Cancer survivor urges pet owners to watch for one unusual sign after her dog’s behavior led to a devastating diagnosis

A woman fighting cancer entrusted her faith in her pet dog, who played a significant role in her diagnosis. Cecy Gallegos-Staats from California opened up about the sudden shift in her dog’s behavior that came as an unusual sign every pet owner must pay attention to. In a TikTok post shared on her page @glitterandpolish, the cancer survivor revealed that her dog had sensed her illness even before medical experts diagnosed it. She got candid about her experience in the viral clip with 94,200 views.  

“So, last year, my dog would seem really sad, just next to me. He would look at me with the saddest eyes,” Gallegos-Staats disclosed, sitting in her car. Her pup, Buddy, a Chihuahua-Maltese mix, did not leave her side and appeared down. "He knew I was sick at this point last year, and I kinda did too,” she wrote in an overlay text while showing a clip of a morose Buddy quietly resting beside her. “I was like, ‘Oh, he knows something too.’ And come to find out, he did,” Gallegos-Staats stated. It was a combination of Buddy’s behavior and the owner’s instinct that led to her eventual breast cancer diagnosis. 

The 48-year-old had suspected something was off when she noticed physical changes in her breast. A mammogram revealed the presence of dense tissue in her breast, but she was advised to return after a whole year. Uncomfortable with the wait, she chose to undergo two additional mammograms. Buddy’s changed behavior and her intuition urged her to act on it, leading to her diagnosis of lobular carcinoma in November 2022. "He seemed unusually sad and would rest his head on my lap. It was as if he sensed my illness before I fully understood it myself,” she told Newsweek. 

The dense tissue had extended into the owner’s breast tissue, and a biopsy report confirmed the illness. “Pets can sense these things,” Gallegos-Staats said. Therefore, the woman highlights the crucial role of pets in the early detection of cancer or other health issues. Fortunately, Gallegos-Staats has been in remission since 2023 after completing 11 rounds of chemotherapy. The cancer had spread into two of her lymph nodes, which prompted serious surgery and a long treatment process. “I'm a bit anxious, but I try to stay positive. Once you're diagnosed, your new normal becomes a cycle of healing, testing, and waiting," the cancer survivor shared. 

Gallegos-Staats concluded her video, asking pet owners to look for the “little signs” and trust their own intuition against all odds. The comments hosted a few cancer survivors with similar stories. “I’m a cancer survivor, and my dog did the same. He would even cry. Yes, our pets do know,” wrote @laspalmas200 and @jennylynn_ said, “My dog was obsessed with a spot on my leg, always sniffing it. It was basal cell carcinoma.” According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the most common cancer in the world and affected 2.3 million women in 2022.

You can follow @glitterandpolish on TikTok for more videos.