Norm lived in Houston and then moved to Chicago in 2008, where everyone knew his name. Adopted by Meredith Powell as a baby, Norm also lived in Washington, D.C., Louisville and finally in Dallas, where he cohabitates with a Catahoula hound named Stella.
“Everyone who meets him says, ‘He looks like Norm,’ ” Powell says.
Then on a peaceful Sunday evening in his Dallas home, an electric wire started a fire in the attic. Powell and Stella were snuggling in the den. Powell’s fiancé, Mark, was cooking in the kitchen. Norm was feeling safe in the master bedroom.
Suddenly Mark heard a pop and saw smoke coming through the eves. He ran into the den and yelled, “There’s a fire! Get Stella and get out the front door.” Norm was in the master bedroom, and the door was closed.
He had a bath, which, Powell says with a smile, “I’m sure he really loved.”
Mark tried to run back to the master bedroom to get Norm, but there was too much smoke and he couldn’t see the cat.
The fire department assigned teams to look for Norm, but they couldn’t find him. “I called and called for him,” Powell says. “A lot of pets will hide under beds. I was really upset. I thought he was dead.”
Suddenly, from the den, Powell and Stella heard a meow. Norm had made his way from the riskiest room, through a dangerous fire, to the safest room in the house.
Norm was taken to the vet and treated for smoke and stress. He had a bath, which, Powell says with a smile, “I’m sure he really loved.”
