ROSSPARRY Sue McKenzie with her cat Tom who gave her a health alert

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But in fact her 24-year-old companion, normally an aloof moggy who rarely cuddled up to her, had saved her life.



Tom had been tapping her neck where a tumour was growing.



He had been pawing at her for two weeks while meowing loudly in her ear before Sue decided to take him to the vet.



He was given a clean bill of health but the vet suggested to Sue, 64, that her cat might be trying to tell her that she had a health problem.



She said she was sceptical at first but decided to have a check-up anyway and booked an appointment to see her doctor when she got home.



The GP fast-tracked Sue, from Scunthorpe, Lincs, to hospital in August last year.



There she was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She had an operation to remove the lump on her neck shortly afterwards.

Sue, a hospice volunteer, has had six rounds of chemotherapy over a year but has now been given the all-clear.



She said: “I suppose it is all thanks to Tom. He has saved my life in a way. But he’s not bothered – he’s gone back to being aloof and leaving my neck very much alone.



“Tom has never been a very loving cat, he doesn’t come to me for cuddles very often.

So I thought he was behaving very strangely when he suddenly starting sitting next to me, very straight, and tapping his paw on the back of my neck while meowing incredibly loudly Sue McKenzie