Dog’s strange behaviour led to shocking diagnosis: 'Knew I had cancer before I did’
A 30-year-old woman credits her dog for detecting her aggressive breast cancer early, prompting her to seek medical care that ultimately saved her life.
A Pennsylvania woman believes her dog played a crucial role in detecting her life-threatening breast cancer before she even realised something was wrong, reported the New York Post.
Breanna Bortner, now 31, first noticed her cockapoo, Mochi, acting strangely in June 2023. The normally affectionate dog became fixated on her right breast—sniffing, pawing, and pressing into the area with unusual persistence. Things became even more concerning when her sister-in-law’s cockapoo, Gunner, exhibited the same behaviour.
Bortner had been feeling increasingly fatigued over the past year but had no reason to suspect anything serious. However, while scratching a mosquito bite near her breast, she discovered a lump. Aware of stories about dogs detecting cancer through scent, she couldn’t shake the unease triggered by Mochi’s behaviour.
Determined to get checked, she scheduled an appointment. Within days, doctors diagnosed her with stage 2B triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma—a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer that does not respond to typical hormonal treatments.
“That’s how fast and aggressive this triple-negative breast cancer is,” Bortner said. “It went from non-feel-able, non-detectable to a physical lump within three months.”
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers among women in the U.S., second only to skin cancer. Roughly one in eight women will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime. While early detection significantly improves survival rates—up to 89% when caught before spreading—those numbers drop dramatically to 31% if the cancer metastasises.
Bortner underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy followed by a double mastectomy. Looking back, she believes Mochi’s keen sense of smell was the reason her cancer was detected in time.
“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,” she said.
Scientific studies support the idea that dogs can detect cancer. A 2019 study revealed that trained dogs were able to identify blood samples from cancer patients with 97% accuracy. Other research has shown canines successfully detecting various types of cancer, including prostate, breast, cervical, and lung cancer—sometimes earlier than traditional medical tests.
For Bortner, Mochi wasn’t just her early warning system—he was also her emotional rock throughout treatment.
“I was crying all the time and he did not like that. He was very concerned about me. He really turned into my healing buddy. He was a greater purpose for me.”
Last spring, Bortner received the news she had been hoping for: she was cancer-free. And, just as he had been by her side at the start, Mochi was there to celebrate.
“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,” she said.
While Bortner is now focused on recovery, she still undergoes scans every three months to monitor for any recurrence. Meanwhile, Mochi—who grew used to spending every moment with her—has developed separation anxiety, a new challenge they are now working through with a trainer.
Her story highlights not just the remarkable instincts of dogs but also the evolving ways technology may aid in early cancer detection. Recently, a woman on TikTok credited her Oura ring—a smart wearable that tracks health metrics—for alerting her to early signs of lymphoma after detecting abnormal body temperature fluctuations.
