Cats can be quite variable. Our little Friday-cat is a six pound bit of nothing, but she kept my old male Rottweiler firmly under her paw and drove stray dogs out of the yard. The other day when my current rottie bitch was playing with a neighbor's pit bull puppy she came to investigate. Puppy bounced at her as if to say, let's play!! She spat at him and told him to back off -- which he did. The rottie then bounced at her with an "it's OK, that's my cat" attitude. Cat gave it to her, and proceeded to chase her back to my side and the pit back to his owner. She then sat on a nearby rock and polished her whiskers, while the dogs cowered under her glare. Score: Cats 1 - Pits & Rotts 0.

On the other had, I recently lost a calico cat that was afraid of the universe. Fallen branches, re-arranged furniture, people who moved, or wore hats, or talked or, or, or.... She was so traumatized by everything that I always wondered if she suffered from some kind of developmental or perceptual impairment.