Cat sniffing around area where tumor was removed

Toyamjj
Toyamjj Member Posts: 151
edited March 2020 in Furry friends

Hi! Wondering if any of you have had this experience with your fur babies, getting nervous and need help talking me off the ledge... Jan 3rd had my one year anniversary mammogram and it was clean. My 15 year old cat likes to lie on everyone in the families chest and does so often. Yesterday while laying in my bed, I was actually lying on my side with a t-shirt on and no bra and you could see the outline of my nipple through my shirt. As she goes to climb on top of me she smells my nipple, I noticed it and thought hmmm thats odd. Then as she gets herself comfortable to lay in the middle of my chest I notice that she then goes and sniffs the area where the tumor was removed from. Of course now im freaking out! Again I had my one yr mammogram this jan 3. I know animals have a sick sense? help nervous, and again I just had my mammogram jan 3

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  • Togethertolearn
    Togethertolearn Member Posts: 278
    edited March 2020

    I would be freaked out too! You do hear animals can sniff out disease. I guess keep self checking that area, maybe even daily. Has the cat done this more oftenthan the one night mentioned?

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited March 2020

    My boy cat when he needs snuggles (nightly) gets on my chest and we watch tv together. After diagnosis I noticed he always ALWAYS rested his head on the cancer side. No sniffing, but he rested his chin on the areas where the tumor was located. In the last few weeks he has moved on from doing that and now likes to rest his head right down the middle in the cleavage, though he doesn't seem to feel the need to lay on my chest nearly as much as before. So I dont know if its due to the drugs working or what, but I thought that was all very interesting.

    On another forum I read of a gal whose cat kept bopping its head against her breast and wouldnt leave her alone - turns out she had breast cancer.

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  • santabarbarian
    santabarbarian Member Posts: 3,085
    edited March 2020

    On another thread people were talking about BO being different due to lymph node removal, and cats can sure smell better than humans... Probably nothing... but if the cat repeats and repeats the behavior, you could check it out.

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  • Togethertolearn
    Togethertolearn Member Posts: 278
    edited March 2020

    did you get this checked out?

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  • BlueGirlRedState
    BlueGirlRedState Member Posts: 1,031
    edited March 2020

    A few years before the first diagnosis, my dog would sometimes sniff at my left breast. Much better than a mamogram, if only I had known what he was sensing. I read one (non-scientific) study where someone explored this idea with different cancers. The results were inconclusive, but did seem to suggest that dogs had some ability to sniff out cancer. Their ability to detect odors is increadible. A story on the radio a few days ago, a woman described how some people with Parkinsons, seem to have an odor, possibly there, before diagnosis.

    2009 ER+ left breast. 52 yrs. Lumpectomy, Sentinel node removal, negative. Radiation 6 weeks, tamoxifen 5 years. Dense lumpy left breast, normal right. Acupuncture offered at facility as part of integrative medicine. It really helped with anxiety/stress during radiation treatment.

    2016 ER+ left breast. Probably a new cancer, but unknown. 4 rounds TC Aug-Oct 2016, Bi-lateral (my choice) Nov 2016, no reconstruction. 2 sentinel nodes remove, negative. Cold Capping using Chemo Cold Caps (DIGNICAP not available). Anastrozole 1 mg starting May 2017. Joint issues noticed immediately. Stopped Anastrozole after 3-4 months due to joint stiffness in. After several months of no AIs, fingers were feeling better. Started tamoxifen March 2018

    6/18/2019 Noticed Swelling in R-arm, opposite side from where lymph nodes removed. Could have been swelling earlier but wearing long sleeves. Ultra sounds for clots, Trip to urgent care. They did ultrasound, concerned that there might be a clot, there was not. 7/2/2019 lymphatic therapist recognized that there was something very wrong and sent me back to the DR.

    8/2019 CT, Breast/chest, neck/thyroid ultra sound; 9/2019 DR ordered biopsy, said it could be lymphoma, cancer, benign lymphatic. Biopsy R-axilla. Cancer. Genetic test showed no known markers (20+ looked for)

    9/29/2019 PET scan, no indication of spread. Arimidex and Ibrance prescribed to shrink tumor prior to surgery, if needed.

    10/2019 – Stopped Tamoxifen. Started Arimidex and Ibrance. Brand name Arimidex so far does not seem to have the SEs that generics did, but stiff/trigger finger on left middle finger returned.

    1/2020 CT showed tumor in Axilla shrunk (hooray!!) from 2.3 to 1.1

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