A scene at a TV show about animals (including cats) reminded me of a
story which happend when I was a student at the university of
Hannover.

My landlady had a dog (a big German Shepherd named Benny) and two
cats: a big black tomcat and a "normal" sized female (white with
grey). I don't recall their names.

One sunny afternoon I came back from the university. I entered the
garden and stepped on the footpath leading to the front door of the
house. The door was open and Benny stood in the doorframe on top of
the stairs leading to the door. To my right our little female cat was
running through the neighbour's garden, followed by another cat -
presumably a male. I slowed down a bit to watch that scene. Benny had
noticed as well, that "his" cat was followed by a stranger and was
watching closely.

Our little female jumped into our garden, still followed by the other
cat and turned towards the house. Now the other cat also jumped into
our garden. Benny noticed that and now went into action. His
approximately 90 pounds dashed forward, he nearly tipped me over and
flung himself between our little female and the stranger, barking like
hell.

The stranger was taken by surprise. He managed to turn around in mid
air, headed for a tree and raced up like a lightning. He settled on a
branch about 4 yards high and was hissing like mad. Benny stood on his
hindlegs, his forelegs high up the trunk - he was reaching nearly two
yards up - and barked.

Meanwhile our little female had reached the door and sat down on top
of the stairs, watching the scene. She sat there like a little
princess: upright, all paws close together and her tail wrapped around
her paws in a nifty manner. She seemed to be very amused.

Squarely Yours
Michael