A ginger tabby cat from Camrose, Alta., named Monty was one of four furry friends inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame in Toronto Monday.
Monty, and fellow pets Titan, Bree and Nanook, were recognized for life-saving actions that helped out humans when they needed it most.
To earn his award, Monty nibbled on his owner's fingers one night when Patricia Peter was in a deep sleep.
But Monty was being more than a pest; Peter had dangerously low blood-sugar levels and when Monty woke her she was able to take sugar tablets to raise her levels. Monty's action prevented what could have become a diabetic coma or seizure.
Nanook, a Siberian husky cross from St. Catharines, Ont., was acting strangely for a full day, said his owner, Coleen Kilby.
He wouldn't leave Kilby's side and finally, at 3 a.m., Nanook started howling and woke his owner from a deep sleep.
Kilby was having a heart attack and her husband had enough time to call 911 after being woken.
"She is a beautiful dog and is here for a reason," said Kilby.
Bree, a two-year-old dachshund, did something similar.
Bree's owner, Michele Gilks, suffered from undiagnosed sleep apnea, a condition that causes people to stop breathing for a period of time during sleep.
Gilks stopped breathing and woke up, gasping for breath, to the sound of Bree barking. She was taken to hospital with dangerously high blood pressure.
Gilks credits Bree with saving her life.
"I would have died in my sleep; I wouldn't have woken up at all," she said.
Titan, a member of the Halton Regional Police Service K-9 unit, won the service dog of the year award after he, and Const. Tara McLorn, found a woman who had fled into the woods near Oakville, Ont., after taking a large dose of pain medication.
On a stormy, rainy night, Titan led police officers to the woman and they were able to call paramedics before the medication took effect, saving the woman's life.
