When Janine DeMartini adopted Herbie the cat from a shelter, she didn’t know that he would go on to save a life and prevent a terrible tragedy from befalling her family.
Herbie was a sweetheart of a cat.
He was a quiet, gentle sort who got along with the whole family, and his friendly nature made him a hit with Janine’s daughter, Isabella.
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He purred whenever he received attention and was content to silently sit by and watch the family go through their daily tasks and chores.
One night, Janine was exhausted after a long day and had retired to bed to sleep, and Herbie ran into the room and began to behave very uncharacteristically.
He leaped onto her mattress, meowed as loudly as he could, and then leaped back off and ran to the door whenever she got up to pay him to heed.
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At first, Janine was so tired she didn’t want to mind him, but she knew Herbie was acting strangely and something had to be wrong. So she got up and followed him.
Immediately, Herbie made a beeline for Isabella’s room and dashed inside.
When Janine got into the room, she was met with a horrifying sight.
Her daughter was covered up by her blanket and was making suffocating, choking sounds.
Herbie had leaped into Isabella’s crib and was desperately pawing at the blanket in an effort to remove it.
Isabella had turned over and, in her movements, managed to wrap the blanket around her head.
Janine quickly hurried to remedy the situation, realizing in the back of her mind that if not for Herbie, Isabella may not have made it through the night.
Janine now refers to Herbie as her hero, and Herbie has continued to carefully look after Isabella and the rest of the family, and luckily, there hasn’t been another incident like that one!
