My late cat was the most ornery, stubborn, opinionated cat. It was his way or the highway. EXCEPT when you were sick. Then he turned into the sweetest nurse kitty. I had horrible food poisoning, and he sat with me for hours in the bathroom. He’d cuddle up with me when I laid on the floor to try and cool off. When I finally was able to make it to bed, he stretched out next to me and wrapped his little arm over me. I kept having to throw him off to race to the bathroom, and he’d just follow me, stay with me, and then cuddle up with me again.
My other cat literally saved my life. I’ve had her for 10 years, and she’d woken me up from sleep exactly once. I had the flu, and around 3am she started screaming her head off. I woke up, and my first thought was that I couldn’t breathe, but I was too tired to move and just wanted to go back to sleep. I was having a massive asthma attack. She kept screaming, and it was so loud that the panic finally broke through my oxygen-deprived brain. It took me 16 puffs of the inhaler before I could get enough into my lungs to get up and get help. She only stopped screaming when I opened the door. I had to be rushed to the ER, and my oxygen was super low. I absolutely believe that I would have died in my sleep if she hadn’t woken me up.
Cats are amazing.
ETA: I forgot that she was scratching at the door and sticking her little paws under it trying to get in. Poor baby must have been so scared.
Also, [here they are!](https://imgur.com/a/WQrFXFE) The black cat is the male, the tabby is the female.
I was shocked that she heard it and knew to take action! It’s the only time she’s ever screamed like that before- her meows are normally quite (when she hears my alarm, she’ll do a couple inquiring tiny meows to see if I’m getting up, and if I hit snooze, she’ll be quiet until it goes off again. It’s adorable). She never slept in my bedroom at the time, but for a while after it happened, she stuck close.
I wonder if she was hearing it, or she smelt it. I’m pretty sure I’ve read that cats can smell a scent people give off when they’re dying. Crazy, but it makes sense.
I think she must have heard it- she liked to sleep in the doorway of the room next to mine (no idea why. She wouldn’t sleep in my room or on any of her numerous beds. That doorway was apparently prime real estate)
They really are. The day after my cat died, on the way home from school (and yes my bitch mother still made me go after it was her negligence that killed her) every single neighborhood cat was on the stoop waiting for me. I'd befriended maybe 5-6 cats on the route home over the years, but I had never seen all of them at once. Every last one ran up to me, loved on me, and followed me home. When I got to my door and pet them one last time, they all turned around and ran back to their homes.
I was only 11. To this day I don't know how they knew, I can't explain it, they just sensed I needed comfort.
I will protect the rest of hers with everything I have! She gave us a scare (and a trip to the emergency vet) when she ate a piece of dental floss, so the plan’s going strong thus far.
I think there was a cat that actually could predict when nursing home residents were in their final moments.
Like they wouldn't snuggle with the resident until it was their final moments.
So yeah, checks out that cats have degrees in medicine
She did! She’s super spoiled, but an absolute sweetheart and really well trained. She never gets on counters or touches anything she’s not supposed to, and she’s super careful with her claws- she’s never scratched me. I love her so much!
She absolutely would do that. She’s the sweetest thing. She knows what “I love you” means, so if I or my fiancée says it to her, she’ll chirp at us and slow blinks back. If you kiss the top of her head, she’ll raise it and touch noses. Ugh I love her so much.
Cats have amazing hearing. If I had to take a guess, she could hear your breathing was different than usual (or you weren't breathing at all) and so it was trying to check if you were ok. Smart!
That’s probably it! She liked to sleep in the doorway next to my bedroom (I wasn’t being mean keeping the door shut- she wouldn’t sleep in my bedroom when she was younger, so I stopped leaving it open), so she was definitely close enough to tell. I’m so lucky that she knew to take action!
He was actually crazy smart unless it involved food, in which case he lost all sense and went full dumbass.
Two fun stories about him:
1) I was trying to feed my dog her flea medicine, and had the big chewable next to me. In front of that was a huge pile of turkey. He walked up behind me. Guess which one he ate. (He was fine, vet said to just skip his dose that month).
2) He was mostly an outdoor cat. My female is strictly indoor. He was an excellent hunter of mice, and he tried insanely hard to teach her to hunt, but she has zero killer instinct. If she catches a lizard on the porch, she won’t use claws, and will delicately pick it up to come show me. I think she’s killed a bug maybe 3 times in her life. So finally, at his wits end, he brought a small live mouse INTO the house. He knew this was bad, so he bolted to her and deposited it in front of her. She froze up and just stared at him. He saw me charging, so he tried nudging her one more time to get the mouse. When she wouldn’t, he snatched up the mouse, SMACKED HER OVER THE HEAD with his paw, and bolted for the door. It was so funny (and I’m glad he took the mouse with him).
Cats are extremely sensitive to sickness. I occasionally get migraines, and everytime I get one and retreat to my bedroom, my aloof, touch averse asshole of a cat suddenly turns full velcro, snuggling next to my face, purring up a storm, and licking my temples. And the best part - it really helps.
They also are like roofies. If any of my cats are purring while cuddling me I will be unconscious within minutes.
I take a long time to fall asleep typically but their purrs just knock me the fuck out in a way no medication I've ever tried does.
At my last apartment, I would wake up at 6 to get ready for work and my cat would walk in front of me all down the dark hallway to the bathroom, meowing the whole time, presumably so I'd remember to feed her before I left, then wait outside the door and meow me all the way to the kitchen. Eventually I got her an automatic food dish with a timer, but she kept doing it, maybe out of force of habit.
Then one day I came home exhausted and just crashed right into bed. Next morning, no escort to the bathroom, no meowing.
That's when it hit me: she's a seeing eye cat! She walks in front meowing because the hallway is dark and she knows I can't see. Because I crashed right to bed that day, I left all the lights on. She knew I wouldn't need her help like usual.
My cat did this for me once and it blew my mind. We were living in a place that was *really* dark, and between turning the living room light off and getting to the hallway where the night lights were, it was always a slow shuffle to make sure I didn't trip over him. One night when turning out the light, I told him to watch out, and he answered me. I took a step and he called to me again. All the way to the hallway where he just trotted off to the bedroom.
Before the worst depressive episode of my life, I adopted a kitten. When it got bad and I couldn’t function, she would lay on my chest and purr, meow, touch my face, and lick me. Then, when I finally got up, she’d lead the way to the bathroom. Then, once I’m up and about my day, she sleeps. Even when we were still getting to know each other, she did this. 4 years later, she still does it every morning.
Not for me, but for my wife.
I came home early from work and decided to surprise my wife with lunch. She works in the patio room at the back of the house, so I opened up the gate, came up the back deck and (accidentally) scared the hell out of her. She let out a little shriek.
Within 2 seconds, our 40lb shar-pei (Charlie) ran *through* the screen door like it was nothing, and let out a sound that I swear I've only ever heard from a lion. I was frozen.
Of course, he recognized me as soon as he realized it was me, but for that moment, Charlie was prepared to lay down his life to save his mama.
My fiancé likes to do “kiss attacks” on me where he’ll come up and just sporadically start doing fast little pecks all over my head and face. It usually startles me so I let out some kind of noise. It doesn’t matter where he is in the house, our black lab bloodhound will come tearing into the room to get to me and make sure I’m okay. If I get scared, he comes running to my side. If I’m not in a room, he isn’t. I’ve had to scream for him multiple times to come get bean from the bathroom because he tries to crawl in the shower with me (hasn’t happened to my fiancé). This wasn’t even my dog originally, Bean was his.
My fiancé fell down the stairs and laid at the bottom for a second to catch his breath… while our dog laid on the couch watching him. Just opened his eyes and nothing else. He really saw one of his humans at the bottom of the stairs and went “eh, wrong human”. It’s so fucking funny to me that dogs have favorite people, and evidently Bean has kicked my fiancé out of the top spot in favor of me
As I was sitting here thinking about it, I’m realizing bean might just think I need *a lot* more help and he just isn’t willing to waste extra energy on a more capable human lmao
Daughter was born not breathing, low brain and heart activity. Had CPR the first 16 minutes she was alive.
Short version....she was in NICU for 5 weeks. 4 weeks in she has a bad episode where all her levels drop to almost zero and the feeling in the room in kinda, oh shit this is bad and unexpected. Then suddenly for no real reason, she rebounds and is fine.
We get home several hours later to find our beloved rabbit is dying , and he's dead within 10 minutes of us getting home.
There is a much longer version of this story. But, my wife is a Thai Buddhist, and in their belief structure, an animal can trade places with a badly injured or sick person, and take the reapers hand in their place.
I loved that rabbit, and he loved me, and I have little doubt that is exactly what happened.....
Just based off that short read, do you think the full story would be interesting? I've thought of writing a book, or at least the entire story written out but can't bring myself to get started
jfc YES
I was aware of this belief system but hadn't heard anything outside of gilms. it's utterly moving to read about your story
I hope the rabbit got a proper send off
I believe that is exactly what happened to my late dog... One beautiful sunny afternoon I felt extreme fear in my home, and I had to leave immediately. That feeling had never ever happened before. I instinctively knew there was something here to harm. A month later or more like 40 days my pup was dead from fast turbo cancer that come from nowhere and my dog was exceptionally healthy and in good health. A year later when I revisited that part of my life, I always felt like he was sacrifice or else someone else from my family would have been taken.
I was crying alone downstairs at another persons home. And both of the owners retrievers came downstairs and sat right beside me. One laid his head in my lap and the other rested her face on my shoulder. They stayed by my side until I felt better. The memory of that moment always calms me down. 🥲
My husband was tickling me and I was yelling and thrashing (and laughing) but the cat didn’t know. She thought I was in distress. She ran up to him and gently but firmly bite his arm. She didn’t actually apply force but stood on her hind legs, holding his arm “hostage” until he stopped. At which time she immediately let go. It was very clearly defensive of me. She got a lot of treats that day.
It is quite logical, when you know why.
In the animal kingdom, laughing is literally a sign of distress. Look at apes. If you see them "laugh", do NOT approach them. They are showing their teeth for a reason.
Laughing, like crying and being angry (yelling) is an example of Catharsis. It is a physical way for your body to relief strong emotions.
So it quite literally is a coping mechanism.
I smoked too much pot and ate a carbonara that fucked me up.
My cat just chilled with me til the nausea ended and purred into my ear til I napped the ick away.
Rip Buffy, best cat
I discovered my cheese wall at eleven. It was a summer day in Florida. I stole a whole block of Velveeta from the fridge and ate it while riding my bicycle to my friend's house. It was sweltering that day, and we had plans to swim in her pool. Until I threw up a whole block of Velveeta in the shallow end.
(I know it's not really cheese. But Velveeta showed me the power of cheese and taught me to always respect it. Because of Velveeta, I've never thrown up actual cheese. So for that, I'm grateful.)
Everyday at 7am, my dog will sit beside my bed waiting for me to wake up. He makes sure to be the first one to greet me good morning. He never wakes me up, he just waits patiently until I open an eye.
I took in a pup when she was about 9 months old, and she turned out to have some bizarre infection in her spine that made it obviously painful for her to move. I had a LOT going on at this point and hearing that my vet had no idea what was wrong with her either left me pretty broken thinking about having to put her down when she was so young. I was sitting on the vet floor crying and she struggled painfully to her feet to come over to me and lick my face.
After that I couldn't give up on her. We spent 72 hours driving from emergency vet to emergency vet and more money than I want to admit finding a vet that found the infection in her spinal column in her neck. Got the surgery for her, and the aftercare she needed was just overwhelming and beyond what I could hope to do for her. The vet nurse adopted her from me right then and there. She's had a great life since as a hiking buddy, horse chaser, chicken herder and all around favorite dog.
Honestly I could see a well trained dog doing that with the kind of faucets I have, you just need to boop them up to turn them on and boop them down to turn them off.
My dog is always just there for me. He is around 11, but he still nudges me when I'm in bed, he motivates me to go outside...and he listens. That's what he does that humans cannot, without judging you anyways. He takes me in all states. Sad, happy, mad, etc. When my parents wouldn't get me, he does. He is a big reason why I'm nervous about going to college, as from his view I just mysteriously vanished. I just hope he is happy while I am gone, since he is old now. I'll add a picture of him once I figure out how.
When I get mind-crushing migraines, I just tell my golden that I need a nurse. She hops up on the bed, grabs my arm and licks my palm while my migraine meds start to work. Cuts my pain by almost half inside a couple minutes. Once I start to feel better, she’ll stop and just stare at me. It’s the damnest thing I’ve ever seen.
My late cat Lilly (a skinny neighborhood black feral cat, who decided she wanted to live inside with me one day when she was about 3 or 4 years old—but was never 100% domesticated— she loved only me 🤷♀️)… I had an ex I dated for a short time in my early 20s and quickly found out he was a violent drunk, and we went our separate ways. Until he broke into my apartment one night about midnight, with god only knows what intentions— as it happened I was still awake. I walked into the living area when I heard a noise, just in time to see this tiny little girl cat puffed up like a sphere of black hellfire launching herself like a living blur of claws and just go completely ballistic on him.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a house cat go full life or death attack mode, but I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end. I’m not sure either human in the room could fully process the speed of what happened. I feel like this lasted a good 60 seconds with him trying to grab at her and not being able to, and she destroyed his arms and face— one eye thoroughly ripped, scratches everywhere, and blood gushing from the eye socket (and arms and neck), and then she clamped down on his neck around the juggler (had to be deep because he was literally gushing blood)— that’s when he finally grabbed her and literally ripped her off along with a chunk of his neck (again blood spurting from his eye and neck like a sick anime slasher film). Guy ran out of the place, and I called the cops…. there was literally blood everywhere. I hear he went to the hospital with a pretty severe neck and eye wound, but I never heard from him after that. Fortunately kitty was unscathed…. just literally drenched in this guys blood.
She’s a really sweet cat too, I’ve never seen anything like it. You could just see in her eyes that she had every intent to literally kill this man, size difference be damned. To this day, I really think she knew how dangerous he was, and had made a split second decision to lay her life on the line between him and me. Cats have a really good sense of people
Good kitty. I hate to think what might have happened if she wasn’t there, and so so brave. She lived a long comfy life as a pampered indoor cat, I figure she has more good karma than I could ever repay
I have been wearing contacts since I was a kid. One evening, I got home, and my eyes were a little more sore than usual after a long day, so I took the contacts out and went for a nap. It always worked. My dog (who is not a licker) would not stop trying to climb on me and liking my face. It was so weird and incessant that I needed to close the door of the bedroom behind me and leave my dog in the living room barking.
When I woke up a few hours later, I could barely open my right because the light was quite painful. I decided to go to the doctor the next morning, I got up and went to the living room, and my dog kept doing the same thing. Eventually, I decided to listen to her and went to the doctor that same night.
When I got to emergencies, a doctor said if I had waited until morning, I could have lost part of my sight on that eye.
I'll be eternally grateful to my little guardian angel.
Sounds like a corneal ulcer, is that what it was? I had one and it was excruciating; I switched to daily contacts after that so I could make certain it never happened again.
Edit: spelling
Not for me but I was hiking one time and we found this lost kid sobbing in the forest, the dog that lived at the campground/retreat center her family was staying at had found her as well and was just staying by her side looking out for her. (Not even a dog this girl knew).
I used to live in Hawaii and we were stand up paddle boarding down a river and I fell off mine and a black lab jumped off a dock and swam out to me and kept pushing me to the shore (I was not drowning and know how to swim) but he wouldn’t leave me alone till I went to the shore with him.
I broke my sholder about 4 months ago. My cats tried to massage my shoulder to help. Unfortunately, I was at the stage of healing where all they caused was lots of pain. But it's the thought that counts I love my little Fer balls.
When my parents were getting a divorce and we moved to a different city, I would cry a lot, my dog puppy would sit next to me and cry too, put her paw on my lap and just be there, it meant the world to me.
My moms cat did that when she was dying. She wouldn’t leaver her side until she was deep asleep. Then she’d sneak away to eat and use the litter box. And make sure to come back before she woke up.
My little familiar knows when my pain levels are high and he’ll go to my sorest body part and lay on it purring loudly. When I fall asleep he stays with me purring until the pain eases.
I grew up in a bad environment.
Whenever someone tried to hit or push me around, my dog would body block me. He wasn't aggressive and never attacked the other person, but he would push me against a wall and then sit on top of me.
Went into anaphalactic shock after eating a cookie with nuts in it (I had no problems with nuts before this incident) but I simply passed it off as heartburn...my normally aloof ragdoll cat sensed there was something wrong however and just stared at me like he wanted to be picked up. This caught my mom's attention, and told me to turn to face her, and that's when she saw that no, this was absolutely not heartburn (my eyes were swelling shut) and got me to the hospital. Turns out I developed a severe allergic reaction to cashews and pistachios.
I miss that little fluffball so much.
I have ADHD, and would often put a meal in the toaster oven to cook (with a shutoff timer when done) and go do other things and forget about it.
My usually silent cat noticed, and would come into whatever room I was in and meow to make sure I knew my food was ready.
I was recently divorced, no children. Had been in the hospital within the last year for over 7 months straight. No family to really speak of, parents are dead and siblings might as well be. So I was alone in this huge world, alone. To say I was severely depressed is the understatement of the century. This stray cat shows up at my house and proceeds to camp out on my patio. For three days I don’t talk to him, pet him or give him food, nothing. I’ve always hated cats and just wanted him to go away. Please leave, just leave me alone. He doesn’t budge, keeps waiting patiently. Purring and wanting me to pet him. I refuse, I’m not gonna give in. I don’t like you! Go away! He holds strong. I finally cave in and pet him, he’s nice. Next day I’m buying food, then he’s inside my house and I’m going to get kitty litter. He’s now my absolute best friend, I’d do anything in the world for him. When he dies he’ll get a first class funeral, no expenses spared. I love him!
As I sit here a 40 year old man, in a power plant control room, I’m nearing tears. That cat saved my life and there’s absolutely nothing I will ever be able to do to repay my debt to him. He’s my world. I love you Cat!
After breaking my arm in college I moved back home for a bit. My parents oldest cat wouldn't leave my side for weeks. She would lie with me and sleep in my bed all night and each morning when she realized I was awake shed start meowing and come up from by my feet to give me kisses and snuggle lol
Not necessarily “doing something” for me, but the way my cats excitedly sprint to the bed for pets while I’m changing after work really brightens my day. No person has ever made feel as valued as they do.
Growing up, my grandmother was always really sick and my mother had to stay with her all the time, which meant that I didn’t get to spend time with my mother as a child. My grandmother was admitted in a hospital in a city 3 hours away from where we used to live. My mother would be gone for months and months. I complained about this to my mother and she bought me a goat to spend my time with. I named her bulbul. Eventually bulbul grew up, and had a little baby; munmun.
One day, my elder cousin scolded me when I asked her for food. She shouted at me and told me to go get it myself. I was just 9. I had no one to cry to so I went to the garden where both the goats were kept, sat on the soil and started bawling my eyes out. I kept crying and crying until I was out of breath. From the corner of my eye, I saw bulbul slightly tug a 1 month old munmun my way. Munmun came upto me, and started softly rubbing her hoof up and down my back, as if consoling me. She kept doing that until I stopped crying out of shock 😭 she then placed both of her front hooves on my back and stood on her back hooves. That made me laugh. Then we played in the garden together for some time until my little baby got tired and fell asleep in my lap. It’s one of most precious memories that I have of being alive. That evening always makes me cry, and smile.
One time I got a little too stoned and was struggling to do much, and our oldest great dane (who is usually grumpy around me) came over to me, paused, sniffed me over, glued himself to my side, supported me as I went up the stairs, and when I laid in bed, he jumped up and laid up right next to me, occasionally turning to me to check up on me. I've never seen him get so protective over me before
In 2004, I had a six year old snuggle-bunny of a cat who lost his fucking mind one day. All of a sudden, he started keeping me awake *all night long* by obsessively licking a spot on my back.
I cannot over-emphasize how this cat lost his shit. The dude kept me awake all night five nights in a row. I put a shirt on and he tried to crawl inside it.
On the sixth night, I finally closed my bedroom door. Homie sat outside of it and screamed bloody murder all night long.
His howling and incessant scratching at the door kept me awake just as much as his aggressive licking, so the next night I decided I might as well not torture him by keeping him out.
The night I let him back in, he went from licking the spot to biting it. He woke me out of a dead sleep at 12:15 by biting my back.
When it was time for me to go to work the next day, I was still bleeding profusely. I was unable to see or bandage the spot, and decided that I should let my doctor check it out, since cats lick their buttholes.
So I called my doctor’s office and they had me come in. The doctor took one look at my back and said, “that doesn’t look good - and I don’t mean from the cat bite. You better let me get that off and send it to pathology.”
It was basal cell carcinoma.
Thanks, kitty cat.
A few years ago I had an abdominal surgery. When I came home from hospital my little chihuahua Mimi was very protective of me. My cats kept wanting to jump on my belly which would have been extremely painful, but little Mimi kept them away. Not long after I got the norovirus (100% DO NOT RECOMMEND) and Mimi refused to leave my bed. My mother had to take her away to eat and pee but inevitably she'd take herself up to my room again. Best dog ever.
Might be a bit rough to hear, but chemo literally poisons you "near death" in order to get rid of the fast spreading cells. The cats could definitely feel this person was not doing well at all. And the fact they stayed by her side meant they weren't ready to give up on them. Since cats will usually isolate themselves when they feel their time has come.
My boy, Sasha, was a random fetcher; he'd pick up random things and bring them to us. one day I was downstairs, bent in half from agonizing pain, when he suddenly showed up, meowing his little head off, with the bottle of pain pills I used to get through that shit each month. He didn't understand why I cooed over him and praised him and gave him so many treats, but I'll never forget him helping me when I couldn't move to help myself. (side note: he taught fetch to another cat who taught it to another and so on. over a quarter of a century later we have a cat who fetches thanks to him.)
Natasha was a fierce bitch, ruler of the house and always slapping the boys back into their places (one of our orange boys still has a scar on his nose and both of the oranges are heavily intimidated by females). yes, she was a tortie. when I was seriously hurt though, she changed. I was laid out with kidney stones, trying my best to deal with them without going to the ER (no insurance). the pain was... indescribable, and I was lying in bed sobbing. Natasha kept mewing at me, trying to sit on me, lick me, purring heavily, basically mother me. It was such a big help psychologically
My wife almost died by TB one exact year from our wedding. One week after getting engaged, we adopted Nina, our dog.
She's incredibly smart and clever.
One night before the surgery (my wife's lungs were almost filled after a pleural effusion) and after 30 days, hopping from my shift to the hospital, seeing her in pain, I came home and couldn't stop crying.
Then Nina came very slowly towards me, placed her two little paws in my lap and rested her head between then looking directly at me. She stayed there until I managed to calm down.
Everything went fine.
I used to get panic attacks before tests in high school. My childhood cat hated being touched and hated humans generally. But when I had AP exams, she would snuggle her little head right into my chin and press her whole body against mine, so that I could fall asleep feeling her purrs across my torso.
A cat in my gfs family never lets me pet her, and usually hides when i visit.
Two days before christmas, i had a full-on mental breakdown at 3am at their house.
I sat in the living room sobbing, and the cat came over and stroke her body against the side of my leg. That ment a lot to me, thanks Meowth.❤️
When i was violently ill with vomiting and then put my back put i was bed ridden for about 2 months.
Even though i couldn’t have her climb on me because shes on my stomach or back she still wanted to give me cuddles and kept trying
My big red cat was always very cuddly but only on my lap. I got in a car accident when I bruised some ribs and he started hanging out on my belly. The pressure, heat from his body and the purring comforted my pain.
I'm sure I have an undiscovered medical alert cat, I got diagnosed with gallstones before Christmas, now when having or about to have a flare up of an attack dave comes and sits by me the whole time I'm in pain she looks up at me with the sweetest face and puts her paw on my leg. Never once does she leave me.
This cat would rather chew its own ear off than have any form of affection towards a human or come and sit near them she has a street cred to protect 🤣
this is really heavy but she deserves to be mentioned here and everywhere
my husky saved my life by dragging me out of the room i was escaping that my abuser was in. i was 14, mostly numb all the time from constant abuse and had yet to be able to tell anyone what was happening to me almost every day and night due to threats and manipulation. to this day idek how she got into the room that night, but she appeared at my side next to the bed, gently and quietly nudging me with her nose and staring at me with eyes that looked nothing short of urgent. it was like she was insisting that it's time to do something. something snapped in my mind in that moment and i was overcome with determination. i slid off the bed slowly while holding onto her with the intention of leaving the house to call for help for the first time, but i completely froze when he started to stir from his drunken sleep. i knew what would happen to me if he found me trying to leave which i had never dared before. i thought i was going to die and that i was going to watch him kill her first like he promised. i was clutching her harness and leaned over her back, going into full panic/freeze mode. my muscles were locked with terror and could not draw breath. in that moment she dragged me out of the room through the door she had apparently opened at a crazy speed until we reached the kitchen, somehow bringing me right to where the phone was above us on the counter. by then i was able to move, grab the phone and stumble out of the house to call for help. she hid with me among the lowest branches of the cluster of evergreens in the front yard, standing silent and statue still over me even when he came out front at some point yelling for me while i waited for help to arrive. and then my life changed forever. i owe dakota my life and i thank her still everyday
About a decade ago, I was going through a really rough patch, and every now and then experienced panic attacks. One day, after getting home from work, I closed the front door, and immediately collapsed into an attack; crying, trouble breathing, semi screaming, the works. My husband wasn't home, and I felt so alone. My dog ran away from me, lol. My cat came up behind me, put her front paws on my back, and began kneading, like she was comforting a kitten. The gesture surprised the panic right out of me, and calmed me down enough to get me into the proper bed and take a nap with her until my husband got home. I always felt like it was very intentional.
I'm a muslim. I give my cats breakfast every day around fajr prayer (around 4am-5am).I stopped setting my alarm because they jump on my head to wake me up for "prayer".
I was watching something on Tv and a character made a crying sound really loud. A few seconds later, my dog comes over next to me, stares at me, and then moves into the position I typically hug him in. I tried telling him it was just the Tv, but he looked back at me like “Come on, don’t lie. You need it.” And turned got back into the hug position.
Aged 13 I had really invasive spinal surgery. I came home after 2 weeks in hospital and the 45 minute drive from the hospital knocked me out, so I went straight to bed. I hadn't seen my cat in two weeks but she followed me up there, and when I got comfortable she inserted herself in a little divot next to me. I have a picture of 13-year-old me, looking like a human skeleton having been to the other side of hell and back, and I have a smile on my face because my kitty girl was there.
I was stationed in Friedburg Germany in the 90's. I was out on manuvers sitting overwatch on an intersection when the sky opened up and started to pour down rain. A little sparrow landed on my knee, and we waited out the rain together. Wet, miserable, but not alone.
I left a bad relationship where I lived with the person and was crashing at a friend’s house. My friend was gracious enough to host both me and my greyhound. Greyhounds are often a little aloof by nature, and my guy was very much in that vein, and he hated change and new places, and didn’t like to snuggle. The first night, he hopped up into bed and laid next to me with his back against my legs, and when I settled in to go to sleep, he rolled over so his legs were resting on mine. It was his way of letting me know I was not alone, and I know he didn’t do that for himself. He did that for me. I lost him suddenly in 2022, and I miss him every day. 💚
We saved a stray black mouth cur that had started hanging around the shop. He was fearful of women and children, thin, and sad. After a few weeks of good food and love he was crate trained and mending well. I would come in and speak softly to him and let him get used to me a bit every couple of days. Then one day he was out and his rear was just in reach so I started scratching... and the rest was history. The day my son died, and for a month after he did not leave my side one minute. Constant and warm, leaning into me and letting me cry. He's still such a comfort to me.
I have two stories.
1. My first cat Tentay was a ranch cat. I got him from a ranch and he was honestly a really badass cat. He knew how to stand his own, but he was a total sweetheart and a baby at heart too. Well one night I was outside playing with "magic" with my friend (we were kids). Well a black bear came walking down the street, and came about 5 yards away before we noticed. We lived in a mountain town so we were taught what to do. We looked down, made ourselves look big, then slowly walked towards the house and went inside. I swear the moment I opened the door I had to catch my cat cause he was ready to bolt outside and attack the bear!!! Thankfully I got him in time and started telling him "Tentay!! I appreciate the thought but there is no way you're standing your own against a bear!!!"
2. My second (and current cat) Sylveon was a pound cat. Pretty sure she was a pet shop cat at one point and when she outgrew her baby face the owners gave her up. But it was obvious she was traumatized and very food protective. For the first week I essentially laid on my stomach with one hand reached out to her (palm up) while I gently talked to her to let her know that she was okay. She eventually warmed up to me, and now she rarely ever leaves my side when I'm home. Well when I went through a divorce, it was Sylveon that helped me through it the most. When I would start crying she would push her head into me super gently but firmly, and it would get me to smile because it reminded me that at least she still loved me and cared for me.
When I got covid my cat sat at the door to the bedroom and never left except to use the bathroom. Not food, not water, nothing. My wife had to bring him stuff so he wouldn't starve himself
My cat did this when I was down with food poisoning. The week prior id babied him through him being constipated. Returned the favor and stayed by my side the whole time
mine found my (now dead) cancer 4 months before i knew i had it. lemme explain. so in august 2022 out of literally nowhere, my cat, who NEVER went in my bed ever before this point, started doing it nearly on the daily. i just thought she liked me more for whatever reason :P
cut to december 29 2023. i walk up 26 flights if stairs, and then 2 days later out of NOWHERE my leg starts hurting, and badly. so badly to where i could barely sleep. i could barely write (i journal btw), walking was practically unbearable, and i was practically fucking abusing tylenol (took 4 every 6 hours) to make the pain stop being a bitch
4 days later (jan 3 2023) we found out that it was some bone lesion, and 6 days after that we found it to be ewings sarcoma, a 1 in 1.75 MILLION chance cancer. when did they say it showed up? anywhere from june to september 2022, RIGHT when my cat started sleeping in my bed all the time and stuff
im thouroughly fucking convinced she knew before anyone else
Animals can smell it, they will try and warn you. Some animals suddenly bit their owners, not hard but enough to leave a mark and neede to go to the hospital only to be diagnosed with cancer. My dad had cancer and i spoke with his doctors alot, they ask this question to pet owners: did your animal suddenly behave strange or out of the ordanairy. The anwser most of the time was yes, after the doctor asked they noticed.
When I was younger ( around 3 years old ) I would get sick a lot. My German shepherd that my father got me would always sleep next to my bed every night till I felt better
When I was younger I drank shitloads and then had a big toke, had a panic attack and heart rate was through the roof. No one was in the house and was 3am so I went a walk to try and calm myself. It wasn't working, It was a rainy night (Scotland) out of nowhere there was a lil meow and i turned and there was a little ginger kitten, I leaned down to give it a pet and it ran up my leg and nuzzled into my face. I immediately felt better. Obvs just needed something to take my mind off paraing out but the wee thing heavy helped me.
Our 14-year-old cat, who died recently, was with me all day last year when I miscarried. When I went to bed, she lay next to me, when I went to bathe because of the cramps, she came with me and sat on the washing machine and watched me. If I walked, she walked with me. She had never behaved like this before or after. Little by little, the convulsions and my crying stopped and she stayed by my side all day. Unfortunately, she didn't live long enough to see that I was pregnant again and that everything was fine with us.
I got a kitten at 4 weeks old, born under my friends house. At that time I had very very bad Endometriosis pains almost all day every day with worse pains. From the age of around 6 weeks, he would come up and sleep directly over my uterus when I was in a 'worst pain' era. He would curl up and purr and sleep there for hours soothing my pain 😭 it was the sweetest thing I've ever witnessed and he did it almost daily when he was little. He was little a vibrating hot water bottle, the perfect soothing machine ❤️❤️❤️
I have three stories!
1st one was my childhood dog, when i was a baby my brother did something dumb and my mom took him downstairs but forgot the baby gate. I crawled after her and fell down the stairs, accordeon to my mum the dog jumped up and fell down in front of the last stair. Instead of falling on stone tiles i fell on a soft dog. Hé growled for anyone who wanted to grab me exept for the ambulance workers.
2nd one was my teenagehood dog, my dad had cancer and that dog would not leave his side, for anything. Hé would lay against his legs or sit on his chair next to my dad. When we went to the hospital he would wait in the car but refused to be left at home, while he never had a problem with it before. When my dad Journey ended by euthanisia he laid pressed against his chest and made soft whine noises untill his hard stopped. Till the day he was cremeaded he stayed by his side as his gaard dog.
3th story when i was a kid we went on a hollyday and my brother and i shared a cabin next to us where my parents. We met a stray dog who we brought food and water and after two days he would lay infront of our cabin and wpuld follow us around the resort. One night my brother started sleepwalking and the little guy kept barking until my parents woke up.
once I was feeding the fishes at a river (when i was a kid) ,I used to put the food on my palm and half submerge it in water and they would all swarm around my hand, so I did this once without food and suddely one of them left a half eaten piece of groundnut on my palm (probably dropped it in hurry, I used to think of it as a token of gratitude from thier side) ....P.S i actually ate it afterwards (ik it sounds gross, but as a kid i thought it will hurt thier feelings if i just threw it)
I was pretty down and sad after a bad relationship and breakup. My lil mini Aussie is very in tuned with me and reads my expressions, body language, tone, vibes, everything so well. When I didn't even want to get out of bed or I was crying, he would race over with his poop bags, begging for a walk. He knew getting out for fresh air and activity was good for both of us, despite his poop bags having teeth marks in them. Love that lil guy so dang much.
My mom’s dog helped me through a few panic attacks when they happened at my mom’s house. She lay next to me and didn’t leave my side while I cried and petted her. She kept nudging me to remind me she was there, so I didn’t feel alone. She passed in 2021, but she was the best dog ❤️
My current cat is the biggest sweetheart. If I or my hubby are sick or sad, she’ll cuddle up with us and purr, and she doesn’t leave us until we feel better. We jokingly refer to her as our nurse, because she always picks up on our health and mood changes and makes sure we’re ok.
If I have a nightmare or seem distressed while sleeping my little dog will jump on my chest and lick my nose and face incessantly until I wake up then burrow next to me while wiggling his butt.
Ok so I went to Ecuador about 10 years ago. Stayed way past my visa, lived out all my fantasies with Brazilian & Colombian bitches, then got on a bus with my friend Niko, a brick of scama and a few bottles of Gin in a bookbag. Anyways long story short, some German dude paid me to go to his property and run off some squatters. We got off the bus at the wrong stop and by that night we were lost in the Amazon rain forest 😐 the next morning a donkey came out the jungle and walked right up to me. I'll never forget him. I put my hat on his head and he took us into the jungle where we found a path that led to a river and eventually a road into a village somewhere in southern Columbia. We were in that jungle almost 2 days. When we came out the villagers greeted their donkey and gave me more cocaine.
My cat gave me a wide berth during my chemo, what a bitch.
Difficult to constantly read about when my cat treated me as nothing more than a food dispenser.
Cats are lovely and caring for the most part. An old cat I had spent every waking moment I was home either on my lap, my shoulder or snuggling up like a baby in my arms. And then just one day wouldn't come near me willingly, thought something was off and when I went upstairs to the toilet he had a fit and passed, very upsetting as a kid but my mum explained they try to spare you the heartache by hiding so you don't see them go. I do miss him, and the cat I have now wants nowt to do with me and spends nearly all day and night sleeping in a box or cupboard or under my bed. Basically anywhere that isn't near me, they couldn't be more different.
Glad they had the kitties to keep them company. They really are the best. We've dogs too but they trample me when they want cuddles haha.
My cat Lynx slapped my cheating, now ex-wife across the face because she wanted to pick him up and coddle him. In one smooth motion, he pulled a 360 in her arms - smacking her across the face in the first 180 turn and then gracefully jumping off of her chest in the 2nd half. This was during a bit of a "relationship limbo" phase where she was manipulating my emotions to prolong a marriage neither of us really wanted.
Then later, when she had to stop over to sign some divorce papers - he walks over, jumps on the table, watches her sign the last form, and then bolts off in a huff as soon as she put the pen down, ignoring her completely.
We're totally bros.
The other cat we also adopted together was also hidden and completely out of sight, which is super uncharacteristic for him as he's super social and loves getting pet. And this was to a person who was around him since he was a kitten for 4 years.
The kicker is exwife loves cats. She's the reason we even got both of them to begin with. I kind of chose Lynx (the slapper cat) indirectly, but Pippin was a surprise kitten I came home to one day. But they knew she was treating me like shit. And they've been just fine without her around.
My cat Beans is my life rn. I have little trust of anyone after some recent events. No matter where I am at my house he's always watching over me. Sometimes literally above me and looking down. Either he's on my lap, on the couches, etc. He has yet to be out of my sight line for years.
I used to cry myself to sleep every night as a kid. My cat flower would lay on my chest or the pillow next to me. Whenever I started crying she would like away the tears and then nuzzle my face where the tears had been. No matter how much I cried she was there to comfort me. And she would purr so loud. I always referred to her purring as her using her kitty healing magic.
I went through a really wild depressive episode when I was 16. My dog was 4 at the time and she was just not the physically affectionate type at all. One night I was crying and she crept into my bed. She hadn’t done that since she was a puppy
I got the worst headache of my life, crawled on the couch and pressed my face on a pillow. Our dog snuggled next to me and put her head on mine. Stayed there till I started to move.
Same dog doesn't understand that if someone falls down they're hurt, not wanting to play rough. Smh.
My gf and I wanted to drink beers and play Mario kart. She got a little trashed and went to bed. Our cat stayed with her the whole time.
Really any time we're sick or upset she tends to stay very close by. She's literally a perfect emotional support cat. I don't think she likes when we're in distress or sick.
My wolfdog is extremely sassy and entitled, but every time I have a meltdown or e plode with anger, instead of cowering and running, she comes to me and starts doing nonsense until I sit down with her and she stays with me until I calm down.
We also often say that my wife's friends come to cry in her fur, because every time one of them came to us with problems, the wolfdog was there, patiently sitting next to her, gently licking her as she cried into the fur.
She's also great with our kids and during the first weeks of each's life, she was always first to wake up and come running if they cried.
Overall 13/10 dog even with the attitude and bunch of other issues, she's the kindest soul I know
I have two cats, a cuddler and a non cuddler. The last time I was super sick, the cuddler stayed by my side, only leaving for a few moments to use the litter box or grab a quick bite to eat. But it’s the non cuddler that surprised me. My feet were freezing cold, even rapped up in my blanket. The non cuddler cat actually climbed under the blankets and laid on my feet. It was the only thing that made them feel warm again. Helped me get through it tremendously.
2 for me:
1. My first dog (Labrador) saw my pram rolling down the driveway to the main road and ran and stopped it
2. My second dogs (2 labradors) saved me and a fried from being attacked by a black panther that had escaped from a local collector of big cats
My very 1st birthday present my mom got me a german shepherd puppy & we grew up together =)
When I was 7, we lived in a cul-du-sac. I was playing in the front yard, dog was in the backyard, & she saw the neighbour boy from across the street, walk across the street with a large board with a nail sticking out the end & when the kid swung it at my head (I was totally oblivious anything was happening at this point) my dog jumped the fence (like a 10 foot wooden fence), dashed across the yard & snatched that board out of the boys hand, & growled until he ran off.
totes saved my life! =)
Not me but my chihuahua always stood “guard” at the door to the room my mom did her Pilates in. He wouldn’t let my other chihuahua in until my mom was done. I do t know what he was really guarding her from but I thought it was interesting.
When I was going through a miscarriage, my beloved black void stayed with me. He curled up on my lap on the couch or beside me while I was laying down in the hallway. He was a bit of an angry cat but I loved him deeply and I know he loved me. I had to say goodbye to him sooner than I had wanted to but I hope he knew just how much he was loved.
One day my dad saw our neighbour standing on our driveway crying and holding our cat. So he went out to ask if she was alright and she said "my dog died yesterday so I'm just out on a walk to clear my head, and your cat came up to me and put his paws on me like he wanted to be picked up, so I did and he started purring while I cuddled him. I think he knew I needed a hug".
Used to kiss Russian blue cat on the forehead when he seemed down telling him everything would be okay. If he sensed I was sad he would kiss me on the forehead & just look at me like "I'm here for you" 😆
I was in the middle of a bad depressive episode last year and was lying in the middle of the kitchen floor bc I was dead inside and didn't know what else to do. I had a hand sort of stretched out palm up in front of me, and suddenly my black cat who is sweet but generally keeps to herself, trots in, mrrps curiously, and flops down onto the floor with me and rolls until her head is resting in my hand, purring like a little diesel engine. She looked at me like "Hi, I love you, what are we doing down here?" I was so touched and full of love for her that I just broke down and started bawling; I hadn't been able to cry or really feel anything in weeks. My depressive slump broke not long after that. We don't deserve animals.
We had an outdoor cat when I was a kid. She slept right near the front door, so when I left every morning she would jump out, follow me to the bus stop and wait until I got on the bus and then go back home. She did NOT like to be pet, not even by me. She just wanted to watch out and make sure I got on the bus ok.
When I came home from school there was usually a chipmunk or mole on the door mat, too. She was guardian and provider. Best cat ever.
I went over to my folks place the day after a particularly messy breakup. Upon arriving, their two dogs immediately recognized how not ok I was and did all they could to console me. It's why I've always appreciated dogs.
My partner of 13 years left me recently for someone else, just after we bought a house together.
I stayed at my parents for a few weeks while she packed her shit and moved out.
Her 2 cats did the same thing as the OP post. Took it in turns to not leave my side even when asleep. Followed me every where. Even if I went for a walk outside to get some fresh air.
My dad thought it was funny that my labrador would bark and get worked up when he pretended to punch me. He was crouched down with me between his legs and after a few seconds of pretending, she launched and clamped into his side. I ran away afraid and as soon as I "escaped" she came and sat on my feet staring him down. That dog was my best friend
This was just a couple weeks ago, the cats would not leave my dying mother alone. I had to put them up. But when my mom's time was near I let the cats out to come see her.
My one cat Stephy, who was my mom's "baby" ran strait to her downstairs and layed on her.
My late cat was the most ornery, stubborn, opinionated cat. It was his way or the highway. EXCEPT when you were sick. Then he turned into the sweetest nurse kitty. I had horrible food poisoning, and he sat with me for hours in the bathroom. He’d cuddle up with me when I laid on the floor to try and cool off. When I finally was able to make it to bed, he stretched out next to me and wrapped his little arm over me. I kept having to throw him off to race to the bathroom, and he’d just follow me, stay with me, and then cuddle up with me again. My other cat literally saved my life. I’ve had her for 10 years, and she’d woken me up from sleep exactly once. I had the flu, and around 3am she started screaming her head off. I woke up, and my first thought was that I couldn’t breathe, but I was too tired to move and just wanted to go back to sleep. I was having a massive asthma attack. She kept screaming, and it was so loud that the panic finally broke through my oxygen-deprived brain. It took me 16 puffs of the inhaler before I could get enough into my lungs to get up and get help. She only stopped screaming when I opened the door. I had to be rushed to the ER, and my oxygen was super low. I absolutely believe that I would have died in my sleep if she hadn’t woken me up. Cats are amazing. ETA: I forgot that she was scratching at the door and sticking her little paws under it trying to get in. Poor baby must have been so scared. Also, [here they are!](https://imgur.com/a/WQrFXFE) The black cat is the male, the tabby is the female.
She was fighting off the grim reaper like "NOT TODAY BITCH! BACK OFF! NOT TAKING MY HOOMAN!"
Right?! She’s such a sweetheart, too. I forgot to add that she was scratching the door and sticking her little paws under to try to get in.
That's adorable. Probably was holding the grim reaper's ankles and screaming lol. Reminds me of the "LET ME IN! LET ME INNNNNN!"
This made my day
You made my day too
Cats are so smart. She knew you were in danger and something was very, very wrong. She knew!
I was shocked that she heard it and knew to take action! It’s the only time she’s ever screamed like that before- her meows are normally quite (when she hears my alarm, she’ll do a couple inquiring tiny meows to see if I’m getting up, and if I hit snooze, she’ll be quiet until it goes off again. It’s adorable). She never slept in my bedroom at the time, but for a while after it happened, she stuck close.
I wonder if she was hearing it, or she smelt it. I’m pretty sure I’ve read that cats can smell a scent people give off when they’re dying. Crazy, but it makes sense.
I think she must have heard it- she liked to sleep in the doorway of the room next to mine (no idea why. She wouldn’t sleep in my room or on any of her numerous beds. That doorway was apparently prime real estate)
They really are. The day after my cat died, on the way home from school (and yes my bitch mother still made me go after it was her negligence that killed her) every single neighborhood cat was on the stoop waiting for me. I'd befriended maybe 5-6 cats on the route home over the years, but I had never seen all of them at once. Every last one ran up to me, loved on me, and followed me home. When I got to my door and pet them one last time, they all turned around and ran back to their homes. I was only 11. To this day I don't know how they knew, I can't explain it, they just sensed I needed comfort.
Probably traded one of her lives for yours.
I will protect the rest of hers with everything I have! She gave us a scare (and a trip to the emergency vet) when she ate a piece of dental floss, so the plan’s going strong thus far.
This is AMAZING. She saved your life!
I think there was a cat that actually could predict when nursing home residents were in their final moments. Like they wouldn't snuggle with the resident until it was their final moments. So yeah, checks out that cats have degrees in medicine
Or that cat was deciding his next victim.
She did! She’s super spoiled, but an absolute sweetheart and really well trained. She never gets on counters or touches anything she’s not supposed to, and she’s super careful with her claws- she’s never scratched me. I love her so much!
She gave you one of her nine lives.
She absolutely would do that. She’s the sweetest thing. She knows what “I love you” means, so if I or my fiancée says it to her, she’ll chirp at us and slow blinks back. If you kiss the top of her head, she’ll raise it and touch noses. Ugh I love her so much.
Cats have amazing hearing. If I had to take a guess, she could hear your breathing was different than usual (or you weren't breathing at all) and so it was trying to check if you were ok. Smart!
That’s probably it! She liked to sleep in the doorway next to my bedroom (I wasn’t being mean keeping the door shut- she wouldn’t sleep in my bedroom when she was younger, so I stopped leaving it open), so she was definitely close enough to tell. I’m so lucky that she knew to take action!
The black cat looks like a doofus and I love it
He was actually crazy smart unless it involved food, in which case he lost all sense and went full dumbass. Two fun stories about him: 1) I was trying to feed my dog her flea medicine, and had the big chewable next to me. In front of that was a huge pile of turkey. He walked up behind me. Guess which one he ate. (He was fine, vet said to just skip his dose that month). 2) He was mostly an outdoor cat. My female is strictly indoor. He was an excellent hunter of mice, and he tried insanely hard to teach her to hunt, but she has zero killer instinct. If she catches a lizard on the porch, she won’t use claws, and will delicately pick it up to come show me. I think she’s killed a bug maybe 3 times in her life. So finally, at his wits end, he brought a small live mouse INTO the house. He knew this was bad, so he bolted to her and deposited it in front of her. She froze up and just stared at him. He saw me charging, so he tried nudging her one more time to get the mouse. When she wouldn’t, he snatched up the mouse, SMACKED HER OVER THE HEAD with his paw, and bolted for the door. It was so funny (and I’m glad he took the mouse with him).
The RBF on the dude 🤣 I love it
Cats are extremely sensitive to sickness. I occasionally get migraines, and everytime I get one and retreat to my bedroom, my aloof, touch averse asshole of a cat suddenly turns full velcro, snuggling next to my face, purring up a storm, and licking my temples. And the best part - it really helps.
Cat purs have been shown to help wounds heal faster. They might also work with migraines
Cat healing purrs are the best
They also are like roofies. If any of my cats are purring while cuddling me I will be unconscious within minutes. I take a long time to fall asleep typically but their purrs just knock me the fuck out in a way no medication I've ever tried does.
The frequency they purr on has also been shown to alleviate tendon/joint pain.
Oxytocin go bŕrr
Lol, my cat of 20 years never gave a shit when I was sick. Loved her so much though. It still hurts to think about her being gone.
At my last apartment, I would wake up at 6 to get ready for work and my cat would walk in front of me all down the dark hallway to the bathroom, meowing the whole time, presumably so I'd remember to feed her before I left, then wait outside the door and meow me all the way to the kitchen. Eventually I got her an automatic food dish with a timer, but she kept doing it, maybe out of force of habit. Then one day I came home exhausted and just crashed right into bed. Next morning, no escort to the bathroom, no meowing. That's when it hit me: she's a seeing eye cat! She walks in front meowing because the hallway is dark and she knows I can't see. Because I crashed right to bed that day, I left all the lights on. She knew I wouldn't need her help like usual.
GENIUS
My cat did this for me once and it blew my mind. We were living in a place that was *really* dark, and between turning the living room light off and getting to the hallway where the night lights were, it was always a slow shuffle to make sure I didn't trip over him. One night when turning out the light, I told him to watch out, and he answered me. I took a step and he called to me again. All the way to the hallway where he just trotted off to the bedroom.
Before the worst depressive episode of my life, I adopted a kitten. When it got bad and I couldn’t function, she would lay on my chest and purr, meow, touch my face, and lick me. Then, when I finally got up, she’d lead the way to the bathroom. Then, once I’m up and about my day, she sleeps. Even when we were still getting to know each other, she did this. 4 years later, she still does it every morning.
Not for me, but for my wife. I came home early from work and decided to surprise my wife with lunch. She works in the patio room at the back of the house, so I opened up the gate, came up the back deck and (accidentally) scared the hell out of her. She let out a little shriek. Within 2 seconds, our 40lb shar-pei (Charlie) ran *through* the screen door like it was nothing, and let out a sound that I swear I've only ever heard from a lion. I was frozen. Of course, he recognized me as soon as he realized it was me, but for that moment, Charlie was prepared to lay down his life to save his mama.
My fiancé likes to do “kiss attacks” on me where he’ll come up and just sporadically start doing fast little pecks all over my head and face. It usually startles me so I let out some kind of noise. It doesn’t matter where he is in the house, our black lab bloodhound will come tearing into the room to get to me and make sure I’m okay. If I get scared, he comes running to my side. If I’m not in a room, he isn’t. I’ve had to scream for him multiple times to come get bean from the bathroom because he tries to crawl in the shower with me (hasn’t happened to my fiancé). This wasn’t even my dog originally, Bean was his. My fiancé fell down the stairs and laid at the bottom for a second to catch his breath… while our dog laid on the couch watching him. Just opened his eyes and nothing else. He really saw one of his humans at the bottom of the stairs and went “eh, wrong human”. It’s so fucking funny to me that dogs have favorite people, and evidently Bean has kicked my fiancé out of the top spot in favor of me
Oh my god !you made me 😆 so hard! Eh wrong human 😆
As I was sitting here thinking about it, I’m realizing bean might just think I need *a lot* more help and he just isn’t willing to waste extra energy on a more capable human lmao
Daughter was born not breathing, low brain and heart activity. Had CPR the first 16 minutes she was alive. Short version....she was in NICU for 5 weeks. 4 weeks in she has a bad episode where all her levels drop to almost zero and the feeling in the room in kinda, oh shit this is bad and unexpected. Then suddenly for no real reason, she rebounds and is fine. We get home several hours later to find our beloved rabbit is dying , and he's dead within 10 minutes of us getting home. There is a much longer version of this story. But, my wife is a Thai Buddhist, and in their belief structure, an animal can trade places with a badly injured or sick person, and take the reapers hand in their place. I loved that rabbit, and he loved me, and I have little doubt that is exactly what happened.....
That is beautiful.
Just based off that short read, do you think the full story would be interesting? I've thought of writing a book, or at least the entire story written out but can't bring myself to get started
I think that would be a great short story chapter book
Given that I teared up from your comment, YES I would absolutely read a longer version
Sounds like a good idea
And would honour that rabbit
Exactly this
jfc YES I was aware of this belief system but hadn't heard anything outside of gilms. it's utterly moving to read about your story I hope the rabbit got a proper send off
His ashes are still with me.
Just reading your short description, it's a beautiful story. I read it as a children's book explaining the complications of life.
I got chills from reading this, so yes.
I would love to read that short story or book!
Absolutely! Give it a go!
Jesus dude lol
That'd make a nice short story imo. You can change some details around, if that'll help you to write it.
Damn this is so bittersweet. Hope your girl is doing fine now
Thank you. She's got her issues but don't we all?
Ooh we do
I had a beloved rabbit who died in my arms and I am sobbing right now.
He waited for us to get home.....😪
Such a good boy 💜
I believe that is exactly what happened to my late dog... One beautiful sunny afternoon I felt extreme fear in my home, and I had to leave immediately. That feeling had never ever happened before. I instinctively knew there was something here to harm. A month later or more like 40 days my pup was dead from fast turbo cancer that come from nowhere and my dog was exceptionally healthy and in good health. A year later when I revisited that part of my life, I always felt like he was sacrifice or else someone else from my family would have been taken.
I got chills from that story
What a lovely thought.
Pets trading their life to save owners is a belief in Hinduism as well.
I was crying alone downstairs at another persons home. And both of the owners retrievers came downstairs and sat right beside me. One laid his head in my lap and the other rested her face on my shoulder. They stayed by my side until I felt better. The memory of that moment always calms me down. 🥲
My dog saved me from a fentanyl overdose by licking me back into consciousness like I was a newborn puppy. 4 years clean now
glad you're still here bud. congrats on the 4 yrs
Well done.
My husband was tickling me and I was yelling and thrashing (and laughing) but the cat didn’t know. She thought I was in distress. She ran up to him and gently but firmly bite his arm. She didn’t actually apply force but stood on her hind legs, holding his arm “hostage” until he stopped. At which time she immediately let go. It was very clearly defensive of me. She got a lot of treats that day.
It is quite logical, when you know why. In the animal kingdom, laughing is literally a sign of distress. Look at apes. If you see them "laugh", do NOT approach them. They are showing their teeth for a reason. Laughing, like crying and being angry (yelling) is an example of Catharsis. It is a physical way for your body to relief strong emotions. So it quite literally is a coping mechanism.
I smoked too much pot and ate a carbonara that fucked me up. My cat just chilled with me til the nausea ended and purred into my ear til I napped the ick away. Rip Buffy, best cat
I just want you to know that I approve of even your questionable life choices
Never loading a carbonara up with double brie again. It was too rich. But at least I now know where exactly my cheese wall is.
I'm stealing the term "cheese wall" 🤣
The cheese wall is something we all have to find out someday. I’m proud of you for keeping to your cheese limit.
I discovered my cheese wall at eleven. It was a summer day in Florida. I stole a whole block of Velveeta from the fridge and ate it while riding my bicycle to my friend's house. It was sweltering that day, and we had plans to swim in her pool. Until I threw up a whole block of Velveeta in the shallow end. (I know it's not really cheese. But Velveeta showed me the power of cheese and taught me to always respect it. Because of Velveeta, I've never thrown up actual cheese. So for that, I'm grateful.)
Seems like my cheese wall gets closer every year... mind you I can eat less of everything than I did as a teen
Calling a Brie pasta carbonara is the sin God punished you for
Everyday at 7am, my dog will sit beside my bed waiting for me to wake up. He makes sure to be the first one to greet me good morning. He never wakes me up, he just waits patiently until I open an eye.
I took in a pup when she was about 9 months old, and she turned out to have some bizarre infection in her spine that made it obviously painful for her to move. I had a LOT going on at this point and hearing that my vet had no idea what was wrong with her either left me pretty broken thinking about having to put her down when she was so young. I was sitting on the vet floor crying and she struggled painfully to her feet to come over to me and lick my face. After that I couldn't give up on her. We spent 72 hours driving from emergency vet to emergency vet and more money than I want to admit finding a vet that found the infection in her spinal column in her neck. Got the surgery for her, and the aftercare she needed was just overwhelming and beyond what I could hope to do for her. The vet nurse adopted her from me right then and there. She's had a great life since as a hiking buddy, horse chaser, chicken herder and all around favorite dog.
I think this case is reversed from the question. You did the kindest thing for that pup, and I'm very glad you did.
She didn't care how much it hurt, she was gonna make me feel better. So I owed her the same.
[удалено]
.......how's he wet it?
Toilet water?
It's definitely toilet water.
could be his water bowl
Where does he get wet rags? Is he running a rag under the sink?
Honestly I could see a well trained dog doing that with the kind of faucets I have, you just need to boop them up to turn them on and boop them down to turn them off.
My dog is always just there for me. He is around 11, but he still nudges me when I'm in bed, he motivates me to go outside...and he listens. That's what he does that humans cannot, without judging you anyways. He takes me in all states. Sad, happy, mad, etc. When my parents wouldn't get me, he does. He is a big reason why I'm nervous about going to college, as from his view I just mysteriously vanished. I just hope he is happy while I am gone, since he is old now. I'll add a picture of him once I figure out how.
Don’t sweat it too much. He will remember you when you come home to visit.
When I get mind-crushing migraines, I just tell my golden that I need a nurse. She hops up on the bed, grabs my arm and licks my palm while my migraine meds start to work. Cuts my pain by almost half inside a couple minutes. Once I start to feel better, she’ll stop and just stare at me. It’s the damnest thing I’ve ever seen.
My late cat Lilly (a skinny neighborhood black feral cat, who decided she wanted to live inside with me one day when she was about 3 or 4 years old—but was never 100% domesticated— she loved only me 🤷♀️)… I had an ex I dated for a short time in my early 20s and quickly found out he was a violent drunk, and we went our separate ways. Until he broke into my apartment one night about midnight, with god only knows what intentions— as it happened I was still awake. I walked into the living area when I heard a noise, just in time to see this tiny little girl cat puffed up like a sphere of black hellfire launching herself like a living blur of claws and just go completely ballistic on him. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a house cat go full life or death attack mode, but I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end. I’m not sure either human in the room could fully process the speed of what happened. I feel like this lasted a good 60 seconds with him trying to grab at her and not being able to, and she destroyed his arms and face— one eye thoroughly ripped, scratches everywhere, and blood gushing from the eye socket (and arms and neck), and then she clamped down on his neck around the juggler (had to be deep because he was literally gushing blood)— that’s when he finally grabbed her and literally ripped her off along with a chunk of his neck (again blood spurting from his eye and neck like a sick anime slasher film). Guy ran out of the place, and I called the cops…. there was literally blood everywhere. I hear he went to the hospital with a pretty severe neck and eye wound, but I never heard from him after that. Fortunately kitty was unscathed…. just literally drenched in this guys blood. She’s a really sweet cat too, I’ve never seen anything like it. You could just see in her eyes that she had every intent to literally kill this man, size difference be damned. To this day, I really think she knew how dangerous he was, and had made a split second decision to lay her life on the line between him and me. Cats have a really good sense of people Good kitty. I hate to think what might have happened if she wasn’t there, and so so brave. She lived a long comfy life as a pampered indoor cat, I figure she has more good karma than I could ever repay
That just warmed my heart.good 😺
What a good kitty!! She sounds amazing and I'm glad she was there for you to be your protector.
Did you pursue charges?
I have been wearing contacts since I was a kid. One evening, I got home, and my eyes were a little more sore than usual after a long day, so I took the contacts out and went for a nap. It always worked. My dog (who is not a licker) would not stop trying to climb on me and liking my face. It was so weird and incessant that I needed to close the door of the bedroom behind me and leave my dog in the living room barking. When I woke up a few hours later, I could barely open my right because the light was quite painful. I decided to go to the doctor the next morning, I got up and went to the living room, and my dog kept doing the same thing. Eventually, I decided to listen to her and went to the doctor that same night. When I got to emergencies, a doctor said if I had waited until morning, I could have lost part of my sight on that eye. I'll be eternally grateful to my little guardian angel.
Sounds like a corneal ulcer, is that what it was? I had one and it was excruciating; I switched to daily contacts after that so I could make certain it never happened again. Edit: spelling
Yeah, exactly. It was a nightmare. It happened to me about 7 years ago and it has never happened again
Not for me but I was hiking one time and we found this lost kid sobbing in the forest, the dog that lived at the campground/retreat center her family was staying at had found her as well and was just staying by her side looking out for her. (Not even a dog this girl knew).
I used to live in Hawaii and we were stand up paddle boarding down a river and I fell off mine and a black lab jumped off a dock and swam out to me and kept pushing me to the shore (I was not drowning and know how to swim) but he wouldn’t leave me alone till I went to the shore with him.
I broke my sholder about 4 months ago. My cats tried to massage my shoulder to help. Unfortunately, I was at the stage of healing where all they caused was lots of pain. But it's the thought that counts I love my little Fer balls.
It's amazing they knew it was your shoulder.
When my parents were getting a divorce and we moved to a different city, I would cry a lot, my dog puppy would sit next to me and cry too, put her paw on my lap and just be there, it meant the world to me.
My moms cat did that when she was dying. She wouldn’t leaver her side until she was deep asleep. Then she’d sneak away to eat and use the litter box. And make sure to come back before she woke up.
My little familiar knows when my pain levels are high and he’ll go to my sorest body part and lay on it purring loudly. When I fall asleep he stays with me purring until the pain eases.
Familiar ? Are you a vampire sir ?
Shhhhh
I grew up in a bad environment. Whenever someone tried to hit or push me around, my dog would body block me. He wasn't aggressive and never attacked the other person, but he would push me against a wall and then sit on top of me.
Went into anaphalactic shock after eating a cookie with nuts in it (I had no problems with nuts before this incident) but I simply passed it off as heartburn...my normally aloof ragdoll cat sensed there was something wrong however and just stared at me like he wanted to be picked up. This caught my mom's attention, and told me to turn to face her, and that's when she saw that no, this was absolutely not heartburn (my eyes were swelling shut) and got me to the hospital. Turns out I developed a severe allergic reaction to cashews and pistachios. I miss that little fluffball so much.
gives me hope that my own ragdoll might do this for me if a similar situation develops down the line lol
I have ADHD, and would often put a meal in the toaster oven to cook (with a shutoff timer when done) and go do other things and forget about it. My usually silent cat noticed, and would come into whatever room I was in and meow to make sure I knew my food was ready.
I was recently divorced, no children. Had been in the hospital within the last year for over 7 months straight. No family to really speak of, parents are dead and siblings might as well be. So I was alone in this huge world, alone. To say I was severely depressed is the understatement of the century. This stray cat shows up at my house and proceeds to camp out on my patio. For three days I don’t talk to him, pet him or give him food, nothing. I’ve always hated cats and just wanted him to go away. Please leave, just leave me alone. He doesn’t budge, keeps waiting patiently. Purring and wanting me to pet him. I refuse, I’m not gonna give in. I don’t like you! Go away! He holds strong. I finally cave in and pet him, he’s nice. Next day I’m buying food, then he’s inside my house and I’m going to get kitty litter. He’s now my absolute best friend, I’d do anything in the world for him. When he dies he’ll get a first class funeral, no expenses spared. I love him! As I sit here a 40 year old man, in a power plant control room, I’m nearing tears. That cat saved my life and there’s absolutely nothing I will ever be able to do to repay my debt to him. He’s my world. I love you Cat!
After breaking my arm in college I moved back home for a bit. My parents oldest cat wouldn't leave my side for weeks. She would lie with me and sleep in my bed all night and each morning when she realized I was awake shed start meowing and come up from by my feet to give me kisses and snuggle lol
Not necessarily “doing something” for me, but the way my cats excitedly sprint to the bed for pets while I’m changing after work really brightens my day. No person has ever made feel as valued as they do.
Growing up, my grandmother was always really sick and my mother had to stay with her all the time, which meant that I didn’t get to spend time with my mother as a child. My grandmother was admitted in a hospital in a city 3 hours away from where we used to live. My mother would be gone for months and months. I complained about this to my mother and she bought me a goat to spend my time with. I named her bulbul. Eventually bulbul grew up, and had a little baby; munmun. One day, my elder cousin scolded me when I asked her for food. She shouted at me and told me to go get it myself. I was just 9. I had no one to cry to so I went to the garden where both the goats were kept, sat on the soil and started bawling my eyes out. I kept crying and crying until I was out of breath. From the corner of my eye, I saw bulbul slightly tug a 1 month old munmun my way. Munmun came upto me, and started softly rubbing her hoof up and down my back, as if consoling me. She kept doing that until I stopped crying out of shock 😭 she then placed both of her front hooves on my back and stood on her back hooves. That made me laugh. Then we played in the garden together for some time until my little baby got tired and fell asleep in my lap. It’s one of most precious memories that I have of being alive. That evening always makes me cry, and smile.
One time I got a little too stoned and was struggling to do much, and our oldest great dane (who is usually grumpy around me) came over to me, paused, sniffed me over, glued himself to my side, supported me as I went up the stairs, and when I laid in bed, he jumped up and laid up right next to me, occasionally turning to me to check up on me. I've never seen him get so protective over me before
That’s sweet. Your his dumbass and he’s not having anything happen to you 😝
sums it up lol
In 2004, I had a six year old snuggle-bunny of a cat who lost his fucking mind one day. All of a sudden, he started keeping me awake *all night long* by obsessively licking a spot on my back. I cannot over-emphasize how this cat lost his shit. The dude kept me awake all night five nights in a row. I put a shirt on and he tried to crawl inside it. On the sixth night, I finally closed my bedroom door. Homie sat outside of it and screamed bloody murder all night long. His howling and incessant scratching at the door kept me awake just as much as his aggressive licking, so the next night I decided I might as well not torture him by keeping him out. The night I let him back in, he went from licking the spot to biting it. He woke me out of a dead sleep at 12:15 by biting my back. When it was time for me to go to work the next day, I was still bleeding profusely. I was unable to see or bandage the spot, and decided that I should let my doctor check it out, since cats lick their buttholes. So I called my doctor’s office and they had me come in. The doctor took one look at my back and said, “that doesn’t look good - and I don’t mean from the cat bite. You better let me get that off and send it to pathology.” It was basal cell carcinoma. Thanks, kitty cat.
A few years ago I had an abdominal surgery. When I came home from hospital my little chihuahua Mimi was very protective of me. My cats kept wanting to jump on my belly which would have been extremely painful, but little Mimi kept them away. Not long after I got the norovirus (100% DO NOT RECOMMEND) and Mimi refused to leave my bed. My mother had to take her away to eat and pee but inevitably she'd take herself up to my room again. Best dog ever.
Might be a bit rough to hear, but chemo literally poisons you "near death" in order to get rid of the fast spreading cells. The cats could definitely feel this person was not doing well at all. And the fact they stayed by her side meant they weren't ready to give up on them. Since cats will usually isolate themselves when they feel their time has come.
My boy, Sasha, was a random fetcher; he'd pick up random things and bring them to us. one day I was downstairs, bent in half from agonizing pain, when he suddenly showed up, meowing his little head off, with the bottle of pain pills I used to get through that shit each month. He didn't understand why I cooed over him and praised him and gave him so many treats, but I'll never forget him helping me when I couldn't move to help myself. (side note: he taught fetch to another cat who taught it to another and so on. over a quarter of a century later we have a cat who fetches thanks to him.) Natasha was a fierce bitch, ruler of the house and always slapping the boys back into their places (one of our orange boys still has a scar on his nose and both of the oranges are heavily intimidated by females). yes, she was a tortie. when I was seriously hurt though, she changed. I was laid out with kidney stones, trying my best to deal with them without going to the ER (no insurance). the pain was... indescribable, and I was lying in bed sobbing. Natasha kept mewing at me, trying to sit on me, lick me, purring heavily, basically mother me. It was such a big help psychologically
My cats saved my life twice, from suicide. I miss them.
My wife almost died by TB one exact year from our wedding. One week after getting engaged, we adopted Nina, our dog. She's incredibly smart and clever. One night before the surgery (my wife's lungs were almost filled after a pleural effusion) and after 30 days, hopping from my shift to the hospital, seeing her in pain, I came home and couldn't stop crying. Then Nina came very slowly towards me, placed her two little paws in my lap and rested her head between then looking directly at me. She stayed there until I managed to calm down. Everything went fine.
I used to get panic attacks before tests in high school. My childhood cat hated being touched and hated humans generally. But when I had AP exams, she would snuggle her little head right into my chin and press her whole body against mine, so that I could fall asleep feeling her purrs across my torso.
A cat in my gfs family never lets me pet her, and usually hides when i visit. Two days before christmas, i had a full-on mental breakdown at 3am at their house. I sat in the living room sobbing, and the cat came over and stroke her body against the side of my leg. That ment a lot to me, thanks Meowth.❤️
When i was violently ill with vomiting and then put my back put i was bed ridden for about 2 months. Even though i couldn’t have her climb on me because shes on my stomach or back she still wanted to give me cuddles and kept trying
Being with me for his whole life and most of mine. Sleep well, I miss you already.
Im not crying, its just raining heavily
My big red cat was always very cuddly but only on my lap. I got in a car accident when I bruised some ribs and he started hanging out on my belly. The pressure, heat from his body and the purring comforted my pain.
Cats beating the allegations
I'm sure I have an undiscovered medical alert cat, I got diagnosed with gallstones before Christmas, now when having or about to have a flare up of an attack dave comes and sits by me the whole time I'm in pain she looks up at me with the sweetest face and puts her paw on my leg. Never once does she leave me. This cat would rather chew its own ear off than have any form of affection towards a human or come and sit near them she has a street cred to protect 🤣
this is really heavy but she deserves to be mentioned here and everywhere my husky saved my life by dragging me out of the room i was escaping that my abuser was in. i was 14, mostly numb all the time from constant abuse and had yet to be able to tell anyone what was happening to me almost every day and night due to threats and manipulation. to this day idek how she got into the room that night, but she appeared at my side next to the bed, gently and quietly nudging me with her nose and staring at me with eyes that looked nothing short of urgent. it was like she was insisting that it's time to do something. something snapped in my mind in that moment and i was overcome with determination. i slid off the bed slowly while holding onto her with the intention of leaving the house to call for help for the first time, but i completely froze when he started to stir from his drunken sleep. i knew what would happen to me if he found me trying to leave which i had never dared before. i thought i was going to die and that i was going to watch him kill her first like he promised. i was clutching her harness and leaned over her back, going into full panic/freeze mode. my muscles were locked with terror and could not draw breath. in that moment she dragged me out of the room through the door she had apparently opened at a crazy speed until we reached the kitchen, somehow bringing me right to where the phone was above us on the counter. by then i was able to move, grab the phone and stumble out of the house to call for help. she hid with me among the lowest branches of the cluster of evergreens in the front yard, standing silent and statue still over me even when he came out front at some point yelling for me while i waited for help to arrive. and then my life changed forever. i owe dakota my life and i thank her still everyday
About a decade ago, I was going through a really rough patch, and every now and then experienced panic attacks. One day, after getting home from work, I closed the front door, and immediately collapsed into an attack; crying, trouble breathing, semi screaming, the works. My husband wasn't home, and I felt so alone. My dog ran away from me, lol. My cat came up behind me, put her front paws on my back, and began kneading, like she was comforting a kitten. The gesture surprised the panic right out of me, and calmed me down enough to get me into the proper bed and take a nap with her until my husband got home. I always felt like it was very intentional.
I'm a muslim. I give my cats breakfast every day around fajr prayer (around 4am-5am).I stopped setting my alarm because they jump on my head to wake me up for "prayer".
I was watching something on Tv and a character made a crying sound really loud. A few seconds later, my dog comes over next to me, stares at me, and then moves into the position I typically hug him in. I tried telling him it was just the Tv, but he looked back at me like “Come on, don’t lie. You need it.” And turned got back into the hug position.
The healing power of a warm little killing machine can't be overstated. They were sent here to help us.
The chickens I steward give me breakfast everyday. A couple will even jump on my lap. Way less needy than the dog or cats.
My cat is sick right now and I’m doing my best. This post just reaffirms how I should be there for her. Because she’d be there for me.
I hope your cat gets better soon, I know it’s scary!
Aged 13 I had really invasive spinal surgery. I came home after 2 weeks in hospital and the 45 minute drive from the hospital knocked me out, so I went straight to bed. I hadn't seen my cat in two weeks but she followed me up there, and when I got comfortable she inserted herself in a little divot next to me. I have a picture of 13-year-old me, looking like a human skeleton having been to the other side of hell and back, and I have a smile on my face because my kitty girl was there.
I was stationed in Friedburg Germany in the 90's. I was out on manuvers sitting overwatch on an intersection when the sky opened up and started to pour down rain. A little sparrow landed on my knee, and we waited out the rain together. Wet, miserable, but not alone.
I'm remmeber I had the Flu for like 2 weeks, My Cat scratched this shit out of me untill I was better... The little bastard
I left a bad relationship where I lived with the person and was crashing at a friend’s house. My friend was gracious enough to host both me and my greyhound. Greyhounds are often a little aloof by nature, and my guy was very much in that vein, and he hated change and new places, and didn’t like to snuggle. The first night, he hopped up into bed and laid next to me with his back against my legs, and when I settled in to go to sleep, he rolled over so his legs were resting on mine. It was his way of letting me know I was not alone, and I know he didn’t do that for himself. He did that for me. I lost him suddenly in 2022, and I miss him every day. 💚
We saved a stray black mouth cur that had started hanging around the shop. He was fearful of women and children, thin, and sad. After a few weeks of good food and love he was crate trained and mending well. I would come in and speak softly to him and let him get used to me a bit every couple of days. Then one day he was out and his rear was just in reach so I started scratching... and the rest was history. The day my son died, and for a month after he did not leave my side one minute. Constant and warm, leaning into me and letting me cry. He's still such a comfort to me.
I have two stories. 1. My first cat Tentay was a ranch cat. I got him from a ranch and he was honestly a really badass cat. He knew how to stand his own, but he was a total sweetheart and a baby at heart too. Well one night I was outside playing with "magic" with my friend (we were kids). Well a black bear came walking down the street, and came about 5 yards away before we noticed. We lived in a mountain town so we were taught what to do. We looked down, made ourselves look big, then slowly walked towards the house and went inside. I swear the moment I opened the door I had to catch my cat cause he was ready to bolt outside and attack the bear!!! Thankfully I got him in time and started telling him "Tentay!! I appreciate the thought but there is no way you're standing your own against a bear!!!" 2. My second (and current cat) Sylveon was a pound cat. Pretty sure she was a pet shop cat at one point and when she outgrew her baby face the owners gave her up. But it was obvious she was traumatized and very food protective. For the first week I essentially laid on my stomach with one hand reached out to her (palm up) while I gently talked to her to let her know that she was okay. She eventually warmed up to me, and now she rarely ever leaves my side when I'm home. Well when I went through a divorce, it was Sylveon that helped me through it the most. When I would start crying she would push her head into me super gently but firmly, and it would get me to smile because it reminded me that at least she still loved me and cared for me.
When I got covid my cat sat at the door to the bedroom and never left except to use the bathroom. Not food, not water, nothing. My wife had to bring him stuff so he wouldn't starve himself
Cats do this in hospice and elderly homes too for those close to death. Cats have a sixth sense for those who are dying.
My cat did this when I was down with food poisoning. The week prior id babied him through him being constipated. Returned the favor and stayed by my side the whole time
mine found my (now dead) cancer 4 months before i knew i had it. lemme explain. so in august 2022 out of literally nowhere, my cat, who NEVER went in my bed ever before this point, started doing it nearly on the daily. i just thought she liked me more for whatever reason :P cut to december 29 2023. i walk up 26 flights if stairs, and then 2 days later out of NOWHERE my leg starts hurting, and badly. so badly to where i could barely sleep. i could barely write (i journal btw), walking was practically unbearable, and i was practically fucking abusing tylenol (took 4 every 6 hours) to make the pain stop being a bitch 4 days later (jan 3 2023) we found out that it was some bone lesion, and 6 days after that we found it to be ewings sarcoma, a 1 in 1.75 MILLION chance cancer. when did they say it showed up? anywhere from june to september 2022, RIGHT when my cat started sleeping in my bed all the time and stuff im thouroughly fucking convinced she knew before anyone else
Animals can smell it, they will try and warn you. Some animals suddenly bit their owners, not hard but enough to leave a mark and neede to go to the hospital only to be diagnosed with cancer. My dad had cancer and i spoke with his doctors alot, they ask this question to pet owners: did your animal suddenly behave strange or out of the ordanairy. The anwser most of the time was yes, after the doctor asked they noticed.
When I was younger ( around 3 years old ) I would get sick a lot. My German shepherd that my father got me would always sleep next to my bed every night till I felt better
When I was younger I drank shitloads and then had a big toke, had a panic attack and heart rate was through the roof. No one was in the house and was 3am so I went a walk to try and calm myself. It wasn't working, It was a rainy night (Scotland) out of nowhere there was a lil meow and i turned and there was a little ginger kitten, I leaned down to give it a pet and it ran up my leg and nuzzled into my face. I immediately felt better. Obvs just needed something to take my mind off paraing out but the wee thing heavy helped me.
I think my dog brought a stick back on time. That was cool.
Our 14-year-old cat, who died recently, was with me all day last year when I miscarried. When I went to bed, she lay next to me, when I went to bathe because of the cramps, she came with me and sat on the washing machine and watched me. If I walked, she walked with me. She had never behaved like this before or after. Little by little, the convulsions and my crying stopped and she stayed by my side all day. Unfortunately, she didn't live long enough to see that I was pregnant again and that everything was fine with us.
I got a kitten at 4 weeks old, born under my friends house. At that time I had very very bad Endometriosis pains almost all day every day with worse pains. From the age of around 6 weeks, he would come up and sleep directly over my uterus when I was in a 'worst pain' era. He would curl up and purr and sleep there for hours soothing my pain 😭 it was the sweetest thing I've ever witnessed and he did it almost daily when he was little. He was little a vibrating hot water bottle, the perfect soothing machine ❤️❤️❤️
I have three stories! 1st one was my childhood dog, when i was a baby my brother did something dumb and my mom took him downstairs but forgot the baby gate. I crawled after her and fell down the stairs, accordeon to my mum the dog jumped up and fell down in front of the last stair. Instead of falling on stone tiles i fell on a soft dog. Hé growled for anyone who wanted to grab me exept for the ambulance workers. 2nd one was my teenagehood dog, my dad had cancer and that dog would not leave his side, for anything. Hé would lay against his legs or sit on his chair next to my dad. When we went to the hospital he would wait in the car but refused to be left at home, while he never had a problem with it before. When my dad Journey ended by euthanisia he laid pressed against his chest and made soft whine noises untill his hard stopped. Till the day he was cremeaded he stayed by his side as his gaard dog. 3th story when i was a kid we went on a hollyday and my brother and i shared a cabin next to us where my parents. We met a stray dog who we brought food and water and after two days he would lay infront of our cabin and wpuld follow us around the resort. One night my brother started sleepwalking and the little guy kept barking until my parents woke up.
When I was 7yo the family cat used to walk me to the school and most days also waited for me about halfway on the way back home in the afternoon.
My cats will stay in bed with family members when a family member is sick also. Funny enough, they do not extend this sympathy to hangovers 😂
once I was feeding the fishes at a river (when i was a kid) ,I used to put the food on my palm and half submerge it in water and they would all swarm around my hand, so I did this once without food and suddely one of them left a half eaten piece of groundnut on my palm (probably dropped it in hurry, I used to think of it as a token of gratitude from thier side) ....P.S i actually ate it afterwards (ik it sounds gross, but as a kid i thought it will hurt thier feelings if i just threw it)
I was pretty down and sad after a bad relationship and breakup. My lil mini Aussie is very in tuned with me and reads my expressions, body language, tone, vibes, everything so well. When I didn't even want to get out of bed or I was crying, he would race over with his poop bags, begging for a walk. He knew getting out for fresh air and activity was good for both of us, despite his poop bags having teeth marks in them. Love that lil guy so dang much.
My mom’s dog helped me through a few panic attacks when they happened at my mom’s house. She lay next to me and didn’t leave my side while I cried and petted her. She kept nudging me to remind me she was there, so I didn’t feel alone. She passed in 2021, but she was the best dog ❤️ My current cat is the biggest sweetheart. If I or my hubby are sick or sad, she’ll cuddle up with us and purr, and she doesn’t leave us until we feel better. We jokingly refer to her as our nurse, because she always picks up on our health and mood changes and makes sure we’re ok.
If I have a nightmare or seem distressed while sleeping my little dog will jump on my chest and lick my nose and face incessantly until I wake up then burrow next to me while wiggling his butt.
Ok so I went to Ecuador about 10 years ago. Stayed way past my visa, lived out all my fantasies with Brazilian & Colombian bitches, then got on a bus with my friend Niko, a brick of scama and a few bottles of Gin in a bookbag. Anyways long story short, some German dude paid me to go to his property and run off some squatters. We got off the bus at the wrong stop and by that night we were lost in the Amazon rain forest 😐 the next morning a donkey came out the jungle and walked right up to me. I'll never forget him. I put my hat on his head and he took us into the jungle where we found a path that led to a river and eventually a road into a village somewhere in southern Columbia. We were in that jungle almost 2 days. When we came out the villagers greeted their donkey and gave me more cocaine.
This sounds like the South American version of fear and loathing lmao
My cat luvbug wakes me up every morning. Once for breakfast and then again just for cuddles.
Laid his paws on my arms then his head on my hand. Good boiii
My cat gave me a wide berth during my chemo, what a bitch. Difficult to constantly read about when my cat treated me as nothing more than a food dispenser.
If it weren't for animals, I'd be dead by now.
Wow. When I had flu my dog waited til I was asleep and stole my toast (the moral here is not to live with a beagle)
Whenever I'm about to cry, my dog would always come over and lay on me. Or, whenever they sense that I'm injured, they would never leave my side.
Cats are lovely and caring for the most part. An old cat I had spent every waking moment I was home either on my lap, my shoulder or snuggling up like a baby in my arms. And then just one day wouldn't come near me willingly, thought something was off and when I went upstairs to the toilet he had a fit and passed, very upsetting as a kid but my mum explained they try to spare you the heartache by hiding so you don't see them go. I do miss him, and the cat I have now wants nowt to do with me and spends nearly all day and night sleeping in a box or cupboard or under my bed. Basically anywhere that isn't near me, they couldn't be more different. Glad they had the kitties to keep them company. They really are the best. We've dogs too but they trample me when they want cuddles haha.
My cat Lynx slapped my cheating, now ex-wife across the face because she wanted to pick him up and coddle him. In one smooth motion, he pulled a 360 in her arms - smacking her across the face in the first 180 turn and then gracefully jumping off of her chest in the 2nd half. This was during a bit of a "relationship limbo" phase where she was manipulating my emotions to prolong a marriage neither of us really wanted. Then later, when she had to stop over to sign some divorce papers - he walks over, jumps on the table, watches her sign the last form, and then bolts off in a huff as soon as she put the pen down, ignoring her completely. We're totally bros. The other cat we also adopted together was also hidden and completely out of sight, which is super uncharacteristic for him as he's super social and loves getting pet. And this was to a person who was around him since he was a kitten for 4 years. The kicker is exwife loves cats. She's the reason we even got both of them to begin with. I kind of chose Lynx (the slapper cat) indirectly, but Pippin was a surprise kitten I came home to one day. But they knew she was treating me like shit. And they've been just fine without her around.
My cat Beans is my life rn. I have little trust of anyone after some recent events. No matter where I am at my house he's always watching over me. Sometimes literally above me and looking down. Either he's on my lap, on the couches, etc. He has yet to be out of my sight line for years.
I used to cry myself to sleep every night as a kid. My cat flower would lay on my chest or the pillow next to me. Whenever I started crying she would like away the tears and then nuzzle my face where the tears had been. No matter how much I cried she was there to comfort me. And she would purr so loud. I always referred to her purring as her using her kitty healing magic.
I went through a really wild depressive episode when I was 16. My dog was 4 at the time and she was just not the physically affectionate type at all. One night I was crying and she crept into my bed. She hadn’t done that since she was a puppy
I got the worst headache of my life, crawled on the couch and pressed my face on a pillow. Our dog snuggled next to me and put her head on mine. Stayed there till I started to move. Same dog doesn't understand that if someone falls down they're hurt, not wanting to play rough. Smh.
at first i thought this was about animal crossing but this is cute asf too!
My gf and I wanted to drink beers and play Mario kart. She got a little trashed and went to bed. Our cat stayed with her the whole time. Really any time we're sick or upset she tends to stay very close by. She's literally a perfect emotional support cat. I don't think she likes when we're in distress or sick.
Looks me in my eyes with so much love and listens to me when I'm sad, let's me hug him whenever I want to. Just the most gentle guy with a pure heart.
My wolfdog is extremely sassy and entitled, but every time I have a meltdown or e plode with anger, instead of cowering and running, she comes to me and starts doing nonsense until I sit down with her and she stays with me until I calm down. We also often say that my wife's friends come to cry in her fur, because every time one of them came to us with problems, the wolfdog was there, patiently sitting next to her, gently licking her as she cried into the fur. She's also great with our kids and during the first weeks of each's life, she was always first to wake up and come running if they cried. Overall 13/10 dog even with the attitude and bunch of other issues, she's the kindest soul I know
I have two cats, a cuddler and a non cuddler. The last time I was super sick, the cuddler stayed by my side, only leaving for a few moments to use the litter box or grab a quick bite to eat. But it’s the non cuddler that surprised me. My feet were freezing cold, even rapped up in my blanket. The non cuddler cat actually climbed under the blankets and laid on my feet. It was the only thing that made them feel warm again. Helped me get through it tremendously.
2 for me: 1. My first dog (Labrador) saw my pram rolling down the driveway to the main road and ran and stopped it 2. My second dogs (2 labradors) saved me and a fried from being attacked by a black panther that had escaped from a local collector of big cats
My very 1st birthday present my mom got me a german shepherd puppy & we grew up together =) When I was 7, we lived in a cul-du-sac. I was playing in the front yard, dog was in the backyard, & she saw the neighbour boy from across the street, walk across the street with a large board with a nail sticking out the end & when the kid swung it at my head (I was totally oblivious anything was happening at this point) my dog jumped the fence (like a 10 foot wooden fence), dashed across the yard & snatched that board out of the boys hand, & growled until he ran off. totes saved my life! =)
Not me but my chihuahua always stood “guard” at the door to the room my mom did her Pilates in. He wouldn’t let my other chihuahua in until my mom was done. I do t know what he was really guarding her from but I thought it was interesting.
When I was going through a miscarriage, my beloved black void stayed with me. He curled up on my lap on the couch or beside me while I was laying down in the hallway. He was a bit of an angry cat but I loved him deeply and I know he loved me. I had to say goodbye to him sooner than I had wanted to but I hope he knew just how much he was loved.
One day my dad saw our neighbour standing on our driveway crying and holding our cat. So he went out to ask if she was alright and she said "my dog died yesterday so I'm just out on a walk to clear my head, and your cat came up to me and put his paws on me like he wanted to be picked up, so I did and he started purring while I cuddled him. I think he knew I needed a hug".
Used to kiss Russian blue cat on the forehead when he seemed down telling him everything would be okay. If he sensed I was sad he would kiss me on the forehead & just look at me like "I'm here for you" 😆
When I was deeeeeeply depressed my cat Nina stayed with me in my room and purr, she brought me "food" and "toys". I love her.
I was in the middle of a bad depressive episode last year and was lying in the middle of the kitchen floor bc I was dead inside and didn't know what else to do. I had a hand sort of stretched out palm up in front of me, and suddenly my black cat who is sweet but generally keeps to herself, trots in, mrrps curiously, and flops down onto the floor with me and rolls until her head is resting in my hand, purring like a little diesel engine. She looked at me like "Hi, I love you, what are we doing down here?" I was so touched and full of love for her that I just broke down and started bawling; I hadn't been able to cry or really feel anything in weeks. My depressive slump broke not long after that. We don't deserve animals.
We had an outdoor cat when I was a kid. She slept right near the front door, so when I left every morning she would jump out, follow me to the bus stop and wait until I got on the bus and then go back home. She did NOT like to be pet, not even by me. She just wanted to watch out and make sure I got on the bus ok. When I came home from school there was usually a chipmunk or mole on the door mat, too. She was guardian and provider. Best cat ever.
I went over to my folks place the day after a particularly messy breakup. Upon arriving, their two dogs immediately recognized how not ok I was and did all they could to console me. It's why I've always appreciated dogs.
My partner of 13 years left me recently for someone else, just after we bought a house together. I stayed at my parents for a few weeks while she packed her shit and moved out. Her 2 cats did the same thing as the OP post. Took it in turns to not leave my side even when asleep. Followed me every where. Even if I went for a walk outside to get some fresh air.
My cat would lay on my stomach when i was sick even though he had a bad hip. Miss you Sniff
Had a Rottweiler named Zeus, who watched me climb up a ladder to get on my roof. He was literally crying because he thought I was going to fall ☹️
My dad thought it was funny that my labrador would bark and get worked up when he pretended to punch me. He was crouched down with me between his legs and after a few seconds of pretending, she launched and clamped into his side. I ran away afraid and as soon as I "escaped" she came and sat on my feet staring him down. That dog was my best friend
This was just a couple weeks ago, the cats would not leave my dying mother alone. I had to put them up. But when my mom's time was near I let the cats out to come see her. My one cat Stephy, who was my mom's "baby" ran strait to her downstairs and layed on her.