This is our cat Samantha. She saved Aimée’s life once in Spokane by waking her up in the middle of the night while she was having severe asthma in her sleep, allowing her to get to the hospital for treatment. This was shortly after we started dating, before we moved in together.
When she went to work the next day her co-workers asked if I was beating her, because Samantha left a big scratch and bruise on her face, which is how the lady from the Humane Society heard the story and put Samantha up for a hero pet award. They were happy to have a cat for once because it was usually all about dogs.
Our cat Sophy did a classic Lassie routine on me one day, however. I came home for lunch and she walked up very pointedly and stared at me and said,”Mao!” — and I said, “I’m sorry Sophy, I can’t understand you,” and she said “Mao!” — and I said, “Seriously, I don’t speak cat,” and she continued her pointed stare and said “Mao!” So then something started to click and I said “Is something wrong with Buster?” and she immediately started walking toward the closet at the other end of the house, where I saw Buster’s tail sticking out under the door. She was unperturbed, just waiting patiently in there for someone to let her out.
Erstwhile Human 