Janine DeMartini decided one day to adopt a shelter cat,

At that time, she had no clue that her decision would change her family’s life.

She fostered Herbie from Staten Island Hope Animal Rescue, he was gentle, friendly, and quiet.

After going through a long day of work, school, and children, Janine went to her bed. Suddenly, Herbie started meowing loudly, he was usually a mellow cat so she knew something was amiss.

At first, Janine didn’t care much about it, but when Herbie came into her room and started jumping onto her bed and meowing, she realized that something was going wrong.

After she got up, Herbie lept back off the bed, headed for the door, and looked back at his mom. As if to say, “follow me!”

As Janine remembers:

“I was so tired and I was like, all right, he’s just being a cat. But something said this is not his personality. There’s something wrong.”

She decided then to follow Herbie.

The clearly distressed cat led Janine to her baby daughter’s room and when Janine opened the door, she discovered a horrifying scene:

Her baby daughter with face covered with a blanket was making “smothering noises.”

The little girl must’ve rolled over and the blanket was suffocating her!

Herbie quickly jumped into the crib and started “clawing” at and pulling off the blanket from the little baby’s face.

Had Herbie not been there to alert Janine of the terrible situation, it was likely that little Isabella, who was just a few months old then, would have died.

Ironically, Janine is a social worker who has actually written papers about the benefits of animal-assisted therapy, and now she’s seen more incredible Pet Power!

“He saved my daughter,” said the grateful mom. “Herbie really is the hero.”

Now Herbie has a place in the DeMartini home, and has an unbreakable bond with little Isabella and the whole family.