As typical October weather would be, it was a record breaking month for total rainfall here in upstate NY. Worse yet, my roof sprang a leak...not just a normal leak, but one right over my furnace! I was sleeping at the time and all comfy in my covers, I never noticed the heat having not kicked on. The ignitor was still trying to start the water-soaked thing though. A short could've started and then a fire to follow. But...my kitty...ever persistent, kept bothering me all day long.   I ignored her and shooed her off me several times as I tried to continue sleeping. (I work overnights so yes, I do sleep all day long). Eventually she'd had enough of that and opted for a more drastic way of waking me--dumping my pots off the kitchen counter with loud clangs, bangs, and thumps! I snapped awake, ripped the covers off...and suddenly realized how dang cold it was inside! After picking up the pots and comforting one spooked kitty (guess she didn't know pots were really THAT noisy), I checked the thermostat and then furnace. I could hear the ignitor, see the water, but in semi-sleep state, couldn't make the connection. Then it clicked, best to shut the thing off and get the landlord. My cat woke me up early enough to catch him and allow him to get to hardware stores before they closed. On top of that, she may have helped prevent a fire. Knowing my luck, I would've slept through it. Worse yet, the battery in my smoke detector was dead so it wouldn't have gone off either. Yes, Cookie got a full can of real tuna for all that as a reward. See, not only dogs are responsible for saving lives---cats are just as skilled at it. And cats only do things if they WANT to do them. So if they're saving your butt...there must be a bond there that the cat enjoys as much as you do in order to make effort. To me, that just seems more meaningful than the 'always there to please' dog who makes no decisions on its own...nearly everything a dog does is to please its human. And I was a dog person before this cat. How worlds can change.