When my Maine Coon Cat Furroo died in 2007 I said I woul dnever "get" another cat. I had forgotten that people do not get cats; cats get people.
That fall I had major breast surgery and when I came home from the hospital my husband left the front door open while he and a friend helped me upstairs and to bed. Fifteen minutes later I woke up to find a little grey kitty sitting on my stomach. She was guarding me. She has been my guard cat ever since. My grandson is the one that told me she is a guard cat. He swears she chases dogs off from his "working site" where he plays in the front yard. I know that she is afraid of nothing so I believe it.
She is my constant companion. She sleeps by my side or wound up between my legs on top of the comforter. She doesn't get up until I do. When my husband was sick, she attached herself to him for a few days until she decided he was ok. She is an equal opportunity guard cat. I don't know what I would do with her. Her newest talent is to squall loudly if something is wrong. I fell in the garage and couldn't call loud enough to get help(tripped over my flip flops). She ran over to my son's house and jumped up and down in front of the window until he and my daughter-in-law came running behind her to find me.
Everyone should have one of these fuzzy friends but remember, the Egyptains thought cats were gods and cats still do. They choose you; you can't choose them without their assent.