When Obninsk city resident Irina heard the communal cat meowing, she definitely expected something along the lines of "the poor critter is hurt" and definitely not what she found when investigating the noise. Turns out, Masha (the cat) came across a baby boy abandoned in a cardboard box and immediately responded as if he was her own. She climbed into the box to keep the infant warm all while meowing to draw people's attention that something was amiss. The baby was quickly transported to the hospital where it was determined that he was healthy and in perfect shape. As for Masha? She was hailed a local hero and showered with affection and numerous offerings of her favorite food.

In 1996 a fire broke out in an abandoned garage in Brooklyn, New York City. When The New York City Fire Department arrived and quickly put out the fire, everyone was glad that no people were injured. It was only after the flames were gone, one of the firefighters, David Giannelli, noticed a cat carrying tiny kittens away from the garage, one by one. The cat, who was later named Scarlett, was severely burned and her horrible injuries were described in detail: "her eyes were blistered shut, her ears and paws burned, and her coat highly singed [,] the majority of her facial hair had been burnt away". Despite the pain, the firefighters observed the feline mother pat each kitten with her nose to ensure they were all there as the blisters on her eyes prevented the cat from seeing. After Scarlett and her kittens made a recovery they were quickly adopted by 3 families. Scarlett became an international star and received attention from media all over the world as people were in awe at her bravery. Scarlett, unfortunately, passed away in 2008, but her story lives on through many children's and non-fiction books written about her.

When a 5-year-old Ethan was surrounded by some boys giving him a hard time, his mother, who noticed her son being pushed to the ground through the window, was on her way to the door to investigate. However, once she reached the front yard she witnessed their 4-year-old kitty, Smudge sprint into action and hiss and paw at the bullies. "I happened to find this younger boy laid on his back on my lawn in tears with a cat sat on his belly!," Ethan's mother, Sarah Fenton explained. As the bullies learnt their lesson and ran away defeated, Smudge was named a hero by his family.

The security camera footage that went viral a few years ago shows a dog approaching an unaware boy before violently biting him and dragging the child off his bike. Seconds after the action took a horrible twist, in comes Tara, the family cat, and charges the attacker, body-slamming the canine off the 4-year-old Jeremy. As soon as Tara chased off the neighbor's dog she dashes back to the boy to check up on him. Jeremy needed 10 stitches, but made a beautiful recovery, owing a big thanks to Tara, whom he called his hero. Scrappy, the dog who attacked Jeremy, was later put down as he was deemed dangerous.
Tara has later received numerous awards for her heroic actions including Special Award For Cat Achievement and "Hero Dog" award.

Cats not only have keen senses that aid them in hunting, they can also feel things that can't be noticed by humans. One of such things saved Sue McKenzie's life back in 2014. When Tom, the feline that's been with her for two decades, changed his behavior from aloof to constantly tapping the back of her neck and meowing, Sue was annoyed at first. However, as the cat kept being persistent, the owner decided to get the area checked. The doctors soon discovered that she had a cancerous lump under her skin called Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. As soon as McKenzie visited doctors, Tom returned to his usual aloof self. The woman received treatment for her cancer and was later declared cancer-free.

Humans aren’t the only ones that pets are heroes to. Judy Godfrey-Brown of Holyhead, North Wales is the owner of a brown Labrador Retriever named Tervel who is suffering from cataract. Because of this, he would often hit things and get hurt, which lead him to become reluctant to move outside of his doggy bed. One day, Judy took in a stray cat, Pwditat, who did not get along with other cats, but immediately took a liking to Tervel. It was as if Pwditat had a sixth sense of his blindness and took upon himself to snuggle with Tervel and use his paws to guide him around the house and outside.

Jessi-cat isn’t the only hero cat to have a book written about her. Homer, the blind black house “wonder cat” also had his life eternalized in book form. The story goes that Gwen Cooper rescued a blind kitten that had its eyes removed due to a serious infection. She named the cat after the blind Greek author Homer. One night Cooper woke up to Homer, who is generally an easy-going cat, stood up and hissing at a burglar in her room. Homer then jumped at the intruder, viciously scratching and biting him, making him flee the scene. Inspired by this, Gwen later wrote a memoir about his heroic deed and life.

Amy Jung took her son Ethan to the Door County Humane Society shelter in Wisconsin to play with the cats. She wasn’t planning on adopting any of them, but ended up going home with two: Wimsy and Pudding. That night, Amy experienced a diabetic seizure, when Pudding jumped to swat and nibble on her nose in hopes of waking her up. Once conscious, Amy struggled to call out for her son Ethan, but he was dead asleep. Pudding reacted to his owner’s cry for help and ran to wake Ethan up. He was able to provide the necessary medical attention. After the incident, Amy registered Pudding as a service animal and now goes everywhere with him.

Sgt. Jesse Knott was stationed in Hutal, Afghanistan, in a military base that was also home to a handful of stray cats. One particular cat, Koshka, stood out to Knott with his infectious personality and playfulness. Sgt. Knott bonded with Koshka, nursing his wounds and serving as his protector against the harsh culture of animal cruelty in the area. One day, two of Sgt. Knott’s men were killed in a suicide attack, after which he spiraled into depression and began struggling with suicidal thoughts. It got so bad that he started planning his own suicide. Koshka had a feeling that something was wrong and wouldn’t let Sgt. Knott be alone with his thoughts by purring, rubbing its head against him, and patting the sergeant's face with his paw. Just like Sgt. Knott was protecting Koshka from abuse, so was Koshka protecting him from his own thoughts. When it was time for the troops to return home, Sgt. Knott could not leave the cat behind to live a life of inevitable abuse, so he organized to take Koshka with him. Koshka now lives with Sgt. Knott’s parents in Oregon city, with Knott visiting him frequently.

Bored Panda has recently covered a story about a stray cat, now named Dr. Leon Advogato, who was roving around the Order of Attorneys of Brazil (OAB). People were filing complaints and urged the OAB to get rid of it because such a serious institution is no place for cats. However, the OAB was of a different opinion—they simply hired the cat as a lawyer. He even has a cute employee badge to prove how serious they are about this decision! Dr. Leon went on to be the inspiration for OAB’s plans to launch of Instituto Dr. Leon, an animal rights institute that will help abused and abandoned animals.

Dalmatians are firefighting dogs by tradition. However, here’s a cat that could probably do as good of a job as the dalmatians would! Luna the outdoor cat saved the Chappell-Roots, a family of 2 adults and 6 kids, from a house fire. Emily, the mother, was sleeping one night when Luna began playing with and gnawing on her feet. At first, Emily thought that Luna had brought a present for the family, which she would have to deal with so that kids wouldn’t be scared to go to the living room. Moments after leaving the bedroom and reaching the stairs, the mother noticed a fire coming from the kitchen. She immediately round up the kids and ran outside. If it wasn’t for Luna, it could have ended tragically for the family. A GoFundMe campaign was started to help the family get back on their feet.

Sophie Thomas, a 97-year-old lady, was attending to her flowers in the garden when she was suddenly surrounded by a neighbor's 4 pit bulls. As the dogs circled woman and tried to lunge at her, an unexpected helper jumped into action. The senior woman's cat Tiger took the dogs' attention and sped away towards the garage, giving Thomas enough time to retreat to her house. The scared woman washed her wounds in the sink, waiting for Tiger to return. The heroic kitten made it back in one piece and the neighbors quickly apologized for the dogs' actions, claiming that they were "just playing".

Lorcan Dillon, a young boy from Trafford, has selective mutism, an anxiety disorder that makes it difficult to express himself in specific situations and with certain people. Jessi-Cat, a bluepoint Birman, was brought home in hopes of helping Lorcan relieve anxiety and become comfortable with social situations. And it worked. Lorcan often cuddles with Jessi-Cat, strokes her, talks to her and even says “I love you, Jessi-Cat”. Kitty therapy helped him grow comfortable with talking to other people and even reading to his teachers. Unfortunately, Jessi-Cat passed away in June, 2019, but her impact on Lorcan’s life was so great that she had a book written about her and even had a plaque installed on her home in Trafford, acknowledging her as “the cat who helped a boy find his voice”.

Gary Rosheisen adopted Tommy to help him deal with high blood pressure, but the man had no idea the cat would end up saving his life in the way he did. When police received a 911 call followed by silence they decided to call back. When no one picked up the call, the department send Officer Patrick Daugherty to investigate the matter. What Daugherty found inside the caller's house had him scratching his head for a long while. "I know it sounds kind of weird," the officer was reported saying, as upon entering the house he saw Tommy the cat by the phone making him believe that it was the feline who called 911. Gary Rosheisen was on the floor, unable to reach out for help. Rosheisen reported that he was trying to teach Tommy to call 911, but was never sure if the kitty learned. Well, I guess his question was answered in the most dire situation. "He's my hero," Rosheisen was reported saying.

In 2013, a tabby from Newcastle started acting out of character. She kept pawing at her owner Angela Tinning's chest and refused to stop even when it got annoying. Tinning thought the cat's behavior so unusual that she decided to get herself checked at the doctor's where they found cancerous cells in her body. Tinning had a surgery to remove the malignant cells and swears that Missy is her personal hero.

Glen Schallman has a combination of rare brain diseases. As a result, he experiences daily seizures that can be deadly. One night Schallman had one such seizure in his sleep. Fortunately, his pet cat Blake jumped onto the bed and began gnawing on his feet to wake him up, thus saving his life. Mr. Schallman himself does not feel the seizures coming, but Blake seems to have a sense of it and jumps into action whenever needed. Thanks to Blake, Schallman has lived long enough to become the oldest person to have this rare brain condition.

Black cats get a bad rep from the myriad of superstitions revolving around them. Well, Schnautzie the black cat is here to prove them wrong. Greg and Trudy Guys went down to the local pet shop wanting to get a dog. However, they couldn’t keep their eyes off of a particular black kitten, which they ended up getting instead. Six month later, Trudy was awoken in the middle of the night by gentle taps on her nose. Schnautzie was waking her up and sniffing around suspiciously. Trudy noticed an odd hissing sound coming from the basement. Moments later, they understood that a gas pipe had ruptured and was now filling up the house at a rapid pace. The couple evacuated immediately and called the fire brigade. Firefighters noted that if the furnace or water heater would have turned on automatically, it would have lead to an explosion.

In 1936, Father Henry Ross opened the doors of St. Augustine’s Church in London to an unusual visitor—a stray cat. After receiving no response to the notices of a found cat, Father Ross allowed her to stay at the church, naming her Faith. Over the next four years faith regularly attended sermons and even gave birth to a kitten, which was named Panda. In 1940, she suddenly began begging the father to be let into the church cellar, where she would bring her kitten. Father Ross kept retrieving Panda from the cellar, but Faith insisted that the kitten stay there by carrying it back to the cellar by the scruff of its neck. On September 9th, an air raid was conducted as part of the Blitz attack on Central London, during which the upstairs part of St. Augustine’s Church was destroyed. Father Ross returned to find Faith and Panda meowing safely among the rubble in the basement.

When 49-year-old Craig Jeeves' house went up in flames in the middle of the night, the man was sound asleep. He was then woken up by his rescue cat, a tabby named Sally, who jumped on his head and meowed until he got up. At least 8 fire crews fought the flames that ultimately completely destroyed Craig's house, but at least he escaped alive and unharmed thanks to his pet cat. The man reportedly said that he adopted Sally a year prior to the accident and she returned the favor by saving his life.

Claire Nelson says that she owes her life to the cat she adopted. The 66-year-old former nurse reported she was feeling unwell, but wrote it off as simply indigestion. However, her cat Rusty acted very out of character, clawing at the woman's legs and chest while letting out a deep guttural meow. This change in character led Nelson to reach out to her doctor who revealed that the woman had suffered a heart attack. Claire received a life-saving surgery and Rusty was called a guardian angel by many.

History is full of heroes, and our little feline friends are no exception. A stray named Simon was picked up to protect the food stores against a rat infestation on the Royal Navy sloop HMS Amethyst in the late 1940s. Simon was very good at catching rats, so it wasn’t long until he was fully integrated into the crew. He also served as the ship’s motivational cat who helped boost the morale of young sailors who had seen their friends get killed in war. Simon survived severe wounding during the Yangtze Incident, becoming an inspiration to all who served with him. Unfortunately, the sea cat died three weeks later from an infection and was buried with full military honors. Simon was the only cat among 62 animals awarded the Dickin Award for their service in the military.

For years, Janet Rawlinson has been suffering from chronic back pain due to a neurological problem. Hence, she takes morphine to help ease it. Now, morphine tends to produce a handful of side-effects like disorientation, absentmindedness, or even induce a coma. This is exactly what happened to Rawlinson—for about 5 days she was practically comatose, slipping in an out of a coma. Slinky Malinky got worried and tried to get help by drawing the neighbor’s attention. He was scaling the walls, pawing at the windows, and even irritating the neighbor’s dog to cause a ruckus. The neighbors noticed Slinky Malinky’s odd behavior and the fact that they haven’t seen Jane in days. They found her phasing into unconsciousness on her sofa and immediately called for help. Janet Rawlinson recovered since then and Slinky Malinky was nominated the National Cat Award of 2014 for his heroism.

When Susan Marsh-Armstrong collapsed in the middle of the night, there was no one awake to help her out. It was all in the paws of her ever-affectionate cat Charley to save her. The cat ran up to Susan's sleeping husband Kevin and pat him on the hand, licked his face, meowed, again and again until the man could no longer ignore her. When he followed the cat to the bathroom he found his wife unconscious on the floor. Kevin immediately gave Susan a glucose injection to bring her around. Charley later received a Hero Cat of the Year 2012 award from the Cats Protection National Cat Awards for her heroic actions.

From British troops fighting in the Crimean War in 1855, Tom proved to be an absolute hero. After a year-long siege at Sevastopol the British Army captured the city that had little supplies after such a long siege. However, the soldiers, including Lieutenant William Gair found a cat who became a fast friend to the troops. Not only was the feline a good companion he also proved to be the key to the soldiers' survival. Tom led the troops to hidden stashes of supplies that helped to save British and French soldiers from starvation. Gair brought Tom back to England, however the cat passed away the next year. Tom was stuffed after death, so many believe that the stuffed cat in the collection of the National Army Museum, London might be the Crimean Tom.