a six-week old pup, the litter the result of what was described as a "boarding kennel accident." An only-dog when he was given to me as a birthday present, he was later the alpha male among six constant and much-loved canine companions (three dogs of my own, three more I regularly cared for), this during most of the 18 years I lived in rural Washington. He lived 13 years and three months and was five years dead of old age this summer solstice, but he is still a common topic of conversation among my friends and me, a genuine legend -- there is a whole series of oft-retold stories, all true, about his abilities, quirkiness and courage -- a dear friend we will always miss.

[TlalocW]

13. That's nothing

Earlier this year, my uncle was having a heart attack, and my ferret was the only one who knew how to work his defribulator, saving him while risking his own life - ferrets have a hard time holding both panels, and he got a little bit of feedback. It didn't kill him, but he's the world's first persian ferret.

TlalocW

[parasim]

14. "Tommy" the Cat?

The guy must be a Primus fan...


Tommy the Cat is my name and I say unto thee...

Say baby do you wanna lay down with me
Say baby do you wanna lay down by my side
Ah baby do you wanna lay down with me
Say baby?...Say baby

- from Tommy the Cat by Primus

[prole_for_peace]

18. a few years ago there was a kitten that called 911 while it was choking

on its collar. the operator heard wailing and meowing and sent the a car. they found the kitty and fixed its collar and all was fine.

[Canadian Socialist]

19. I call bullshit

simply because, as a person who lives with cats, they would NEVER do something like this to actually help a person. My guess is that Tommy the cat's food dish ran low... and he panicked. :rofl:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. "He tried to train him to call 911, unsure if the training ever stuck."

I believe this, for some reason.

My cats know how to get what they need. I had to put a child latch on the cabinet door where I keep their catnip; because they figured out how to open it.

I've been sick all week, and had all three kitties sleeping on top of me since I started coming down with it.

Another kitty, now deceased, used to give me heck for showering in cold weather; and she'd come lie on my wet head when I was done.

We belong to them.

[misanthrope]

32. Hmmmm...

..."I've been sick all week, and had all three kitties sleeping on top of me since I started coming down with it."

Fever makes for a toasty human to lie upon.

Turn down the temperature in your domicile and your cats will become very "loving."

[GoddessOfGuinness]

33. True, but they are clingier

when I'm either sick or the victim of my monthly cycle.

[Tsiyu]

29. Another cat story

80-year-old guy I know comes home to find that the property where he lives has been robbed. The thieves even took the lights leading to his little trailer on the back of the property.

It's wintertime, cold, and the old guy stumbles and falls on the ground, unable to get up. No one will notice his absence for hours; it's a little after midnight.

WHo saves him? All the cats in his little cat family, the strays he feeds and loves , pile on his body and stay with him through the night. Not one tried to gnaw on him, according to him!

I have the offspring of his cats, and even though I am not a cat person, these are the nicest kitties ever.

[Cerridwen]

30. All right, the only way to settle this -

did they dust for paw prints?

:evilgrin:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. or did they find

little chunks of kitty litter on the telephone keypad?