'˜My cat tells me when I'm going to have a seizure'

An Eastbourne woman says her cat miraculously knows when she is going to have an epileptic seizure.
Lucky the 'guide cat' senses when her owner is going to have a seizureLucky the 'guide cat' senses when her owner is going to have a seizure
Lucky the 'guide cat' senses when her owner is going to have a seizure

Lucrezia Civita, 49, say she ‘can’t imagine life’ without her intuitive cat Lucky, who she calls a guide cat.

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The black three-year-old feline senses when Lucrezia, of Rockhurst Drive, is going to have an episode and leads her to her bed to rest.

Lucrezia Civita says she can't imagine life without her cat LuckyLucrezia Civita says she can't imagine life without her cat Lucky
Lucrezia Civita says she can't imagine life without her cat Lucky

The usually extremely shy cat then waits with her and comforts her until she is well again.

Lucrezia said, “She’s abundantly helpful to me. She tells me how my day is going to be. If she’s all over the place and running everywhere I have to be careful.

“Obviously I’m putting out something but I don’t know what. Some people don’t believe in auras but that would explain how a cat can see things like that.

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“She seems to constantly be keeping an eye on me. She alerts me when to rest. I think having an animal who can do that is immensely wonderful.”

Gypsy and Lucky are good friendsGypsy and Lucky are good friends
Gypsy and Lucky are good friends

She added, “I don’t think people realise that certain cats can do this, they just think that only dogs can be therapeutic.

“Cats are wonderfully therapeutic animals. They are not as solitary as people think.

“I can’t imagine my life without her, I’d be a lot less confident about going out.”

Gypsy (front) and LuckyGypsy (front) and Lucky
Gypsy (front) and Lucky
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Lucrezia says Lucky, who she calls ‘superbly intelligent’, shows her how her day is going to be. If Lucky is ‘all over the place’, she has to be careful, but if she is relaxed it is fine.

It all began when the cat lover, who has stress-induced epilepsy, went through a stressful move.

“I went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and woke up three days later in intensive care,” she said.

“I realised I need something to keep me stressless, something that curls up on the bed with me just to de-stress.”

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She decided she wanted a black female cat and finally found Lucky, “I fell in love as soon as I saw her.”

The kitten was very thin and likely neglected when Lucrezia bought her, but she discovered she was ‘superbly intelligent’.

Then one day when Lucrezia was working at her computer Lucky approached her and started to scratch her leg.

“She walks to the doorway, and looked around to see if I’m following her,” Lucrezia said, “I followed her. She jumped up on the bed and suddenly I see lights, my last thought was ‘oh my god I’m going to have a seizure’.

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“I was out for the next two hours. I woke up and there she is next to me.

“I realised she must have known I was going to have a seizure, that’s why she wanted me to lie down.”

About a year later it happened again. Lucrezia said, “She seems to know something in me isn’t right. She’s always there next to me when I go through this.

“She must know when people need comforting. I don’t know where she learned it but I’m blessed to have her.”

Lucky lives happily with Lucrezia and her ‘normal’ white cat, Gypsy.