[FRIAM] Few of you ...

[uǝlƃ ☣]

Well, hearkening back to our discussion about cross-species "mind reading", I do know Amy knew *something* was happening.  Around the turn of the new year, she started puking up all her solid food (because it couldn't get past the adenoma).  For the 1st 2 days, having had cats for my entire life and Renee's adult life, we thought: Cat's puke sometimes.  But it was so violent and a complete disgorging that we took her in and started the diagnostic process.

During this time, Amy *learned* not to eat solid food, seemingly all on her own.  We offered a lot of wet food and she simply licked the gravy out.  So, that tells me she knows something's up and is trying to compensate.  And, of course, she hates going to the doctor (so say we all) and hides when she hears the carrier rattle.  But, that's the extent of my confidence in what she does or doesn't know.  I can't say she recognizes *what* is happening, only that something bad is happening.

I can say much the same thing about my fellow cancer patients.  Sitting in the infusion chair for 8 hours once a month for 2.5 years gives you a lot of time to get to know your fellow patients.  They mostly had *zero* idea *what* was happening, despite the doctor's best efforts.  Hell, the nurses didn't even know what was happening most of the time.  They only know their protocol.  My oncologist got very tired of me asking questions and my persnickety "logging" of what was happening to me.  I can fit what I know about follicular lymphoma and my treatment (bendamustine and obinutuzumab) in perhaps a 2 page document.  But I still knew WAY more about what was happening than my fellow patients knew about their conditions.  The point being my guess is that one's comfort with sickness, dying, treatment, healing, etc. have little to nothing to do with knowledge or intelligence.  There's some other dimension at play.

On 1/18/19 9:51 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
> I don't know about cats, but dogs I think recognize what is happening.   This discussion of humans is also interesting.
> 
> https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/01/how-do-people-communicate-before-death/580303/

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