Ethan Fenton was playing nicely with his brother,  when a group of boys started to gang up on him. Ethan, just five-years-old, was pushed to the ground by one of the bigger boys.

As Ethan's mother, Sarah, prepared to step in, a flash of fur leapt into action.

Ethan's cat, Smudge, pounced on the chest of one of the bigger boys in defense of his human. The bullies were so surprised that they ran away crying.

"I heard them shout Ethan's name twice, but he ignored them," said Sarah, "but then they shouted him again and then one of the boys got in Ethan's face and said, 'Oi! Why are you ignoring me?' and pushed him over."

According to Sarah, Smudge dashed out from underneath the car and pounced on one of the older boys. Everyone was stunned, but she and Ethan were so grateful for Smudge's quick action.

"He has never done anything like that before but it was absolutely brilliant seeing him look out for Ethan like that," Sarah added. "He has slept outside his bedroom keeping guard ever since it happened."

Ethan seems overjoyed to have a guard cat, and as strange as the story may sounds, cats are actually notoriously protective of their humans.

A quick trip to Youtube and you'll find story after story of cats protecting humans, and even dogs. There's a lot more to these nappy critters than meets the eye, but as any cat owner will tell you, if you make friends with a cat you have a friend for life.

Hold on to that cat, Ethan! Hooray for Smudge!

Do you have any heroic animal stories! Let us know in the comments below!