An ordinary domestic cat from the UK is capable of predicting the onset of epileptic seizures in its owner and signaling this. The owner claims that this happens about eight hours before the seizure begins. Such high sensitivity may be due to the presence of many specialized receptors in cats' noses and tongues, allowing them to detect chemical changes in the human body.
30-year-old Molly Brook, who suffers from epilepsy, lives in a nursing home as she requires constant supervision due to frequent seizures — up to nine times a week. This limits her social interactions and virtually prevents her from leaving the facility. In such conditions, stress and anxiety can increase, further provoking epileptic seizures. Doctors recommend that patients with such issues reduce their stress levels in various ways. One such method is having an animal companion.
Therefore, Molly decided to get a cat, carefully selecting a breed that would be able to adapt to living in a confined space. This is how she got a Persian kitten named Maggie, who turned out to be more than just a companion. Since the moment the cat settled in with her new owner, it began to exhibit strange behavior. Over time, Brook noticed that this behavior always occurred a few hours before a seizure.
“During the first week after her arrival, I noticed that at certain moments she would go into 'manic mode', running around and using up all her energy. Then she completely calms down and goes into 'monitoring mode', not leaving my side. If I get up to leave the room for a cup of tea, she follows me. Sometimes she even gets ahead of me and senses a seizure eight hours before it starts,” Molly said in her video.
When this behavior repeated several times, it became clear that the cat seemed to be warning her owner, and then 'keeping watch' over her, not leaving until a seizure began. At other times, the animal behaves calmly, playfully, and does not follow its owner, Brook notes.
When a seizure starts, Maggie lies next to her owner and tries to distract her to ease her condition. According to Brook, this calms her and helps stabilize the convulsive movements during the seizure. Molly believes that the animal acts instinctively, as it senses chemical changes and perceives them as a threat to human health.
Leave a comment