Just in case you needed more motivation to like cats, consider this: they
may really save your life.
On August 8, 2022, as she was asleep, 42-year-old Sam Felstead of
Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, in the United Kingdom discovered this. Billy,
her 7-year-old cat, woke her up in the early hours of the morning by
climbing up on her chest and meowing loudly in her ear.
Felstead told the BBC, "He doesn't usually sit with me, but he wouldn't
leave me alone, so he knew something was wrong." He may have saved my life,
as well as the lives of those around me, in my opinion.
Felstead woke up with discomfort in her arms and back, not realizing she
was having a small heart attack. She was sweating a lot and had trouble
moving, so she contacted her mother Karen for assistance.
"I went to bed and felt great, although I was a little stunned. I didn't
feel sick or have any discomfort at all after spending time with the dogs. I
was paralyzed with perspiration as I abruptly woke up in the wee hours of
the morning. She recalled, "Billy was meowing loudly in my ear canal as he
was on my chest.
She claimed, "My right side felt really heavy and strange, and I was wet
through with sweat and had really bad back pain." I was unable to relocate
it. I was quite lightheaded when I stood up and was unable to stand
either.
After learning that an ambulance would not be arriving for two hours,
Felstead's mother decided to drive her daughter to the hospital.
Felstead told the BBC that Billy was the reason her physicians commented,
"It was a good job I got to hospital in time."
Lucy Hoile, a cat behavior specialist, told the BBC that it was probable
Billy had noticed alterations in Felstead's physiological state before
rousing her.
She said, "I do believe he probably did save her life because that's what
enabled her to get medical help, but I wouldn't go down the route of saying
he did it on purpose. It could be that the fact he jumped on her and was
meowing was a sign of his anxiety."
"He was responding to the circumstances."
A tiny balloon is placed into a clogged coronary artery to urge it open
wider during an angioplasty, which is the operation that Felstead was
compelled to have in the meantime. Felstead spent three days in the
hospital's ward before being released to go home. However, she did not get
the kind reception she had anticipated.
"He gave me no attention at all," Felstead claimed. Felstead told the BBC,
"I don't think he has one bit of a clue what's happened," but she was
relieved that Billy had woken her up.
She remarked, "I'm thankful to him because I wasn't sure if I would have
woken up." "It's unlikely that I would have woken up, as my alarm wasn't set
to go off for another two hours," she continued.
Felstead acknowledged that Billy had never been her biggest admirer, even
if he had saved her life.
He doesn't seem interested in me; he usually sits next to my mother all the
time. She remarked, "He loves my mom and showers her with affection." "He is
not fond of me. He was more of my mom's cat, so I believe he would have hurt
her more, but the fact that he was meowing, sprang on me, and refused to get
off, well, I believe he saved my life.
Tags:
animals