Rhianna Benson
Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.
A woman has opened up about how her dog helped spot a strange symptom that later turned out be cancer.
In June 2023, 30-year-old Breanna Bortner was dealt the devastating blow of a breast cancer diagnosis.
The weeks leading up to the news, however, the Minnesota-local presented hardly any of the conventional symptoms of the disease.
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In fact, it was only her dog Mochi's suddenly strange behaviour that prompted her to make a GP appointment in the first place.
In the spring of 2023, the two-year-old cockapoo had apparently begun centring much of his attention towards a specific area of Bortner's body, burrowing his head ceaselessly against her breast.
While such behaviour isn't totally out of the ordinary in dogs, it wasn't until her sister-in-law's cockapoo Gunner began acting in the same 'odd' way that she began to grow in concern.
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She told the Daily Mail: "It was very odd."
Bortner had previously heard of canines having the ability to 'sniff out' illness within their owner's bodies, and felt compelled to book a doctor's appointment, knowing 'this wasn't good'.
She'd already undergone a routine breast exam in the months earlier that had come back clear.
That didn't stop the entrepreneur from being blindsided by a stage 2B triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma diagnosis in the days that followed - one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer, notoriously resistant to many treatments.
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Though the survival rate for this specific strain is almost 100 percent in its earliest stages, it has been known to drop to below 31 percent in cases whereby the cancer has subsequently spread to the lymph nodes and surrounding organs.
Discussing the tumour, Bortner told the Mail: "It was already and inch and a half big."
Adding of the previously clear scan, she continued: "That's how fast and aggressive this triple-negative breast cancer is.
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"It went from non-feel-able, non-detectable to a physical lump within three months."
As well as 16 rounds of chemotherapy, the months that followed also saw Bortner forced to undergo a year of immunotherapy, and a double mastectomy.
She has since set up a blog - Brave Beautiful Boobies - detailing her cancer journey, where she recently explained: "We really underestimate how smart [dogs] are just because they don't talk and they can't communicate to us.
"But their actions obviously show us the things that they're tuning into or are aware of."
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For reference, a dog's ability to smell is said to be anywhere from 10,000 and 100,000 times more powerful than that of a human being.
Specific breeds of service dogs have been known to sense when their epileptic owner is suffering with an oncoming seizure.
In the case of Mochi, this was likely the higher end of the scale, being that her breed is a blend of two dogs bred for hunting and recognised for their keen sense of smell.
It may well have been that Bortner's pet was able to pick up on the unique odours that the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by cancerous cells through her breath, urine, faeces and sweat, even from beneath her skin.
Before her diagnosis, the only two symptoms she suffered from were increased fatigue and an itching surrounding her breasts.
She also noticed a partial lump which she claims she wouldn't have had checked out if Mochi had not brought her attention to it.
Shortly after March 2024, Bortner was declared cancer-free - though, still has to endure scans every three months to check that the cancer hasn't come back.
Of the bond she and her dog now share, she added they're inseparable.
"He really turned into my healing buddy," the now 31-year-old gushed. "He was a greater purpose for me.
"He spent so much time with me here. That's just kind of been the status quo. So now when I leave the house or he's home alone, he's been getting into the trash can and showing some behaviours that are quite new."
Adding of her recovery, Bortner went on to say: "It's pretty cool to see it come full circle and for him to be there from the time I found the lump all the way through finding out I was cancer free.
"He was there more than anyone else. He was my main guy."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.