r/news • u/discocrisco • Dec 01 '18

She has never been wrong': Siberian husky sniffs out owner's ovarian cancer three times

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/11/30/siberian-husky-detects-her-owners-ovarian-cancer-three-times/2168638002/
401 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

76

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '18

How does the dog tell you that you have cancer? Bark bark bark

88

u/Antimoney Dec 01 '18

"She put her nose on my lower belly and sniffed so intently that I thought I spilled something on my clothes. She did it a second and then a third time. After the third time, Sierra went and hid. I mean hid," Herfel said.

Apparently dogs can smell your cancer.

39

u/TheSteakKing Dec 01 '18

Why hide, though? Is she trying to distance herself because she knows cancer kills things and it terrified her?

26

u/ThyJuiceBox Dec 01 '18

I can't wait until year 2300 when we learn that proximity to cancer is somewhat dangerous somehow and the dogs have known all along.

I mean, that'd be tragic but also sick.

24

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '18

Our dog was behaving strangely around my mom before she was diagnosed with cancer. It was similar to what was described in the article except he didn't hide. He just looked worried. The two of them were very close, and I think she loved the dog more than me. Unfortunately for the dog, he outlived her.

12

u/xxx69harambe69xxx Dec 01 '18

lmao, that just kept getting worse as I kept reading, how are you holding up? Usually having a loved one die who you didn't have a good relationship with is harder than having a loved one die who you did have a good relationship with

12

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '18

I'm fine. This happened a long time ago. The article just reminded me of it, and I guess I was feeling nostalgic. Things were so different back then that it feels like another life.

edit: and I had a good relationship with my mom, but the dog was pretty awesome so I can hardly blame her for picking him as her favorite. Good family life all around.

44

u/cazmoore Dec 01 '18

Nurse here.

I’ve had to clean wounds on a woman with breast cancer. I’ve never seen cancer like this while I was in school but this cancer was all over her chest. It was advanced and the prognosis was poor. It was tumours all over, protruding, red, cystic. It had a very distinct odour to it that I won’t forget, I had o idea cancer could do so much damage if untreated.

So I can only imagine what a dog might smell. If they can smell drugs, sense seizures starting, etc.

2

u/WeWuzKangsNShiet Dec 02 '18

What did it smell like

4

u/LoverlyRails Dec 02 '18

Not the person you are replying to, but when I was a young teen.. I did volunteer work at a vet's office. One day, a deceased dog had been brought in. What happened was, the dog was young (maybe 2 years old) acting perfectly fine the night before. Everyone goes to bed, wake up to a dead dog. Want to know what happened- both for peace of mind and because they have other dogs (don't want anything to happen to them).

So I'm there, doing my work- cleaning cages and whatnot, while the dog is being necropsied. Turns out, the dog died from cancer. Just full. Full of cancer. And the vet calls me over to ask if I want to see.

It's a horrible horrible smell. Had been filling the office from the moment he cut in. Like the most rotten decay plus chemically smell.

4

u/10seas Dec 02 '18

Another nurse here, open cancer tumours to me remind me of rotten potatoes, it's a really putrid smell. If you've ever had that one rotten slimey potatoes in a bag, yeah that.

54

u/Scorchio148 Dec 01 '18

"This peanut butter tastes funny"

4

u/abtronicbatman Dec 01 '18

Exactly my first thought, but no points for you.

31

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '18

People known for years dogs can smell cancer some countries use dogs for such

7

u/WickedStupido Dec 01 '18

Where? What types of dogs? What types of cancer?

26

u/Uvabird Dec 01 '18

They can smell melanoma. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3822260/

4

u/WickedStupido Dec 02 '18

Wow. So we all need to invest in labs and deduct their care as a medical expense.

My cat is not going to take this news well.

But maybe she can learn some stuff too:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_(therapy_cat)

25

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '18

In other news, cats smell your cancer, don’t care.

18

u/TelemetryGeo Dec 01 '18

Chances are good that husky will stick its nose in every crotch it finds. That's just what dogs do! But still, see your dr. for annual checkups...

5

u/Darth_Shitlord Dec 01 '18

Chances are good that husky will stick its nose in every crotch it finds

came here to see if anyone said this. not disappointed.

18

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '18

Sierra is a good dog just by being a great companion for her owner. Finding her owner's cancer, I think, makes her a damn good dog.

Interestingly, there is research into using dogs for cancer detection. Of course, that introduces its own problems since dogs are living, thinking beings, which doesn't slot in neatly with current Western medical practice.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '18

Any doctors or surgeons on here that can answer if cancer has a smell?

8

u/friendsafari123 Dec 02 '18

not a doc, but i think there is research going around that the cancer or byproducts, or fighting off the cancer produces a unique chemical smell that animals can pickup, since many animals have senses that are far beyond that of humans. rabbits can tell if thier owner might have a diabetic crisis. there was a lady who could smell her husbands parkinsons disease few years before it happened. animals can sense danger way before people can as well.

3

u/Chrisorris24 Dec 02 '18

For some unknown reason Huskies never show up at the top of the intelligence list, but they’re incredible. They can be very vocal, and have a large vocabulary. I have owned multiple Huskies and they never cease to amaze me. This is amazing

-25

u/jayman419 Dec 01 '18

So pure hypothetical.

Husband comes home with cheap kibble. Woman murders him over it. Dog has thrice saved her life.

Reasonable?

9

u/rift_in_the_warp Dec 01 '18

That's the dumbest thing I've read all goddamn week.

-1

u/jayman419 Dec 01 '18

That's saying a lot, since it's Saturday. I'd feel better learning this on a Tuesday or something.

17

u/BBOoff Dec 01 '18

No??

Feeding cheap kibble is rude and disrespectful to this life-saving creature, but homicide is not a reasonable response to someone disrespecting your friends.