The cat is patently useless as a watch animal unless one considers the act of getting underfoot a worthwhile deterrent to the nocturnal marauder. It must be admitted that the presence of a tail in ones face while searching through a dressing table for a jewelry box can be annoying and may under certain circumstances complicate the process. Also, the presence of a cat twining around ones ankles whilst one is trying silently to carry a television set to an open window can be a hazard. But no, the cat does not fill the "defense of territory" roll in the same way as its k-nine counterpart.
It has traditionally been thought that the most effective immediate defense against an intruder would be alarms or deadly force. This may well be the case but, strangely enough, neither firearms nor alarms and lights present the most effective deterrent to break-ins. Extensive research by the "Union of Miscreants and Concerned Scoundrels" of Belgium revealed that, though these presented somewhat effective deterrents to the uninitiated burglar, to any burglar who had ever experienced the full impact of a flung cat there was only one clear deterrent. It was shown that, upon initiating a break-in, the primary fear in the mind of the 87% of burglars with "cat experience" was not gun nor dog nor light, prison, nor even death, it was the fear of again undergoing the sudden impact of a flung cat. It was also discovered that at least 60% of these had moved on to other lines of work. It follows naturally that the rise of burglaries in this and other countries clearly reflects the current decline in the popularity and acceptability of cat flinging.