Australian Family Brought Cat Into Hospital So Ill Grandfather Could See Him For The Last Time

Mar 14, 2020 by apost team

Another cat video is making the rounds, but this one can bring viewers to tears. It features a ginger cat named Coco being brought to an Australian hospital to say goodbye to his owner, who is dying from cancer.

Paul Lewis had kidney and bowel cancer. After his health suddenly declined, he was rushed to Muswellbrook Hospital in New South Wales on February 28, reports Newshub. He greatly missed his cat Coco, who at 19 was also a senior, and the feeling was mutual. According to Lewis’ granddaughter, Alisha Foti, Coco had a very close bond with Lewis. She told the Daily Mail Australia that the cat had been frantically searching for Lewis after he was hospitalized.

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Foti, her partner Shane, and her uncle Matthew decided to sneak Coco into the hospital so the pair could see each other for one last time. At Shane’s suggestion, the trio put Coco in a traveling bag and closed it to hide the contraband feline from view. The family decided to bring Coco to the hospital after the doctors informed them that Lewis had little time left.

They took the precaution of testing Coco’s reactions to being put in a traveling bag, for they did not want to stress the aging cat. Since Coco remained calm, the family proceeded to put him into a traveling bag and took him to the hospital.

Coco remained calm during the car ride but began crying when brought in front of Lewis. That caused the members of Lewis’ family to also cry. Foti stated that while her grandfather drifted in and out of consciousness, he seemed happy to see Coco. 

Foti filmed a video of the family preparing Coco for his trip to the hospital to the tune of “When She Loved Me.” It starts with the family placing Coco in the bag and ends with Coco at the hospital with his owner. She later posted the video on a site called TikTok where it garnered millions of views. Foti later commented to the Daily Mail Australia that she suspected that Lewis’ main nurse knew something was going on. Tactfully, she did not say anything to the family.

Can cats tell when someone is dying? Both cats and dogs can detect the physiological changes that accompany death. As a person’s body shuts down, their biochemistry changes and their body temperature decreases. Such changes also cause the person to smell differently. According to Cuteness, while a human can’t detect that change in odor, a cat can.

Both cats and dogs can recognize changes in routine. Cats are also quite adept at reading non-verbal cues, so they can tell when their humans are in distress. As Coco demonstrated, cats do notice when a favorite human is no longer around. Foti later said that she brought Coco to the hospital to give him “closure” and to let her grandfather say goodbye to his best friend. Lewis died the following day.

Have you read this story? Would you take a pet to the hospital to visit their dying owner? Please post your comments in the box below.