Cat heroes.

Cats are said to be independent, selfish and only use humans to get food and shelter. People who prefer dogs over cats often state that dogs have a special bond with humans and cats don’t. The picture of a dog pining on the owner’s grave comes to mind. There are also lots of stories of dogs saving their owners’ lives.

Of course, there are some incredible true stories out there with dogs as the heroes, but if you care to look, you can find similar stories about cats.

There was this cat that raised the alarm when the carbon monoxide levels in the house got too high and saved a family. Another cat saved an owner by alerting his wife when he was having a heart attack. There are cats that can predict epileptic seizures just before they happen and give their owners time to react. There is this cat that saved an owner when she was having a diabetic seizure in her sleep at night. There are cats that have protected their owners from attacks, etc. It proves that cats also have this special bond with humans, be it in a slightly different way than dogs.

Here are some links to incredible cat stories.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/22/cat-saves-womans-life-hours-adopted_n_1293820.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202855/Rick-Chap-Buddy-cat-saves-owners-life-alerting-wife-help-suffers-cardiac-arrest.html

http://www.wayodd.com/cat-saves-owners-life-by-dialing-911/v/1679/

http://www.squidoo.com/catheroes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/5076338.stm

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/04/16/mb-opal-cat-saves-owner-from-fire-brandon.html

A call for help from the Limerick Animal Welfare Sanctuary

Limerick Animal Welfare is a registered charity, caring for abandoned & neglected animals. The sanctuary has a no-kill policy.

They desperately need money and volunteers. You can donate through the links below this story. You don’t have to live in Limerick or Ireland to donate.

“The Sanctuary is full to overflowing this weekend. The phones are ringing continually with requests to take in more dogs, cats and horses. We are doing our best to cope with emergencies. We were very short of volunteers to-day. Sundays are always difficult especially during holiday week-ends. Funds are at an all-time low. This afternoon we have just looked at the accounts for first three months of 2013 and our expenditure has greatly exceeded our income. We will have to try and cut back for the second quarter to ensure that we can keep the Sanctuary open. We appreciate all the help we get from the public and volunteers during these difficult economic times.

We fundraise all the time and our 3 Charity Shops are our main source of income. However, our Public Donations went from 25,000 in 2011 down to 11,000 in 2012. Our permits for street collections have also been cut back and Dunnes are not allowing Animal Welfare Charities to collect in their stores any more. We must raise a minimum of 40,000 each month to keep the Sanctuary open. This does not include much needed maintenance. At present the cost of extra hay has put an additional burden on finances and the need to provide a new shelter for the horses.”

Please donate through WorldPay or PayPal

 

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SET UP A MONTHLY STANDING ORDER

We are appealing to our supporters to set up a monthly standing order to help us cope with our every increasing bills. Did you know that as little as 5.00 euro a month can help us greatly in our efforts to help the growing number of animals in our care? No amount is too small. We need your help today. For a standing order form, please email us at limerickanimalwelfarequeries@gmail.com

MAKE A DIRECT LODGEMENT TO OUR BANK ACCOUNT

Our Bank Account Details:

Name of Account          LIMERICK ANIMAL WELFARE

Account Number 89515042

Sort Code   90-43-09

Address      Bank of Ireland, 125 O'Connell Street, Limerick

Cats and dogs will eat owners when hungry.

I know this guy, and he’s no friend of mine. He hates cats. His standard line is: “cats are scavengers and they would eat their dead owner while a dog would never do that”. Then he makes shooting gestures. I guess he’s the kind of guy who would hurt a cat, simply because he doesn’t like them. Not my kind of person. He’s also completely wrong.

First of all, cats are hunters who, if the opportunity is there, will scavenge as well. So do dogs. Second, there are quite a few newspaper articles on the internet about dogs eating their owners, even dogs gnawing on owners while they are not dead. Their limbs were numbed by diabetes or a disability and they didn’t feel it. I know this all sounds gruesome. but I just want to set the record straight and this guy really got under my skin with his misconceptions.

Dogs are in fact more of a danger to humans than cats are. Ever heard of a human being attacked by a pack of cats? A single dog might also attack their owner if the owner doesn’t show strong leadership. It is a natural response. This dog just tries to take over as leader of the pack. Dogs follow the leader. They are pack animals. That’s why it is easier to train a dog to work with humans than it is a cat. Some of the bigger cats like lions work together to hunt, but our feline friends are solitary hunters.

Therefore you will see stories about one dog starving beside their dead human. This dog is not the leader and won’t show initiative. When there are more dogs in the house, chances are that one of them will try to take over as leader of the pack when the human doesn’t respond and start eating when hungry. The others will then follow. There are stories of single dogs eating their owners as well. But then again, humans have eaten other humans to survive after a plane crash.

Personally I wouldn’t like my cats to starve to death after I’m gone and I would have no problems with them using me as food. I just hope I won’t cause them any indigestion.

I think we must stop projecting human feelings onto animals. Because of studios like Walt Disney, a lot of people like to believe that animals react and think like humans. Sadly enough it hasn’t prevented cruelty to animals. But then these people probably wouldn’t think twice about hurting another person either.

Don’t cats and dogs care about their owners? Of course they do. As long as we are living breathing beings who take good care of them, they regard us as family members, especially if we can communicate in a way they can understand. With cats, that means a greeting ritual every day, rubbing off scent, slow blinks etc. A cat even vocalises for the benefit of the humans. They meow because they know that’s the way to get through to us. They miss us when we’re gone and will sit in the spots where we normally sit and will look for us. They also bring in prey for us to eat. Sometimes they bring in animals that are still alive. Probably to teach us to hunt, like they do with their young. They must think we’re really thick. But now I’m projecting.

Anyway, if anyone ever comes up to you with that story about cats eating owners and dogs pining away at their side, let them google “dog eats owner” and show them this blog. Hopefully they will never bother you with it again.

Like butter wouldn't melt in their mouth......