Animals instinct

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

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)

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

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.

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

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

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.

G'day there

There are lot's pf stories around about animals instinct, dogs being able to detect cancer and so on. I know there have been a few trials on using trained dogs to detect certain cancers, not sure of the results.

However, I do have a personal experience. We have a rather large Moggie, a real gentle giant, but all of 8 kg. You know it when he jumps up on you in bed! The first time carrot-top and blondie, the twin grandsons stayed overnight with us. I was woken by Moggie not only jumping up on me but walking up and down until I got up. Carrot top had somehow or other got on top of his bed clothes, was cold and was whimpering slightly, but still asleep. Both of them needed a nappy change. Did all the necessaries, put them back to bed with Moggie in charge.

Cheers

Sailor.

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books. John Lubbock

I found this article on the net:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060106002944.htm

Can Dogs Smell Cancer?

"Researchers reveal scientific evidence that a dog's extraordinary scenting ability can distinguish people with both early and late stage lung and breast cancers from healthy controls."

It doesn't answer why an animal would avoid if they did know however.

I was thinking about this last night and had a vague memory of experiencing similar at some stage (cannot remember when), and wondering - perhaps morbidly - whether I was already partly dead, or my aura/soul or whatever, was already seeping from my body to another "level" and that the animal in question maybe couldn't see me clearly anymore.

I hope this isn't depressing for anyone. I share with the intelligent assumption that, we have all had thoughts about death on our journey, and in my thinking, it's healthy and more helpful to be open about these thoughts.

Here's another that discusses how animals can sense it:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110817194548.htm

"This method relies on identifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are linked to the presence of cancer. Although many different technological applications have been developed, this method is still difficult to apply in a clinical setting as patients aren't allowed to smoke or eat before the test, sample analysis can take a long time and there is also a high risk of interference. Because of these reasons, no lung cancer-specific VOCs have yet been identified."