Did the dog know first?

VaMoonRise · 08-23-2007, 01:21 PM

First let me say, I worked as a Veterinarian Technician for years and have heard many, many stories of cats and dogs both being very intuitive to different types of illness and disease within their beloved owners. There have been many stories reported by the media of cats that live in assisted living homes that can predict when a patient is going to pass away. The cat will go into a patient's room and lay upon the patients bed and will not leave until the patient has passed on. There was recently a story in the news about this exact thing. The cats name is Oscar which someone already mentioned in a post. He has been accurate 25 times, meaning that 25 of the patients he has gone and laid on the bed with and would not leave have passed away, generally within 24-48 hours. This cat is the youngest at the age of 2 to do this, most other cats that have done this have been much older. Needless to say these cats can make the nurses on duty more alert and attentive to that patient which is a good thing but they can also make some patients nervous, while other patients like it because they feel it gives them notice and time to reach out to loved ones for the last time or to say their final prayers.

Now for my own personal experience. I have 5 cats and did have a dog, Wyatt, who was my most beloved, best friend, baby, sweet heart and loyal companion for 12 years until this past April when we had to have him put to rest because of debilitating arthritis in his hips and spine. I never had any of them indicate that I had cancer before my initial diagnosis but that may be because I only had DCIS with microcalcifications and was stage "0." Whenever I came home from having had surgery though they all new immediately as soon as I walked in the door that something was wrong with Mommy. They all would be so loving, gentle and attentive to me, even my 2 cats who are normally aloof. Before I had my MRI and was diagnosed with brain mets I was experiencing terrible headaches around the clock and would go from my bed to the couch everyday. I would lay down on the couch with my head on a pillow propped up on the arm of the couch. My cat Morgan who is a big time Daddy's boy and who usually ignores Mommy unless Mommy has food would get up on the arm rest of the couch just behind my head and would lick the back of my head until my hair was soaking wet. I would try to get him to stop, even pushing him down to the floor but he would jump right back up and resume his licking of the back of my head, lol. Funny enough just before I started with the headaches my husband and I flew out to AZ to visit his Dad and his Dad's wife, and while there one of their cats did the exact same thing. Every time I was sitting on the couch watching TV or talking to everyone he would get up on the back of the couch and sit just behind me and lick the back of my head until my hair was soaking wet. I thought it was funny at the time and thought that there was just something about my hair that he really liked because my Father in-laws wife said that he really liked hair but that she had never seen him go on like this before where he was just continuously licking someone's hair. I hadn't really thought much about it once I was at home and my own cat started doing it because I figured my cat knew that I was having headaches and I never thought it was due to brain tumors. I thought it was tension headaches. Once I had the MRI and brain mets were discovered and after I went through WBR my cat stopped doing this. He and my other 4 cats have very recently remained very attentive though because of me having such elevated liver function numbers (which have finally started to come down). They wont leave me alone, which is very unusual for them. They generally spend most of the day sleeping, eating and playing with one another and then in the evening each one will come around for his/her nightly personal attention. Now they are all over me all day long and even sleep at my feet while I am on the computer or watching TV, etc.

I hope this and the other posts have answered your question for you. Animals, especially domestic ones and more so cats are extremely intuitive not just about illness and disease but they are great judges of peoples character. Have you ever had someone new come into your home and your pet act very disturbed or unusual around this person, like growling, extremely shy or take to this person immediately as though they can't get enough of that person. I take my pets reactions to new people very seriously as I know that they sense things about this person that I can't.

Thanks for bringing this question to the group as it is a very interesting subject.

Hope that you, your family and furry companion are all doing well.

Love, Hugs & God Bless,
Nicola

Yorkiegirl · 08-23-2007, 04:55 PM

Nicola I was a Vet Tech as well before I was dx'd 29 months ago. I am still trying to decide wheather to go back to work or not.

Barbara2 · 08-23-2007, 07:58 PM

I posted this in Jan. of 2006:

I read an article recently about a lady who credits her dog to saving her life because he wouldn't stop paying attention to an area of her leg that eventually was discovered to be cancerous. This was a big dog that she said was not normally a "licker." Early on, he started licking a place on her leg (I can't remember for the life of me now what was there.....must have been a mole or something similiar.)

In time his licking became more aggressive, then turned to scratching the area, and finlly trying to bite at it. This went on for 6 months or so, before she headed for the doctor, who felt this was not a cancerous issue. Turns out, though, it was malignant.

It will be very interesting to see where these knew studies will lead.

Barbara2 · 08-23-2007, 08:01 PM

My schnauzer may have been on to something......
<HR style="COLOR: #cc0033" SIZE=1>Before my breast cnacer was detected, I had an area on my breast that I had been concerned about as to possibly being malignant. A mammogram had said no, as well as an ultrasound.

One day as I was sitting on the couch, our schnauzer came to join me. She went to the area of my breast that was of concern, and smelled that area for maybe 5 seconds or so. (It seems like I had my pj's on. ??) I had previously read about dogs detecting breast cancer, and the dogs used in the experiment had been schnauzers.

The thought of that article came to mind, and I did wonder if she had really noticed something in that area, or if it was a coincidence. ?? I think she detected the cancer, but will never know for sure. It was a short time after that, that the diagnosis was made.

BonnieR · 08-23-2007, 08:19 PM

My husband and I are a Therapy Dog team and visit hospitals and institutions with our dog Porter. Porter is sweet but never licks or kisses us or guests. Not his style. But as soon as he is with a sick person, he will lick their hands. It is a very uncharacteristic behavior. He just seems to sense a need. It is not specific to cancer, I dont believe, but shows an intitutive trait or some desire to try to heal....
I don't recall him showing a particular interest in my situation, interestingly...