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Animals instinct

Annie333 — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:57:29 GMT

Hello, a quick question, does anyone have animals that have picked up on their illnesses before they themselves have? I have a beautiful labrador that tends to sniff out my rheumatism. She sniffed out my pain in my knees and when feeding her, my neck. Does anyone else have the same incidence happen? Hoping everyone is as best as can be. :) Cheers Annie

Re: Animals instinct

Lisa5911 — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 23:49:47 GMT

No altough i did have a beautiful cat who passed away in 2006, not sure if she had picked anything up on me when i had my first cancer dx in 2005 but i do remember her always never been far from my sight unless that was a animal adoring her master but i never thought of even looking at it that way. Lisa

Re: Animals instinct

Jules_68 — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:40:30 GMT

Yes, we have 2 German Shepherds, they would always lick my right leg and foot.....hence kidney cancer right side. Since having my surgery there licking has subsided apart from the occasional hello.

Re: Animals instinct

Annie333 — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:29:10 GMT

Hi Jules, Hope you are doing as best as can be 🙂 When we sold our labrador puppies, I had a nurse from an old people's home come and buy one. When she had her cat, her cat would walk into the old patients room and stay with the patient all night. By morning the patient would be gone. The nurse said her cat would let them know when the passing of an old person was going to occur. The cat would meow infront of the room until someone let her in. The cat would then jump on the bed and stay with that person until it was their time which was usually 24 hours. She wanted to see if dogs would do the same. Her cat unfortunately passed away. How incredible is that! Animals are incredible creatures 🙂

Re: Animals instinct

Lisa5911 — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:30:59 GMT

Wow Annie that is amazing about the cat in the nursing home, it sure is a rarity isn't it. 😄 and stories like this are so uplifting and also a little nerve recking too i guess for the staff of that nursing home too.

Re: Animals instinct

Braveb — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:36:27 GMT

There has to be something to this. A study that used labradors to detect bowel cancer in breath and poo samples from people received quite a bit of attention a few months ago. You can read the BBC news article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12322790 I'm a zoologist and am convinced all animals (including us) have senses and languages that we are unable to understand because we don't speak their language or can't even imagine how they are doing it. We are learning more and more every day, but have a long way to go in understanding non-human animals: Mantis shrimp have been found to 'rap' to females in order to attract mates - they sometimes sing in groups for better effect Crows are able to delay eating something yummy because they know something yummier might come along, this is pretty rare in the animal kingdom (I include people here too)

Re: Animals instinct

Annie333 — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:48:54 GMT

That is just incredible!! I love labradors and have 3 of them. I have always said they are a wonderful animal and know a little more than we give them credit for 🙂 I hope more monies are thrown into researching what we can learn from all creatures :) Hope you are doing as best as can be Ben Annie

Re: Animals instinct

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:55:07 GMT

Hi Annie, i believe animals can, my mum has 2 border collies, they both used to lick my throat and sniff like crazy, We have 2 labs aswell, I only had 1 labrador at the time i was diagnosed but she did the same thing.It was same each time i was pregnant, they would lick my stomach, I do believe they can sense things 🙂

Re: Animals instinct

SILLY — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 03:09:58 GMT

I saw on tv where a dog could detect epileptic seizures in a boy, before they occurred. It was helpful to the family .

Re: Animals instinct

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:57:00 GMT

My beautiful rottie developed a serious bone cancer a year or so after I things got pretty bad with my cancer. I remember when he got to the stage where living was a struggle and I had him put to sleep. After that our cat, which loves food more than anything and used to sleep on top of our dogs in winter, would not come around the back of the house where our dog used to sleep. Even for a bowl of food, he would just sit at the corner of the house and meeow. It took a few months before he would venture there. I took it that our cat could sense that our old dog was still around, reassuring me that everything would be ok and maybe in someway he'd helped me with his passing.

Re: Animals instinct

samex — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:18:01 GMT

My gorgeous Jack Russell was my consatnt companion when I was ill. She would follow me everywhere, wait outside the toilet, crash with me for nanna naps. Last weekend she went into renal failure and we had to put her down. The inhumane option was to watch her starve to death. My son and I are still shattered and keep looking out for her and expecting her to leap on my lap as soon as my bum hits a chair. I certainly can't explain what it is but she knew that I needed care during treatment but the look in her eyes last weekend also told us that she knew that her time had come. She was 14.

Re: Animals instinct

sarah — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:48:08 GMT

Hi everyone, Hi Annie333, I wonder how the patients felt about this? If that was a renowned occurrence, I can imagine some anxiety being associated with having this cat jump up on your bed! Great stories 🙂

Re: Animals instinct

Annie333 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:27:47 GMT

Hello Sarah. I don't think they were upset by this. The lady who bought the puppy gave the impression by the time the cat sat on the end of their bed, they were quite ready to go. Maybe the cat on the end of the bed was actually a blessing??? My grandmothers nursing home in Thomastown just had a pet day. They were able to hold animals, feed them and so on. My grandmother who was never an animal person was petting a dog. This I found incredible but she loved it! I love animals, they love you unconditionally. And don't I know it! I have 3 labradors 🙂

Re: Animals instinct

sarah — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:41:47 GMT

Hi Annie333, it's just like - dah-dah dah dahh.. the cat's on the bed... if you know what I mean. I think you did. In the context however, I can see how it would be a blessing yes. I love animals too, and just so, so, much. They are like little ones of us, I mean that as little humans in the colective sense, not as a narcisistic comment ;) My little mushy (my puddy pie) is here with me now, grooming herself from having a quick adventure out in the rain. She leaves a sloppy residue over her fur these days when she grooms due to losing her teeth in her mature years. She's about 18 now, and been with me on the journeys, more than family, more than friends. I owe her heaps! Seems you're the same with your labbies understandably 🙂

Re: Animals instinct

Jax — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:41:22 GMT

Hi all, I do believe animals pick up on illness. My cat was extremely affectionate and used to sit right on top of my chest (I have thymic carcinoma) which is in the chest. Even when I came home from hospital he knew i was in pain and used to come and sleep with me all night, cuddling into me. Now he hardly comes near me and i actually miss him.

Re: Animals instinct

sarah — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:56:00 GMT

Hi Jax, I am wondering why this might be. If you are fresh from treatment, maybe your moggie can smell the chemicals? I often wondered how my smell must change after being in hospital. There's also the question of other dimensions that I wonder if animals tune in to - maybe they can "see" that you are not 100%. I would feel a little rejected anyhow, if my moggie "hardly came near me" in such a situation. Maybe it's different with gender too. My cat is female and sticks close by. Males tend to wonder a lot, going by watching my neighbour's cat. Age too must be a factor. Is that a picture of your moggie? If so, he is very photogenic 🙂

Re: Animals instinct

jsbach — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:19:19 GMT

I have a small fox terrier cross who for some reason became very clingie to me and would follow me everywhere. She would always come to find out where I was, often checking every room in the house. I couldn't work out what was going on and thought that it was due to her being very old. A few months later, I was diagnosed with cancer.

Re: Animals instinct

sarah — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:37:00 GMT

Hi jsbach, stories like that just blow me away, seriously. There's so much that we don't know what goes on with them probably. I was saying to a friend just last night - considering a child picks up language from exposure to our use of it, it might then be likely that animals too understand our language from their exposure to us, a lot more than we give them credit for. They are just not physically equipt to talk back to us, to confirm this. I always keep this in mind when I talk to my moggie; I don't need to bellow orders at her, or talk down to her, she understands if I simply speak. I try to talk to her often, incase the odds are she can understand. I wouldn't like her to think that I am ignoring her presence. Don't you just love them.

Re: Animals instinct

Jax — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:49:27 GMT

Hi Sarah, My cat looks very similar to the pic, this was an avatar i chose on the website. I havent had treatment yet, but home from hospital since 22 December and of course had drs appts in between then and now so as much as we dont like smell of medical, maybe he can pick up on it as well. My sister in law had a cat and he used to be all over her 24/7 then she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and when she came home for her last weeks, he would sit and stare at her in the doorway of her bedroom, he would never go near her - i thought that very strange as you would think they would want to cuddle you more and give you comfort, same with my cat he is almost 3 years old so age could be a factor in this instance, although my sister in laws cat was older. I may look at getting a female cat LOL and show my male cat what its all about. Regards, Jax

Re: Animals instinct

Jax — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:49:36 GMT