From the archives: This story was last updated in August 2019.
Smudge, a heroic green-eyed tabby from England, proved that he is no “scaredy cat” when he pounced on the bully who was intimidating his human family. The lad ran off crying when the cat came to his young owner’s rescue in full force.Sarah Fenton, a part-time hairdresser from Thorne, South Yorkshire, is the proud owner of Smudge, a big, emerald-eyed tabby cat. She bought him after her son Ethan’s previous cat died after only 18 months. The boy was heartbroken, so they picked out another cat, but it was sold.
Then they chose a ginger-and-white moggy called Smudge. “When they showed us Smudge it was love at first sight,” Sarah said.
The kitten was just 10 weeks old. “He was so small and cute and I knew we just had to have him,” Sarah recalled.
One day in 2014, Ethan, then 5, and his younger brother, then 2, were playing football outside the family home in Doncaster. Sarah was inside keeping a watchful eye on her two boys through the kitchen window when she noticed a group of lads approach her children.
Sarah said: “I saw three boys who were much taller and older than Ethan walk over to our front gate.”
“I heard them shout Ethan’s name twice but he ignored them and just put his head back down and kept playing with Ashton,” the mom continued.
One of the lads started intimidating Ethan, getting in his face, yelling: “Oi! Why are you ignoring me?” After he frightened Ethan and pushed him, Ethan fell to the ground.
“That’s when I rushed outside and saw Smudge fly out from under our car and jump on the boy’s chest,” said Sarah. With flashing eyes, the hissing and spitting supercat came to Ethan’s defense in heroic style.
The boy was so shocked that he stumbled backward. Intimidated by the feisty feline’s sudden attack, he took off from the scene in tears with his entourage.
Speaking of Smudge’s heroic action, Sarah said: “He has never done anything like that before but it was absolutely brilliant seeing him look out for Ethan like that.”
After the incident, Smudge literally became Ethan’s bodyguard.
“He has slept outside his bedroom keeping guard ever since it happened,” Sarah said. “I actually feel so much safer knowing Smudge is around after seeing him defend him like that. He is a big part of the family and he is more of a brother to the boys than a cat.”
For his heroic act to protect Ethan, Smudge was nominated for a National Cat of the Year award, which highlights incredible, real-life feline heroes and was set up by the Cats Protection charity held at The Savoy Hotel in London. Smudge came in second after 15-year-old Cleo, who saved her master’s life when he suffered a heart attack.
Ethan and Smudge are both very close to this day. “Curl up together most nights. Smudge follows him everywhere,” Sarah said in a written reply to The Epoch Times.
So, who still dares to say cats are less loyal than dogs? Well, felines are just as fond of their owners as dogs, it’s just that they are more subtle in their demonstrations of adoration.
