Rudy Armstrong lives at a marina in Oriental, South Carolina, USA. He is a US Navy veteran. He adopted Bubu, his chihuahua 18 months ago when she was 6 weeks old. He was in his armchair when he woke up after a stroke. One arm and a leg were paralysed. He called Bubu and told her that he was in trouble and to “go get Kim”. Kim Whittaker is the dockmaster at the marina. Bubu raced off to Kim’s office where she was standing outside. Bubu approached Kim and laid down beside her which was a sign to Kim that something was wrong as it was unusual behavior. Kim ran to Rudy’s boathouse and called an ambulance.
Rudy is recovering in hospital. He received a visit from Bubu in the rehabilitation garden. The hospital staff had organised it. They said that he was appreciative of the care he is receiving but does not like the turkey sausage.
Roy said that Bubu enjoys watching television with him but is not keen on Westerns. Her favorite seems to be a show about life a a California zoo. Dogs can sense when their human caregiver and companion (and leader) is ill. It is believed that they achieve this by detecting changes in behaviour, facial expressions, hormones and volative organic compounds (VCOs) given off by their owner’s body. There are tens of thousands of stories like Bubu’s. Cats are also sensitive to human illness and are probably also able to detect changes in VCOs. Oscar was one such hospitat cat.
