Cancer: Beau the cat nurses owner after myeloma diagnosis
- Published
David says his cat Beau has been sleeping on his shoulder at night and follows him around the house since his myeloma diagnosis
An 11-year-old rescue cat has been recognised for the love and support she has shown her owner who has incurable blood cancer.
David Cryer said since being diagnosed with myeloma, external in November 2021, Beau had barely left his side, earning her the moniker "my fluffy nurse".
David, from Talog, Carmarthenshire, said Beau would lie as close to him as possible and comfort him by purring when he had to spend most of his days in bed.
When his breathing became shallow in his sleep, Beau would bat his cheek and nudge his nose with her paw to wake him up and check he was OK.
"She just follows me around like a dog, she's a brilliant little cat," said David, who adopted Beau from Cats Protection three years ago.
David adopted Beau when she was eight years old
Back then she was overweight with a heart murmur and had been waiting to find a new home for months.
Now the tortoiseshell's impeccable bedside manner has earned her a finalist place in the Cats Protections' Moggy Marvels competition.
About 3,000 cats were entered by their doting owners and Beau has made the final 12.
The winner will be named Cats Protection's National Cat of the Year 2023 on 17 July at a ceremony at London's Wilton's Music Hall hosted by author, TV presenter and cat-lover Dawn O'Porter.
David, 66, said he had not been to see his doctor for 40 years when he developed a severe pain in his right shoulder.
"It was as if somebody was sticking a knife into me all the time," he said.
He went to see a doctor and was initially told he had pleurisy, external, inflammation around the lungs which causes sharp chest pain.
Two weeks later the pain had moved from his shoulder to the bottom of his back so he returned to his surgery and saw another doctor.
He was examined, sent to stay in hospital for tests and within days was given the diagnosis.
David says his cat Beau has given him "something to focus on" while being treated for myeloma
"She [the doctor] said 'you have multiple myeloma', which I'd never heard of," he said.
The doctor explained it was incurable but treatable and David began treatment immediately.
David was used to his cat Beau sleeping next to his legs in bed but on returning home from hospital he was taken back by how attentive she had become.
"She'd lay alongside me, she'd sit alongside me, she just didn't leave me," he said.
"She obviously knew that I was ill because I was always in bed and she took to sleeping up on my shoulder by my head.
On many occasions at night David would be aware he was not feeling right and Beau would intervene.
"She obviously sensed it so she would either put her nose against my nose and breathe on me, or her whiskers would make me wake up," he said.
"Or if I didn't react to it she would sit there and with her right paw she'd tap my face and wake me up."
The chemotherapy sometimes left David unsteady on his feet so Beau would stay close when he was showering and keep an eye on him.
David said when he heard about the awards he just had to enter her.
"Cats rely on you to look after them so when you're ill it's almost their way or repaying it," said David, his voice breaking with emotion.
David had a stem cell transplant in May 2022 and is now on a maintenance programme of tablets and a monthly infusion.
He has been told he has no sign of myeloma in his blood at the moment - treatment generally leads to periods of remission but patients inevitably relapse, requiring further treatment.
With his health currently improved, Beau is no less attentive.
"She wants to be with you all the time," he said.
"She just loves people, she loves contact."
David is grateful to have had Beau's company since his diagnosis, saying she have him "something to focus on".
"She just gives back love and affection and I think she's brilliant," said David.
"She is one in a million cats."
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