Kitty ate my recent lvl 30 grey elven wizard for breakfast. I just could not outrun it, he crashed doors right after I locked them and gained on me sooo fast. I managed to blind him TWICE but in 5-6 turns, he regained sight and went after me again.
I'd have ran away if the whole length of the level wasn't between me and staircase. Down staircase wasn't visible of course.