Can animals / your pets sense when you are not well...

[Molly56]

Just wondered if anyone had noticed if their pets can sense when they are not well and indicated this by a change in their behaviour....

I have three cats...a mother and two of her eighteen month old kittens...and have noticed some slightly unusual behaviour in the girl kitten over the last couple of days.

Evidently on both mornings when I have been out at work she has spent most of the time with my partner, laying on the bed by his hand and nibbling at his hand....it could of course be that she just wants company whilst I am out...she is very much a mummy's girl and often walks around the house looking for me and calling for me when i am out (or so my partner tells me) and has a number of other favourite sleeping spots around the house so it just struck me as slightly odd that this is what she has done on the last two days..

Am just curious as to why she is perhaps doing this and whether she is picking up on something that is different.......they say that animals have a sixth sense..

..has anyone else noticed unusual / different behaviour in their pets when say their sugar levels are high or they have been coming down with something?

 

[Mike d]

IMHO, yes they do.

Neighbour broke her leg short time back (and that was weeks after a double knee replacement) and both her cats would not leave her side when she was bedridden.

They know ... trust me, they know.

 

[Nuthead]

They know. I've had dogs over the year's. They can pick up on a lot of ailments.

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

I've heard that it is possible to train dogs to detect when a person is hypoglycaemic, but maybe that's not what you mean.

 

[CollieBoy]

In my experience yes!
when i had my bleed stroke, our collie was constantly on watch, acting like a right little nursemaid.
Whilst getting acclimatised to bolus & basal insulin she could tell when i was high or low, and when in the "OK blood " band!
I think it is a blend of smelling your body and watching your behaviour. They are masters of non-verbal communication.

 

[Mike d]

They are masters of non-verbal communication.

Yep, you got it in one

 

[Robinredbreast]

Animals do pick up things. We have two cats, Pebbles and Harley ( he's a OAP) and when I broke my wrist with a big plaster cast on Pebbles was a bit scared at first, but she did then keep trying to cuddle up with it. Also when other things happened, she seemed to know that bad stuff was going on. When cast was removed I had to gently push her away, because she wanted to rub up against the arm and that was impossible. She knew the arm was poorly and I was unwell. Animals are such wonderful creatures and knowing that she 'cared' I'm sure that helped with the healing process

RRB

 

[CarbsRok]

My last dog used to wake me in the night to tell me I was hypo. He once saved my life by going to my nearest neighbour and fetching him to me as I needed urgent help due to a life threatening condition (Addison's crisis) That nearest neighbour was a 1/4 of a mile away. He searched the farm building until he found him and insisted he came and rescued his Mum. Unfortunately I had to have Tanner put down 3 years ago due to a very aggressive malignant tumour in his mouth.

 

[CollieBoy]

My last dog used to wake me in the night to tell me I was hypo. He once saved my life by going to my nearest neighbour and fetching him to me as I needed urgent help due to a life threatening condition (Addison's crisis) That nearest neighbour was a 1/4 of a mile away. He searched the farm building until he found him and insisted he came and rescued his Mum. Unfortunately I had to have Tanner put down 3 years ago due to a very aggressive malignant tumour in his mouth.

That's a dog for you! (the sense of loyalty & duty, not the tumour!)

 

[Snowy12]

Have to agree with others our dog used to want to help especially if you had a cut he would try to lick it for you but told him thanks but no thanks he liked licking his privates.

 

[Fallgal]

Whoa, CarbsRok! That's amazing. Sorry he had to be put down.

I agree that animals are very intuitive. After a bad accident, my 13-year old dog Mandy never left my side. She was extremely gentle with me the whole year I was recuperating and was very careful.

My current dog, Lola (my avatar) was acting funny around me right before I was diagnosed with skin cancer and she was quite the little nurse after my two surgeries.

Since I was diagnosed with T2, she seems to be keenly aware of when I am particularly stressed and seems as if she would climb mountains to comfort me, even if I am not in the mood to be comforted.

 

[Patricia21]

My cat sat on my new hip for a week,always that side,he is always on my knee when I sit down,but dosent go to the side anymore.

 

[tim2000s]

Hmmm. I'm not sure ours know if we are ill. They seem to want to jump on us regardless!

 

[CollieBoy]

Whoa, CarbsRok! That's amazing. Sorry he had to be put down.

I agree that animals are very intuitive. After a bad accident, my 13-year old dog Mandy never left my side. She was extremely gentle with me the whole year I was recuperating and was very careful.

My current dog, Lola (my avatar) was acting funny around me right before I was diagnosed with skin cancer and she was quite the little nurse after my two surgeries.

Since I was diagnosed with T2, she seems to be keenly aware of when I am particularly stressed and seems as if she would climb mountains to comfort me, even if I am not in the mood to be comforted.

@Fallgal,
There are quite a few reports out there of animals detecting cancer in their owners!
Brings a new twist to a lab test or a cat scan, eh!

 

[Giverny]

My cat, who usually hates visitors, was very affectionate with my Nan just before she was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.

He was also very clingy with me when I came out of hospital and was bed-ridden for a fortnight with a kidney infection & sepsis. He even hissed at my parents when they came near me!

 

[Robinredbreast]

Have to agree with others our dog used to want to help especially if you had a cut he would try to lick it for you but told him thanks but no thanks he liked licking his privates.

Lol .........

 

[Silvermagic]

There is no doubt in my mind that animals sense things and try to help.
I have a deaf friend and her Hearing dog died. Straight away, her cats took over the dog's duties.

I was looking for an Anaphylaxis dog for my granddaughter and I came across this site. They mainly train dogs for diabetics,
http://medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk/med_stories.html

BTW, if anyone reading this knows who to apply to for an Anaphylaxis dog, I'd be so grateful if you could advise. Thanks.

 

[Emmotha]

Yep there are definitely dogs that have been trained specifically to detect low blood sugar. I remember the first thing my brother asked me when I was diagnosed is am I going to get one lol

 

[Molly56]

Just wondered if anyone had noticed if their pets can sense when they are not well and indicated this by a change in their behaviour....

I have three cats...a mother and two of her eighteen month old kittens...and have noticed some slightly unusual behaviour in the girl kitten over the last couple of days.

Evidently on both mornings when I have been out at work she has spent most of the time with my partner, laying on the bed by his hand and nibbling at his hand....it could of course be that she just wants company whilst I am out...she is very much a mummy's girl and often walks around the house looking for me and calling for me when i am out (or so my partner tells me) and has a number of other favourite sleeping spots around the house so it just struck me as slightly odd that this is what she has done on the last two days..

Am just curious as to why she is perhaps doing this and whether she is picking up on something that is different.......they say that animals have a sixth sense..

..has anyone else noticed unusual / different behaviour in their pets when say their sugar levels are high or they have been coming down with something?

Just following on from the episode on Tuesday....as I went out Tuesday morning I noticed that she was being very attentive around my partner and noticed that she was being quite vocal....she is ordinarily quite a vocal cat and often 'talks' to me in miaows...being in a hurry I did just glance in but didn't notice anything amiss. I must admit that I was a bit concerned particularly as I drove home as I was thinking about this but when I arrived home all was ok so thought nothing much of it other than posting my comment on this thread.

However I happened to comment about her behaviour this afternoon and he did mention that yesterday he had been feeling a chest pain in the centre of his chest for much of the day....not severe or debilitating pain but a pain nonetheless....

I do worry sometimes as you do hear about people having what is in effect a silent heart attack....and with poor diabetic control and neuropathic pain I expect that my partner may have other forms of neuropathy which could make this a real possibility....anyway all seems ok at the moment so lets just hope that my fears are just that...

Could my cat have been picking up on this and been trying to tell me something....I guess I will never know...

 

[Mike d]

Just following on from the episode on Tuesday....as I went out Tuesday morning I noticed that she was being very attentive around my partner and noticed that she was being quite vocal....she is ordinarily quite a vocal cat and often 'talks' to me in miaows...being in a hurry I did just glance in but didn't notice anything amiss. I must admit that I was a bit concerned particularly as I drove home as I was thinking about this but when I arrived home all was ok so thought nothing much of it other than posting my comment on this thread.

However I happened to comment about her behaviour this afternoon and he did mention that yesterday he had been feeling a chest pain in the centre of his chest for much of the day....not severe or debilitating pain but a pain nonetheless....

I do worry sometimes as you do hear about people having what is in effect a silent heart attack....and with poor diabetic control and neuropathic pain I expect that my partner may have other forms of neuropathy which could make this a real possibility....anyway all seems ok at the moment so lets just hope that my fears are just that...

Could my cat have been picking up on this and been trying to tell me something....I guess I will never know...

Keep watching the cat and see if it's behaviour happens to correlate what is going on with your partner.