Karena Kirk-Drain claims she wouldn't be alive if her 11-year-old Bella-Boo wasn't there. Karena's protective pet started behaving up on Karena's late mother's birthday, and despite being pulled away, kept wanting to lie on her chest. Karena assumed the small puppy was sick when she wouldn't stop crying a few weeks later, but vets were perplexed and confirmed that she was well.
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Cancer specialist
Bella-Boo's demeanour deteriorated further when she began licking and bouncing on Karena's chest, causing her pain. She didn't discover a bulge beneath her skin until she started analysing her injuries. She sought medical counsel right afterwards, and it was determined that she had breast cancer that had already spread. Karena received life-saving treatment as a result of Bella-Boo’s act and she feels the disease would have gone unnoticed if it hadn't been for Bella-Boo. She said:
I wouldn’t be here without Bella doing that. I didn’t think dogs could detect cancer. I thought it was a lot of hoo-ha really, but this proves that they can and how amazing they are.
I’m just so lucky to be here — little Bella-Boo saved my life.
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How do dogs know?
Your dog is smarter than you think. They have the power to sense when something is wrong. They read expressions and observe body language to know how you’re feeling. That is how they are so quick to know when something goes south. They have a strong sense of smell that lets them know there are changes around them. At times, you can learn a lesson from someone else’s experience.
This is why Karena believes that by telling her experience, more people would notice their pets' odd behaviour in the future. She said:
Maybe if people see their dog start acting strange, they’ll be able to think twice.
People underestimate dogs and cats and all animals. But they are amazing creatures. I’m just so lucky to be here. Little Bella-Boo saved my life.
