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Kitty Cat Scan
How are kitties such excellent nurses?
I was diagnosed with metastatic brain, lung and liver cancer in April of 2021.
My cat, Opal, has always been affectionate. But even before I was diagnosed, she had started to become more so. She would seek me out, lie near me, and often put her head on my thigh, purring.
In this behavior, she modeled my prior cat, Snoopy.
The first time I was diagnosed with cancer, back in 2004, Snoopy’s behavior changed.
She had always liked to put a gentle paw on my breast when she sat in my lap. She stopped doing that a couple of months before I noticed anything wrong.
We started calling her our cat scan.
Now Opal has shown similar behaviors.
She was a feral cat who has always had issues sheathing her claws. Now I can see how she tries really hard to do so.
She also never wants to leave my side.
Snoopy did the same thing.
When I had chemo, I was bedridden. During that time, Snoopy stayed right by my side. Despite having been an active, even slightly aloof cat prior to my getting cancer, Snoopy refused to leave me. She made sure she was close to me, where I could hear her purr comfortingly.
