By Alice GibbsShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberWhen two-year-old rescue dog Sunny began acting strangely, her owner was so confused she sought medical care—leading to the discovery of a brain aneurysm the very next day.
Kenzie Kinney Seymour, 31, from Missouri shared on social media how her dog Sunny, a Brittany–Keeshond mix, became unusually anxious and fixated on her neck just before her diagnosis.
In a video viewed thousands of times, Seymour was sitting in bed as Sunny climbed behind her, pressing her head and body against her neck and shoulders. The text overlay read: “The day before I was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm, my dog kept climbing behind me and wouldn't leave my neck alone.”
“I don’t know that she predicted it, but she could sense something was wrong,” Seymour told Newsweek. “She wouldn’t stop whining, licking excessively, hovering and laying behind me, propping herself on my back, neck and shoulders.”
Sunny has a history of reacting to Seymour’s health issues, including a leg that carries permanent damage from chronic blood clots.
“She does the same thing with my leg that has permanent chronic blood clot damage,” Seymour explained. “It is always nerve-wracking when Sunny gets so antsy like that, because it’s not normal for her and I know she is sensitive to my health problems.”
...Can Dogs Detect Illnesses?
There is currently no scientific evidence that dogs can detect unruptured brain aneurysms. However, studies have shown that trained dogs can detect other illnesses, from cancers to COVID-19.
One 2022 study, found that medical detection dogs could identify COVID-19 in sweat samples with about 98 percent sensitivity and 92 percent specificity.
While a 2021 study from Queen’s University Belfast found that pet dogs reacted differently to sweat samples taken from people during epileptic seizures compared with non-seizure samples, supporting the idea that dogs can detect a specific seizure-related odor.
This is not the first time a dog owner has shared the story of their pet sensing a problem before they did. In 2022, a woman from Dublin, Ireland, shared how her dog Sox found her dad’s cancer before the family knew anything about it.
While another pup gained viral attention for his sniffing service skills. A medical alert and response service dog in training (SDiT), Gus wowed the internet with his ability to tell his owner if food contains gluten with a simple sniff.
Concerned by her dog's unusual behavior, Seymour went to the emergency room due to intense head and neck pain. Initially, she said, staff considered sending her home—but she insisted on receiving a CT scan. The scan revealed a brain aneurysm.
Now, Seymour is waiting to see a neurologist. “I am taking it day by day,” she said.
She decided to share her experience on Instagram where it has been viewed more than 10,000 times. In the comments, people shared their own experiences of pets picking up on things.
“I had a similar experience recently with a non-trained dog alerting to me. She was able to predict an episode of syncope before I even felt it and potentially saved me… Dogs are so so cool,” said one commenter.
Another wrote: “Scottie did this with my seizures… dogs are such a gift!”
“Everyone is taught that angels have wings, but the lucky ones of us find they have four paws,” said another viewer.
While Sunny may not be a trained medical-alert dog, Seymour is delighted to have her by her side, always keeping an eye on her.
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