Janine DeMartini thought it’d be a good idea to adopt a shelter cat.
Little did she realize that it wasn’t just a good idea…it was a decision that would change her family’s life.
The cat she eventually brought home was named Herbie and everyone loved him; he was gentle, friendly, and quiet.
But one night, he suddenly wasn’t so quiet.
Herbie kept jumping onto Janine’s bed and meowing, obviously distressed. He just refused to let Janine fall asleep.
Stranger still, after getting her attention, he’d leap back off the bed, head for the door, and look back at his mom. As if to say, “follow me!”
At first, Janine was just too tired to deal with Herbie’s antics. But his behavior was so out of the ordinary that she finally had to act.
As Janine remembers:
“I was so tired and I was like, all right, he’s just being a cat.
But something said this is not his personality. There’s something wrong.”
She had no idea how wrong until she finally got out of bed and followed Herbie.
The obviously frightened cat led Janine to her baby daughter’s room and when Janine opened the door, she was met with a terrifying sight:
There was her beloved baby girl, Isabella, her face covered by a blanket, making “smothering noises.”
Isabella must’ve rolled over and the blanket was suffocating her!
Amazingly enough, Herbie quickly leaped into the crib and started pawing at the offending blanket, trying to remove it from the baby’s face.
Had mom and Herbie not found her when they did, it’s very likely the baby wouldn’t have survived the night.
Ironically, Janine is a social worker who has actually written papers about the benefits of animal-assisted therapy, and now she’s seen more incredible Pet Power!
“He saved my daughter,” she said. “Herbie really is the hero.”
It isn’t only dogs that can save humans in life-or-death situations! Loyal pets are loyal pets, and that’s that. ?
