Brighten Your Day

Cat sniffs out breast cancer and saves owner's life

May 2, 2013

After Ester Kacev's cat Buddy kept sniffing and biting under her arm, she took the hint and booked a mammogram.

The breast cancer survivor will run in her sixth Mother's Day Classic on Sunday, May 12, thanks to her beloved cat. When Kacev rescued Buddy off the streets many years ago, she had no idea he would repay the favor.

"I never in a million years thought it would happen to me; in fact, I had turned down previous appointments because I felt so well and it wasn't in the family," Mrs Kacev said. "Then the strangest thing was happening and I had read stories that animals can sniff out illness and my cat kept doing that to me. It was then that I thought maybe I should go for a mammogram and that's how it was detected.

After her surgery, Buddy suddenly stopped sniffing and biting under her arm.

"I'm a private person but if someone reads my story and it helps save at least one life, then it's all worth it," she told the Eastern Reporter. "I'm not going to let this stop me, I'm one of the lucky ones because they found it and it was caught early."