Woman diagnosed with cancer as a teen says her cat detected the disease before doctors
A woman who battled leukaemia twice believes her family cat knew she had cancer before anyone else did, including doctors who she claimed 'didn't know how to help'.
Sophie Hilgers, 20, from Hampshire, UK, was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) at just 15 following months of unexplained symptoms, including vomiting, fatigue, aches in her legs, a high temperature, and a fast heart rate.
But looking back, she says her cat Arthur's unusual behaviour may have been an early warning sign.
The family adopted Arthur in 2017, but Sophie said the 'laid-back' orange cat was never particularly interested in her, but this changed drastically at the start of 2021.
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Speaking with PA, she said: "He started to be really clingy and he wouldn’t leave me alone at all.
"He was following me around, which really wasn’t normal."
She visited her GP numerous times, who the 20-year-old claimed 'just didn't know how to help'.
But things got worse in July 2021 when Sophie was admitted to hospital.
She suffered a seizure and was placed in a coma for five days. When she woke up, doctors diagnosed her with ALL.
"I felt strange so I tried to get out of bed, but I had a seizure and my front teeth were smashed out on the floor," she recalled.
Explaining the feeling of receiving her diagnosis, she added: "I felt relief, after nearly two months of being quite unwell and going back and forth to the doctors, and them not knowing what’s wrong."
Following seven months of chemotherapy, Sophie entered remission and noticed Arthur’s behaviour returned to normal.
"He went back to being completely disinterested in me," she said.
That was until 2024, shortly before doctors discovered her cancer had returned, the cat once again returned to being unusually affectionate.
She said: "Just before we found out I had relapsed, he started being really clingy and meowing at me again and being affectionate."
And after starting immunotherapy treatment and CAR-T cell therapy, which finished at the end of October 2024, she was declared cancer-free in December.
However, in November 2025, Arthur passed away due to complications after his own cancer diagnosis.
Reflecting on his final day, she said: "I got home… and he wouldn’t come for my mum or my dad, but he would for me.
"So I picked him up and he hugged me like he did with his arm around me.
"Then my mum and dad took him to the vet, but I wasn’t with him because that would have been really sad."
Mia Williams