THE SOCIAL CONTRACT BETWEEN PERSON AND PET is straightforward-you love me, I love you. I feed and shelter you; you snooze in the sun and wait patiently until it’s time to play. Unless you’re a cat, and then you do what you like and I thank you profusely for deigning to rub against my leg as you glide by. But when crisis comes, your placid little creature sometimes can morph into a veritable lifesaver. The Magazine recently asked readers to write in about such super pets. We received a surprising variety of tales, from cancer-detecting dogs to Lassie-like cats to a “Polly-hates-your-date” parrot. Thanks to all who wrote to us. Sorry, we couldn’t print all the letters, but if you’d like to share your favorite pet stories, please check out the electronic bulletin board at chicagotribune.com/superpets.
– WAKE UP! SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT!
It was June 20th, Father’s Day 2005. The kids and grandkids came over to celebrate with steaks on the grill. Everyone had gone home by 9 p.m., we had put away the leftover food and headed upstairs to bed with our 1-year-old pug, Sadie.
At 2:30 a.m. my husband woke up to Sadie barking. That was something she seldom did. We asked her to stop, but she kept at it. My husband went downstairs to investigate. When he reached the kitchen, all he could see was a wall of yellow flames through the sliding-glass doors. The entire back of the house was on fire. Just about that time, the glass doors gave way and the smoke and flames came into the house like a backdraft. I was still upstairs and it took all that I had to crawl down the stairs and out the front door.
Had Sadie not barked to wake us up, I am sure we would not have made it out alive. We owe our lives to that little flat-nosed pug.
-Sandy Little, Fox River Grove
– A LIFE OF SERVICE
AT AGE 3, TWILIGHT was abandoned at a large animal hospital in New York City. She had such a sweet disposition, she was kept as a blood donor for research purposes and for cats who needed transfusions. For six years the little black cat was kept in a steel cage with just a litter pan, water and food dish. No towel, nothing soft to sleep on. Fifteen other cats were lined up on one side of the room and 10 dogs across the aisle, also being used as blood donors.
The hospital hired me to coordinate their new Pet Facilitated Therapy program. Twilight was suggested as a very gentle cat who would enjoy visiting adults at the nursing homes. One time a lady was holding her saying, “What a pretty kitty you are.” The lady had lived in the home for three months and the staff never knew she could speak! At another home a lady was petting Twilight with her right hand. She apparently was relaxed enough to be able to use that hand when she wasn’t before. A therapist got the lady to eat and brush her teeth, knowing it was possible.
After three years, I was ready to move back to Chicago. I told the head of the animal hospital I thought it was time Twilight and the other 14 cats be retired. Twilight moved into our apartment; I didn’t know how she would react to having her freedom. She sprinted around the place, checking out views of the outside world. Twilight enjoyed the good life until she passed away at 14.
Back in New York City, the animal hospital now has a large room for the cats, where they are able to play and climb and cuddle with the other cats. They are kept for just one year, and then good homes are found for them.
-Pat Gwozdz, Western Springs
– SINBAD MEANT BUSINESS
OUR BOY SINBAD is the best dog in the world. Not only is he the handsomest Rottweiler you have ever laid eyes on, but his wet nose and insistent head-butting saved my mom’s life.
Back in 1998, I noticed a dark mole on my mom’s leg-irregular and black like the ones on the skin cancer brochures. I suggested that she go to the doctor, but she kept putting it off. Several months passed, and one evening, as Mom, Sinbad and I were watching Animal Planet (his favorite channel), we saw a special on cancer-sniffing dogs. Sinbad rose from his favorite corner of the bed and starting poking my mom’s leg with his nose and licking the mole. For several days thereafter, he just wouldn’t leave it alone, and at 180 pounds, he certainly is a force to be reckoned with. Sinbad meant business, and, as you can imagine, Mom was alarmed; she finally gave in and made an appointment with the dermatologist. It turned out that the growth was a malignant melanoma, but luckily, thanks to Sinbad, it was caught in time and was removed.
Sinbad has certainly become-and rightfully so-a true mama’s boy.
-Annie Kajfes, Glenview
– A NOSE FOR DANGER
SEVERAL YEARS AGO, MY DOG saved a part of the Village of Skokie from a potentially massive gas explosion. Just after midnight while I was walking KayDee, a German shorthair pointer, she began to pull me toward a manhole cover at the corner of East Prairie Road and Crain Street. As much as I tried to get her to go in a different direction, she was insistent. As we neared the cover, I could smell a faint odor of natural gas. KayDee stuck her nose into the hole in the cover and nearly flew off the ground, she was so agitated. I leaned closer and realized there was a very distinct odor that was getting stronger as we stood there.
We hurried home, called the gas company, and in a matter of minutes they had a car on the scene. Shortly after, the Skokie Fire Department arrived. A few hours later, the police had cordoned off the area and went door to door warning residents of what was happening. The main gas line was shut off until late that afternoon.
Although we never made a big public deal about this, our family has always known that KayDee had saved Skokie.
-Emanuel Pollack, Skokie
– A TRAFFIC-STOPPING SAVE
MANY YEARS BEFORE, as I looked out the window, I saw cars stopping on both sides of the highway. Then I saw our big collie dog walking in the middle of the highway, right in front of our 2-year-old son! We never knew how our son got out of the fenced-in yard to follow his dad, who had just left in the pickup to go to an implement shop down the road. That wonderful dog saved our son! A neighbor said we should give that dog the biggest steak we could find.
-Peggy Flynn, Jacksonville, Ill.
– HIS NINTH LIFE
I WAS AWAKENED by a frantic telephone call at 4 a.m. on Jan. 24, my 45th birthday. My father, Franz, began talking about my mom, Luise: She did not know where she was, she was shaking, could not remember her name, could not remember me or that it was my birthday. I told my father, “Call 911 or get her to an emergency room ASAP. I think she’s having a stroke.” She was diagnosed with a mild stroke, and was administered the clot-busting drugs that helped her to an eventual full recovery.
But there is more to this story, and it involves a small, frail, 15-year-old gray and white cat named Bootsie. My mom normally sleeps late and so does Bootsie. But on this morning at about 3:30 a.m. the cat began clawing and scratching my mom, and started meowing as if in pain. This awakened my father. He woke Luise and realized something was terribly wrong. She was having the stroke, and somehow that cat knew it.
Once everyone was awake, Bootsie stumbled off the bed, into the kitchen and fell against the wall. He died there a few moments later. He knew he must have had that ninth life left, and decided to give that to my mom.
-Mark G. Hammerschick, Hawthorn Woods
– CAT SCAN
WE HAD RECENTLY ADOPTED a German shepherd from our local shelter. An incredibly gentle soul, Benedict got along great with our other German shepherd and our Siamese cat, Spoon. One evening, when the dogs were taking a snooze, Spoon-out of the blue-leaped down from the couch and started attacking Benedict’s throat. Spoon hissed and snarled and batted until we picked him up to stop him. A few days later, Spoon went for Benedict’s throat again. He didn’t bite, but he sure seemed angry. Now, Benedict had been having trouble eating, and X-rays had revealed an enlarged esophagus. We took Benedict back to the vet. Sure enough, there was an enormous–cancerous–tumor that was slowly strangling him.
Our vet was able to remove the tumor surgically and then treat for not one but two cancers. Ultimately, he succumbed to the cancers. However, thanks to Spoon’s “cat scan,” we had much longer with Benedict.
-Jennifer Goetz, Evanston
– THE DOG WALKERS
MY THIRD SON, a beautiful, blue-eyed, red-haired child, was colicky from birth. When he was more than a year old, I became very worried because he would not try to crawl or walk. Because of his severe colic, I carried him in my arms most of the day. The doctors kept saying the colic would disappear when he began to walk, and said not to rush things because there was nothing wrong with his legs.
One day while preparing dinner, I sat him down on a blanket in the middle of the living room and placed his toys around him. At that time we had two dogs, a Great Dane named Junior and a German shepherd, Chief. They placed themselves on each side of the baby and watched as he played with his toys. I suddenly heard him laughing, and wondered what he was doing. I called out to him, and lo and behold, here he came with his left hand holding Junior’s collar and his right hand holding Chief’s collar. My son was walking! All three were champions that day, and it is a sight I shall never forget.
-Helen Radcliffe, Lemont
– EATING LIKE A BIRD
IN DECEMBER OF 2002 I had two major abdominal surgeries. I was not allowed to eat for almost an entire month. When I got home everyone was urging me to eat, but I was just plain scared to. I’d sit at the table and look at a plate of food and could not develop an appetite for it. Enter Daphne, my Moluccan cockatoo. She would carry a morsel of food over to me and gently pry my mouth open with her beak and deposit the food on my tongue. She would watch me with her big, googly cockatoo eyes to be sure I actually ate one piece before giving me another. Unfortunately, sometimes the food she brought me was parrot food! She had never fed me before, and has never done it since.
-Julie Volpert, Des Plaines
– BIRD’S-EYE VIEW
GONZO, MY 9-YEAR-OLD Blue-Fronted Amazon, is a super pet. Little did I know I had purchased a date detector. Twice now, Gonzo has detected bad dates: One he bit; the other he stared at all night, then went silent for three days. Next time I will listen to Gonzo, sparing both my heart and wallet. The bird knows best!
-Mark Danielczyk, McHenry
– A SNOWBALL’S CHANCE
MY CAT SNOWBALL saved my life!
I had just returned home from my husband’s funeral and I went out to the back porch to make sure the gate was closed, with Snowball right behind me.
I fainted and fell down the back stairs. I don’t know how long I lay unconscious, but my cat went out of the yard, something he had never done before, and pestered the neighbors until they followed him back to the yard, where I lay unconscious and bleeding profusely. I had fractured my skull and broken my back.
What he did was the talk of the whole neighborhood and I, in the hospital, was shocked to hear about it. I knew my cat was devoted to me, but I never thought he would save my life.
-Barbara Anne Madera, Chicago Ridge
– ENDURING INSPIRATION
MY BOY BANDIT was an Alaskan Malamute. It was October of 2000. He was 12 years old, and I was 43. As ironic as this might sound, we would both be diagnosed with cancer. His having cancer helped me to focus on him instead of me. I believe this was a blessing.
I learned quite a bit from Bandit in this time of pain and struggle. I watched him deal with cancer and learned to cope as he did. He just kept going, continued to do the things he loved, enjoyed every moment no matter how big or small. He didn’t fret about yesterday and he didn’t worry about tomorrow. That is what I tried to do.
It is six years later. Bandit passed on and I continue to battle my cancer, but not a day goes by that I don’t think of Bandit and what a trooper he was. On the days that I am down, I think of the little things we did for each other. On the day of his passing he showed me how peaceful death can be. He also taught me a great deal about love. Anyone who is a pet owner knows what I mean about this type of love: It’s unconditional and special, something I think all humans should strive for.
-Ginger Gebert, Des Plaines
– REPAYING A RESCUE
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT JAKE, my sister’s dog, who gave up his life for her.
A salt-and-pepper-colored mutt, Jake was near death when my younger sister, Barbara, found him 10 years ago in a snowstorm, abandoned and nearly frozen at a roadside exit.
It was obvious that Jake had been abused by his previous owners. For example, if the kitchen broom came out, Jake would violently shake, run and hide. Jake was very well-trained. Very obedient. And NEVER disobeyed. Jake and Barbie were inseparable.
Barbie lives in a beautiful, mountainous area in Colorado. Neighbors are few and far apart. One summer day, the two went outside, Jake to sit in the sun and Barbie to work in the garden. This particular summer was very dry, with numerous forest fires. The mountain animals suffered and were hungry, and would come down from the high country in search of food.
A huge mountain lion, which was doing just that, appeared. Barbie screamed, “Come on, Jake!” over and over again as she ran toward the house. She screamed in vain. For the first time, he refused to obey. He stayed to protect his master, but the mountain lion killed him and dragged him away. Barbie’s alive today. Still lives in Colorado. She had saved Jake years before, and now it was Jake who saved her.
-Mary Bruecker, Chicago
– ARTHUR THE MIRACLE
BEFORE LAST SUMMER, I thought of an animal hero as a St. Bernard rescuing someone from an avalanche. But this isn’t always the case. Arthur is a medium-sized gray bunny, and he saved my life. He didn’t pull me out of an avalanche, but without Arthur I doubt I would be alive.
Last summer I told my mother a relative was hurting my sister and me. My mother called the police immediately. I was happy no one was hurting me anymore, but I was afraid the person would come back. I became depressed. I felt that no one could help me, and I didn’t want to live in such a world. My mother signed me up for counseling, but I didn’t want to talk, or in fact do anything; I just sat in my room all day. I would cry and yell at anyone who would disturb me. I was also thinking a lot about dying. My family became worried about me. Even my counselors thought it was serious. They were telling my mom what to do if I were to commit suicide.
One day, my mother took me shopping to try to make me feel better. I used to love shopping, but now I hated it! Right before we left the shopping complex, we decided to go into a pet store. And that’s where I met Arthur. Arthur had a grumpy, playful look on his face, and he made me smile. When my mother saw this she immediately bought him.
Arthur to me was a miracle. Whenever I would hold him or pet him, my troubles went away. Some bunnies hate being held, but Arthur was always patient. He made me laugh when he did flips or would jump on chairs, but most importantly he helped me talk. When I petted him I could tell people what happened to me, and Arthur was always another friend on my side. Slowly I started to enjoy life more, and my pains eased.
-Elizabeth M., Arlington Heights
– JUST PASSING THROUGH
MORE THAN 35 YEARS AGO, we moved from an apartment to a three-bedroom house in upstate New York. We had lived there about a week when there was a soft knock on the door. When I opened it, there was a gray-striped cat waiting to come in. She became my 11-year-old son Allan’s buddy. None of our neighbors knew this cat, but she was housebroken and well-behaved, and chose to live with us.
We had Cat about five weeks, and at night she slept upstairs with Allan on his bed. One night he was reading by the light of a night light and fell asleep. His foam rubber pillow fell onto the night light and started to smolder. The room filled with smoke and the cat tried to wake Allan by pawing his face, but this didn’t work so she went out of the room and into my other son Billy’s room and woke him. He hollered “Fire!” and I rushed upstairs. Allan was very groggy, but we all went downstairs. The pillow was taken outside and the windows opened to get rid of the smoke, and everyone was OK.
I knew that the cat had saved the boys’ lives. She had a home for life! However, one day she wanted out and went off and never returned. We tried very hard to find her, but never did.
I believe to this day that she came into our lives to do the special thing that she did.
–Ellen Torrone, Rolling Prairie, Ind.
– MY DOORBELL
MY CAT GIZMO WAS GIVEN TO ME as a gift when he was about 6 weeks old.
I am hearing-impaired. From the time that he came home with me, he took over the job of hearing for me. I lived in a really big apartment, and if someone came to the door, a lot of times I wouldn’t hear them.
So Gizmo decided that he would be my doorbell. If someone came to the door, he would go and sit at the intersection of the door and hallway. If I didn’t see him or hear the door, he would come to wherever I was and paw at me until he got my attention, then go and sit looking at the door. If I didn’t pay attention to him, he would come back and use a claw (gently), then go back to the door and stare at it.
I have moved several times since Gizmo was in my life, and at every new residence, he was the best doorbell and telephone alert I ever had.
-Colleen Helminiak, Hammond, Ind.
– THE BIG DIG
WE WERE AT our Wisconsin vacation home for Christmas break when we heard a frantic knock at our door. It was our neighbors, whose daughter’s dog, a Bichon Frise named Max, had become trapped while exploring underneath an abandoned cabin. He had been whimpering for more than an hour, but for the last hour they hadn’t heard a peep. They hoped our dog Buttons, who is half Cairn Terrior and half Bichon Frise, could coax Max out if he were still alive.
I set Buttons down in front of the hole in the cabin’s siding where Max went in, and she started digging. She was smelling and digging in intervals, but then stopped and pulled out. We walked her around the cottage, and she went nuts and began digging like a maniac. Even after she dug under the cabin, the dirt was still flying. Then we heard a whimper. Max was found exhausted-dirty and wet and in shock-but still alive. Buttons saved his life by knowing where he was and how to reach him. Our neighbors brought Buttons some treats and us a bottle of wine, but the best reward was seeing them and their family happy that Max made it out alive.
–Michelle Muellner, Lafox, Ill.
– STEERING CLEAR
MY PET LURCH is a bovine; specifically, an African Watusi steer. When Lurch was just 11 months old, he saved me from being bitten by a venomous snake.
I was outside tending to the animals at the little refuge I operate. To get to the back pasture, I use a small walkway bordered on one side by the backyard fence and a large pile of rocks on the other.
I was strolling this path with Lurch leading the way. Suddenly, he stopped and then turned sideways, blocking me. I gave him a little push, but he wouldn’t budge. I tried to squeeze behind him, but he backed up a step into the fence. I thought he was just being stubborn and decided to push by him. As I was about to put my foot down, he tossed his head, causing me to pull my foot back. That’s when I finally saw the problem-a copperhead coiled just where my foot would have landed!
I gave a shout of surprise and my dogs rushed over. The snake bit one of them, and then Lurch began stomping on the snake. I had the medication that my dog would need. By the time I had administered it, Lurch had killed the snake and was calmly waiting for me to dispose of it.
Lurch is not only a hero, but he is also in the 2005 Guinness World Record book-his little horns grew into the largest ever recorded! They measure 38 inches in circumference and 7 feet tip to tip, and are still growing. (rockyridgerefuge.com)
–Janice Wolf, Gassville, Ark.
(formerly of North Chicago, Ill.)
– A PEACEFUL GOODBYE
MY GREAT-AUNT WAS a mother to me. She raised me, and was there for all the trials and tribulations a boy can have.
In the fall of 2002, she was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and given a few months to live.
I had had Bugg, a pug/Boston terrier, for about a year, and when my aunt became ill, Bugg spent a lot of time with her.
She favored a recliner in our living room. She would watch TV and sleep the night in it. On what would be the last day of her life, I noticed Bugg seemed to be with her all day. I decided to sleep in another recliner next to my aunt that night. Around 1 a.m. Bugg jumped onto my lap and licked my face until I woke up, which was strange as he never woke me up for anything. My aunt was still sleeping, but her breathing was different-long and deep. I counted six breaths and they stopped. She never stirred. I held her hand the whole time, told her how much I loved her and that it was OK to go. It was peaceful and painless. If it wasn’t for little Bugg, I would not have been at her side when she passed.
-Rick Cruz, Plainfield
– WHAT THE CATS SAW
NORMALLY MY HUSBAND takes his asthma inhaler wherever we go, but this time he forgot it so I went back into the house to look for it. Whenever we would come home, my daughter’s two cats, Hammie and Thumpers, would run and greet us at the top of the stairs. This time they were crouched, in attack position, on the living room floor, staring at something I couldn’t see. I called to them, but got no response. After looking through the house for the inhaler, I noticed the cats still hadn’t moved. I looked to see if they had a bug or a mouse in their sights, but nothing. Then I followed their gaze to a corner of the living room. Imagine my shock when a boy jumped up and yelled, “They made me do it!” We learned that a couple of neighborhood kids had broken in looking for fireworks. Hammie and Thumpers gave new meaning to the term “cat burglar.”
-Mary Ann Wachna, Plainfield
