Squirrel Attacks

While walking home from class the other day I heard a strange noise.  I thought someone, who was breathing heavy was following me.  I stopped several times and turned around.  The sound got louder as I came to a tree near the walkway.  As I passed underneath it I looked up.  On a branch halfway up the tree sat a squirrel  He looked like he was having a panic attack.  He sat staring at a window of a nearby apartment with his tail bushed out behind him. (similar to a cat who is freaking out)  He was making this awful wheezing noise.  I tried to divert his attention by making little clicking noises, but this squirrel was messed up.  I looked over at the apartment where he was staring and noticed a cat sitting in the window.  

Could this cat have caused this squirrel to have a panic attack or a heart attack?  Does just the sight of this particular cat send this squirrel into convulsions?

I wanted to know, so I did a little research.  Apparently there is a much debated method of ridding yourself and your garden of squirrels.  It entails making peanut butter and plaster of paris "bon-bons" for the squirrels to munch on.  The "bon-bons" cause a calcium/magnesium imbalance that create a deadly heart attack in our furry friends.

I don't know about you, but this sounds mean. 

 So, I am not sure what my squirrel friend was really suffering from; scared of a cat, or pb/pp enduced heart attack, but I have not seen him since.

Any thoughts?