Here's a weird question

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Emomma
Emomma Member Posts: 5
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer
Here's a weird question
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  • Emomma
    Emomma Member Posts: 5
    edited November 2009

    Hi all, I'm new here. My name is Kim and my mother was just diagnosed on Oct 30th..This is so weird but has anybody thought that their dog or cat knew they had cancer? I've heard before of dogs trained to detect it in some cases ( i know it sounds crazy) but as I think back now a few years ago my mom had a cat who constantly would be on her right breast and he would get crazy and paw at it and drive my mom nuts. she would have to keep shooing him off of her because he would hurt her like try to dig into it and even try to bite..It just makes you wonder if animals really do sense it.

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  • NancyD
    NancyD Member Posts: 3,562
    edited November 2009

    I believe there are a couple of similar stories on this site...do a site search on pets detecting breast cancer.

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited November 2009

    There was an article in People magazine recently too (yep, it is sad, I read People)

    They are actually training dogs to detect cancer. They think that your smell changes or something, and the animals can be trained to pick up the scent. .

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  • Bugs
    Bugs Member Posts: 1,719
    edited November 2009

    LOL, Kerry...People is my guilty pleasure, too.  I buy one every other month or so and barely get my groceries put away cuz I pull it out of the bag first. :)

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited November 2009

    Well, I have a subscription! How sad is that!!

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited November 2009

    I don't know if they can detect cancer beforehand, but it doesn't sound unusual - dogs have an extremely sensetive sense of smell.  I do know that since I've started chemo my dogs smell my eyes and ears when I come home from chemo.  It's like they can smell the drugs - they are also much more protective of me and never leave my side. 

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  • clariceak
    clariceak Member Posts: 752
    edited November 2009

    People is one of my "comfort" magazines.  When I started chemo my sister brought over a load of the junkiest magazines she could find. She knew exactly what I needed.

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  • Karen09
    Karen09 Member Posts: 320
    edited November 2009

    I believe it!  My cat's personality changes completely right after I have chemo.  He won't leave my side or take his eyes off me for the first couple days.  It's really sweet.

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  • Diana63
    Diana63 Member Posts: 773
    edited November 2009

    My dog Sassy wouldn't leave me after I had chemo, she stayed right where I slept. My other two dogs wouldn't come near me for about three days after infusion.

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  • SharaD
    SharaD Member Posts: 100
    edited November 2009

    One of my chihuahuas used to favor my left breast....then a mammogram detected something and doc said it was nothing to worry about. A year later, same thing, nothing to worry about. Six months later my pup was a basket case around me in bed,always moving to my left side, always looking at me with sad eyes. I didnt want to wait for my next mammogram, I went to see a different doc and found out that i had a 2cm lump, within 10 weeks it was 5cm.

    I really feel that my doggy-with-the-sad-eyes might have saved my life. I hope he doesn't leave my side when he smells the chemo, I hope it doesn't bother him.

    Lately my schedule has been SO different than he is used to, with all my appointments. When I come home later than usual, he seems so relieved to see me, like he was afraid that I wasn't coming back. He knows that something is wrong. He follows me everywhere day and night and he never did that before.

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  • BMac
    BMac Member Posts: 650
    edited November 2009

    A little off topic but my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1994.  It recurred in 1999 and 2000 and then in 2001 when she was determined to be terminally ill.  She went into a hospice and her cat went to live with my sister.

    Now this cat was, what I think would be called a feral cat.  It only liked my mother and barely tolerated my sister only because she spent every weekend with my mother.  The cat hadn't seen my mother for five months when my mother died.  The next day, the cat died.  Wasn't sick, no warning.

    I know why that cat died.  His beloved owner was gone.

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  • kim40
    kim40 Member Posts: 904
    edited November 2009

    My dog used to sleep at the foot of the bed. Then one night he slept next too me on my left side.  He slept there for months.  I found out that I had BC and had surgery, he started sleeping at the foot of the bed again.  When I went though chemo, he slept next too me, as if trying to comfort me.  Now, he sleeps at the foot of the bed again.  I guess he sensed it, I just didn't know at the time.  He will be getting something extra special for Xmas this year!

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  • caaclark
    caaclark Member Posts: 936
    edited November 2009

    Yes, I have read about pets detecting cancer.  Hmmm...now there's a thought.  Maybe I should get a pet instead of check-ups.

    Also, I LOVE People magazine.  I was even in it once!

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited November 2009

    Really! Do tell.....

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  • rreynolds1
    rreynolds1 Member Posts: 450
    edited November 2009

    My friend has terrible asthma.  If her breathing becomes labored during the night, her golden retreaver jumps up on the bed to wake her up so she will use her inhaler.  Dogs are unbelievable.  My dog sleeps next to me.  When I was having radiation, he sniffed at my right breast and moved to the end of the bed.  I guess he didn't like the radiation odor.  Yuk!

    Roseann

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  • pip57
    pip57 Member Posts: 12,401
    edited November 2009

    Maybe it will become the new 'PET' scan!

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited November 2009

    Prettyin Pink - LOL -  PET Scan..................

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited November 2009

    Good one!

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  • AsiaYM
    AsiaYM Member Posts: 2,216
    edited November 2009
    Now, I understand why they call it PETSCAN,  funnyCool
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