Monty

CAMROSE, ALBERTA

Monty is a lovable, ginger tabby cat that Patricia Peter felt an immediate connection with as soon as she brought him home to join her family. A cat-lover, Patricia had owned other cats before, but she felt a close bond with Monty that was beyond comparison. A bond so extraordinary it would soon prove to save Patricia’s life.

In the middle of the night in March 2011, Patricia awoke to Monty repeatedly biting the fingers of her left hand. Patricia is a recently diagnosed diabetic, and her left hand is the only hand she uses to test her blood sugar levels. Monty never bites and although this was quite unusual behavior for him, Patricia tried to “shoo” him away, so she could go back to sleep. When he persisted, she sat up to push him to the foot of the bed and suddenly felt incredibly dizzy. So as not to wake her husband who was sleeping soundly beside her, Patricia carefully stood up to go to the washroom and noticed that her vision was very blurry. She was weak in the legs, couldn’t focus and felt sick to her stomach.

With Monty meowing and rubbing up against the side of her leg, Patricia slowly made her way to the kitchen to check her blood sugar. As she walked to the kitchen, she had to physically cling to the walls for balance. Monty walked beside her and as she got closer, Monty intuitively ran ahead and sat beside her diabetic testing kit. Sure enough, after testing her blood, Patricia discovered her blood sugar was down to a low of 2.7 – normal blood sugar level is between 5 and 7. After treating her low blood sugar with sugar tablets, Monty persistently kept Patricia awake until she retested 15 minutes later. When the second test showed a normal reading, Patricia asked Monty if she could go back to sleep, he indicated “yes” by running back to her bedroom and hopping onto her bed. Monty then lay by Patricia’s side for the rest of the night as she slept.

Patricia later told this story to her doctor, who insisted that if Monty hadn’t had woken her up and prompted her to test and treat her low blood sugar levels when he did, she could have fallen into a dangerous diabetic coma or diabetic seizure.

Patricia always knew Monty was a smart cat and that they had a special connection, but she’s now aware of his incredible intuitive sense. Since that night, Patricia and Monty’s bond has become stronger than ever – not only is he her companion and friend, he’s also her lifesaver, “little hero” and guardian angel.