24 Times Cats Surprised Humans With Their Heroic Acts

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.