Lazy senior cat goes feral whenever his hooman enters the basement, turns out he was alerting him to dangerous radon leak 6x higher than normal, saving their lives

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Nov 18, 2025 1:00 PM EST

Cats are much smarter than we give them credit for, and no, our cat didn't pay us to write that. They are pawsitively primed to their surroundings, even more so than we are. The story below is a purrfect example of that! One pawrent built a bar in his basement and started hanging out down there more, inviting friends and doing other hooman things down there. But, whenever he stayed down there, his normally lazy 13-year-old senior cat went absolutely feral. Bouncing off the walls, meowing, and digging at a certain spot despite his old age and arthritis. His hooman thought he was just being a menace, so he ignored him.

Well, when one purrticular friend was over and noticed his cat's purrfectly strange behavior, he suggested the hooman get a radon detector to check, just in case. He did, and it turns out that the spot where the cat was "digging' was releasing six times the healthy amount of radon into his home. He got it promptly taken care of, and now the senior cat can finally relax downstairs.

We joke a lot here at I Can Has Cheezburger about orange cats having one collective brain cell together, but in this case, we think the hooman was missing a few by not listening to his cat's purrfect pleas to fix something that was clearly wrong. Now go give that cat a nice slab of expensive tuna, he certainly earned it!

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    Cheezburger Image 10577046016
    via Sum1udontkno
  • 02
    I built a basement bar in my house during the downs. Prior to that, nobody really spent much time down there, except to do laundry, during which times he would alwayse follow me down there and go squirrely. After I built the
    via Sum1udontkno
  • 03
    bar it became a cozy space to hang out with friends and family or play video games solo. He has alwayse followed me everywhere all the time, but I would get so annoyed that whenever I was down in the basement trying to relax he
    via Sum1udontkno
  • 04
    would turn into a menace. This thirteen year old cat with arthritis would spend HOURS bouncing off the walls, climbing shelves, meowing loudly, and most notably; digging at the bottom of the laundry room door where the sump pump is.
    via Sum1udontkno

  • Sometimes, cats do just randomly decide to cause chaos. This is understandable, and even expected, from cat owners. But, if he did this every time his hooman went downstairs, that should have been a very clear sign that something was wrong. What else could the cat have done to tell him to check it out? Learn to write and spell it out on the window?

  • 05
    Cheezburger Image 10577046528
    via Sum1udontkno
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    His dark calico sister never seemed to change her behavior down there so I never considered it was something to do with the environment. I just thought he was an asshole. I started hesitating to spend time down there because I knew he was going to be annoying.
    via Sum1udontkno
  • 07
    A couple weeks ago, I had a couple friends over for drinks and they observed him freaking out as soon as we moved to the basement, like he alwayse does where anyone's down there. I'd mentioned checking the place for evidence of mice or termites
    via Sum1udontkno
  • 08
    and joked that maybe my basement is haunted. My friend suggested getting a radon detector, as she had just had to get a radon mitigation system installed in an old house she had bought and is currently renovating.
    via Sum1udontkno
  • 09
    Fast forward a few days. My new radon detector I'd placed at the base of the laundry room door where he seemed to be attempting to draw my attention to started reading levels as high as 600Bq. That is three times higher than the level Health Canada recommends action. Six times higher then the level the WHO considers acceptable.
    via Sum1udontkno

  • This isn't just ameowzing, it's kind of frightening. Something so dangerous was going on that he never would have noticed on his own. Thank goodness for his cute kitty who wouldn't take no for an answer!

  • 10
    I had professionals install piping and a fan to vent the gas from the sump pump well outside of the house. The radon detector now reads 20Bq. Right now he's cuddled up next to me on the basement couch, purring and calm for the first time ever down here.
    via Sum1udontkno
  • 11
    Maybe I'm the one that doesn't have enough braincells.
    via Sum1udontkno
  • 12
    Problematic-Pigeon • 19h ago Damn he even has that "I done fucking told you but you never listen to me" look on his face. Get this man a fish.
    via Problematic-Pigeon
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    RDZed72 . 19h ago Orange con... "How do you intend on placating me?"
    via RDZed72
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    Cheezburger Image 10577049856
    via RDZed72
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    Sum1udontkno His name is Ginjo btw
    via Sum1udontkno
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    ambergergardenburger 19h ago Give this gentleman a churu on my behalf. What an incredible story!
    via ambergergardenburger
  • 17
    . Lucy78green • 19h ago I've had two cats react to fire. Our old brown tabby came to get me to show me the extractor fan in the kitchen went on fire at 2 am (it was on at the plug but but not turned on the switch on the fan). The
    via Lucy78green
  • 18
    batteries in the smoke detector outside the kitchen weren't clicked in properly, so we wouldn't have known until the one upstairs reacted which would have been later. Unplugged at mains and fire blanket sorted it but it made a big mess.
    via Lucy78green
  • 19
    My current orange was very concerned when the grill in the oven went on fire (I picked grill setting when I meant to pick oven on the dial) and he kept shouting at me to leave and showing me the hall. I just turned it off and it went out, but he spent an hour hiding under the clothes horse in the bathroom
    via Lucy78green
  • 20
    . Dizzy_Break_2194 • 19h ago Very good kitty! Radon leaks is a serious thing and one of the reasons why many countries. want you to build a ventilated crawl space under the basement floor
    via Dizzy_Break_2194
  • 21
    thedankone168 • 19h ago He looks very smart. I would take legal advice from him. He definitely knows a thing or 2 about renovation
    via thedankone168
  • 22
    Desmond Tapenade 19h ago I love his Grinchy little feet. Give him a big smooch and some chin scratches for me. Glad you're okay, OP!
    via DesmondTapenade
  • 23
    lukasconrads • 18h ago I want to pinch his cheeks! Would probably be the last thing i do, but it looks like its worth it!
    via lukasconrads

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basement lazy cats save radon orange cats leak Cats senior cats dangerous animals alert
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