Think there is a chance the Belkster dies defending his kitty?
Probably the cat survived because it was a hand crossbow, they are notoriously bad at inflicting damage above a 1 in my experience.
(Apologies if my sarcasm meter is broken.) Mr. Scruffy has at least a few extra HD since he is apparently Belkar's animal companion. The party is, what, about 16th level right now? Belkar's probably about ranger 8, or equivalent to a 4th level Druid for animal companion purposes.