The ultimate cat scan! 'My kitten alerted me to my cancer because she kept jumping on my breast'

By Daily Mail Reporter


A woman claims her pet cat saved her life - by alerting her to her breast cancer when she was just a whisker from death.

Wendy Humphreys, 52, was bemused when her black-and-white kitten Fidge leapt up and sat on her right breast every night for two weeks while she lay on the sofa.

She went to her GP and was told she had a cancerous pea-sized lump in her breast - which would have killed her if left undiagnosed.

Life-saver: Wendy Humphreys of Wroughton with her cat Fidge who she said detected her breast cancer

The brave mother-of-two is now set to have the breast removed after undergoing chemotherapy and says she owes her life to her 10-month-old kitten.

Wendy said: 'I just couldn't believe it because I didn't think cats were capable of that - I thought it was only dogs.

'Dogs can diagnose epilepsy and can tell when someone's going to have a fit.'

Animals detecting cancer is not unusual as it first sounds. In 2011, German researchers discovered that dogs could sniff out lung cancer from breath samples of sufferers.

It’s believed that cancers produce volatile chemicals that dogs can be trained to smell, which could have dramatic implications for early diagnosis of the disease.

Wendy is convinced Fidge has a similar talent.

She said: 'She saved my life, definitely. No hesitation at all. I was told that if I hadn't been diagnosed when I was I could have died because of the hormones in the menopause.

'I am the first one in my family to have breast cancer. I am so glad I got her.'

Wendy and husband David, who have been married for 32 years, got Fidge in May last year when she was eight-weeks-old.

Talented: Fidge's owner is convinced she sniffed out her cancer

Just a few weeks later the cat started the strange behaviour - jumping up and planting herself on Wendy's right breast as she lazed in front of the television.

Wendy, from Wroughton, near Swindon, Wilts, said: 'She kept coming and sitting on my right breast when I was lying on the settee.

'She would jump onto it every night for a fortnight. I went to see my GP because I thought it was bruised. It just hurt and I didn't think anything else could be wrong.'

Her local GP told her she had a pea-sized lump in her breast and sent her for a hospital scan.

The results last September revealed the lump was cancerous.

Wendy has now endured months of chemotherapy and will have a mastectomy to remove the breast at the end of March.

She has two more sessions of chemo left - and is determined to beat the disease.

Wendy said: 'The chemo is hard and I'm dreading having my breast removed. But I am going to beat it, definitely.

'I have to because my daughter has got learning difficulties and I have got to be there for her.'

She said Fidge continued to look out for her - jumping up to make sure she is alright every morning.

Her loving family have also showered the precious cat in gifts for saving Wendy's life.

She said: 'We have had four cats before and this is the first one that's done anything like this.

'She goes around on your shoulder and on your back and none of the other cats have done that.

'She never leaves me alone. Every morning she jumps up and makes sure I'm all right.

'David knows she has saved my life too. We have given her plenty of food and toys and everything.'


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