Oregon Family's Rescue Cat Saves Family From Potentially Dangerous Gas Leak [Video]

Dogs are known for their impeccable sniffing ability but an Oregon family's pet cat has proven that felines are not far behind. In fact, if it wasn't for the pet cat, the family would have been the victims of a potentially dangerous fire.

The family's rescue cat, named Lilly, was playing with its owner, Sandi Martin, at their Lake Oswego home when a faulty fireplace valve in their living room started leaking. The feline went closer to the valve and began sniffing it.

Martin sensed something was amiss noticing Lilly's behavior and sniffed the valve herself. "I went over and sniffed and there was a natural gas smell," Martin told NBC-affiliated KGW8-TV. "It was very faint so I didn't really trust my nose. Then I asked my husband to sniff it, and he sniffed it too."

Martin alerted the gas company. The staff there told her to shut down all electronic and battery-operated appliances, including cell phones, and open all doors.

An employee from the company arrived in 20 minutes and confirmed there was a gas leak. "He came in and tested it and, in fact, he said it was a dangerous gas leak," Martin told the outlet. "So, then he tested all the other sources of gas and went outside and cut off the pipe to the gas there and capped it off and shut down the fireplace. She might have saved our lives."

Martin said Lilly has extra toes, which is deemed lucky. She said the gas leak episode proved the feline indeed brought them good fortune. Martin adopted Lilly recently from Cat Adoption Team in Sherwood.

In November, a pet parrot saved its owner's life by alerting him about a house fire even before the smoke detectors could go off. The owner, Anton Nguyen, was sleeping when the fire broke out at his two-story house in Queensland, Australia. The parrot, named Eric, started squawking "Anton! Anton!" upon sensing the fire, which woke Nguyen up and he immediately came out of the house with the parrot. The firefighters were able to contain the blaze but the house was completely destroyed in the incident.