I agree. Daria was a fiercely loyal cat. And also just generally fierce.  When we moved to northern Louisiana a few years later, she developed a penchant for fighting raccoons. She would growl at them through the windows of my 1970's Airstream camper, and do everything in her power to get out and fight them.
Once, when I was barring the exits so that she wouldn't run out and get mauled by a raccoon twice her size, she jumped through a small cutout square at key-level in the screen door. It was a pretty incredible feat.
The even more incredible feat was that she somehow came back without so much as a scratch. No garbage was stolen that day. 
I feel like pets have personalities, just like humans do. Some cats are loyal protectors, some are belly rub fiends, some hide under the couch ninety percent of the time. I hope I get to hear some stories of other peoples' cats protecting them. I love stories of animals acting outside of the stereotypes that humans give them. 
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