Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

'My cat saved my life when I had a heart attack'

'My cat saved my life when I had a heart attack'

A woman believes her cat saved her life by waking her up while she was having a heart attack.

Sam Felstead thinks she would have died in her sleep if Billy had not jumped on her and started meowing.

Once awake, Ms Felstead realised she could not move on her right side, so her mother helped her get to hospital.

Two cat behaviour experts told the BBC that Billy could have been reacting to changes in Ms Felstead's behaviour or physiology.


'He knew'


"The doctors said it was a good job I got to hospital in time," said Ms Felstead, who lives in Stapleford in Nottinghamshire.

"He [Billy] doesn't normally sit with me but he knew something was wrong because he wouldn't leave me alone.

"I do think he saved my life and so does everybody else around me."

Billy could have been reacting to his owner sweating more than usual


Feline behaviourist Lucy Hoile believes Billy may have picked up on physiological changes in Ms Felstead, or a change in her behaviour, making him anxious.

"It could be that the fact he jumped on her and was meowing was a sign of his anxiety," she said.

"I do believe he probably did save her life, because that's what enabled her to get medical help, but I wouldn't go down the route of saying he did it on purpose. It was him reacting to the situation."


'He was quite clever'


Ms Hoile said Billy could have picked up on Ms Felstead sweating more, moving differently from normal, making noises, being distressed in her sleep, or even changes in her smell.

"I was wet through with sweat so maybe that's what he sensed," said Ms Felstead.

"He was quite clever, bless him. He wanted to stay beside me all the time. Normally he sits next to my mum all the time, he's not interested in me. He loves my mum and gives her lots of love."

Billy does not normally give Ms Felstead any attention

Linda Ryan, a certificated clinical animal behaviourist for cats, said Ms Felstead could have been behaving in a way that was interesting for or distressing to Billy.

"It might have been that the cat was startled or distressed. The movement or twitching was attracting its attention, because cats are stimulated by movement," she said.

"It's likely to do with the change in behaviour, I would imagine. Cats don't have the same social behaviours as social species, such as dogs or horses or rabbits, as they are more solitary in nature.

"Whilst it's easy to believe this was a deliberate act of altruism, correlation does not equal causation, therefore it was unlikely to be deliberately saving her life."


'Not bothered'


Ms Felstead was in hospital from 8 August to 11 August. She had an angioplasty, where a balloon was used to stretch open a narrow artery. She will also need to take medication.

"When I came out of hospital he wouldn't go near me for a good few hours, whether I smelt funny from coming out of the hospital I don't know," she said.

She feels "very grateful" towards Billy but he is apparently nonchalant.

"I don't think he has one bit of a clue what's happened," she said.

"As long as I feed him he's not bothered."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
×