Nobody Knew My Pain Like My Late Doctor, Rocky the Cat.

The best doctor I ever had recently passed away. He cared for me for 21 years. He was unlike most physicians for several reasons. Doctor Rocky never rushed our time together. Often he would just listen to me while he performed examinations.

The most significant difference between doctor Rocky and my other physicians was that he was not human. That’s right! My best doctor was a cat!

We often hear about cats and dogs that can detect cancer in humans or sense when someone will have a seizure. Although Rocky didn’t do either of those things, he was significantly in tune with my PsA pain and more. I have had many dogs and cats in my lifetime, but I never had a pet that knew my body better than my doctors.

Pain point detector

I have had pets comfort me while I cried or was anxious. But Rocky’s skills went far beyond that. He would point out my pain points. If I attempted to pet him while my hands were flaring, he would push them away. Then he would either lay across them or hold them down with his paws. When suffering from a migraine, he would sleep on my head.

My worst psoriatic arthritis pain point has always been in my lower back. When that area would flare, he would lie across my back and act as a heating/massage pad.

The most intriguing medical issue he pointed out was evidence of my botched hysterectomy. Not one doctor or scan was able to detect it. Yet during the two years of hunting for a surgeon that would help me and before my appointment with surgeon number 21, Rocky would point to it daily and give me a look of urgency. Like, this needs to go!

After the discovery surgery, I told my surgeon about the three locations that Rocky had pointed out. He said that while the left-behind and infected fallopian tube was in one place when he found it, there was scarring that validated the theory that the mass had embedded into two other areas after adhesions ripped it away from one.

What the doctor ordered

Rocky sensed what I needed to do to care for my chronic body before I did. He knew when I needed to rest and would do whatever he needed to force me to relax. My biggest mistake was always waiting until I was in pain to rest. Whereas Rocky understood the importance of resting before the pain took over.

On the flip side, he also recognized when I had been stationary for too long. In that case, he would knock something over or create a little chaos to get me on my feet.

I recognize that I was very fortunate to have had him around for 21 years. Yet, I’m having a hard time accepting that he is gone. The hardest part is knowing the odds of ever having another pet that is so in tune with my body and illnesses are not great. I have had many pets in my lifetime, but none like Doctor Rocky.

Have or do you have a pet that “knows” you?