Cat wakes boy, helping him avoid diabetic seizure

Cat wakes boy, helping him avoid diabetic seizure

EDMONTON - If not for his cat Mel-O, 9-year-old Alex Rose figures he'd be laid up in a hospital bed trying to recover from a diabetic seizure - or worse.

His year-old feline - who usually stays away from people - crawled up four steps onto Alex's loft bed and walked across his belly, clawed and batted him to wake the boy, who has Type 1 diabetes, just as his blood sugar dropped to dangerously low levels.

"It was amazing," said Alex, as he scooped ice cream into his mouth to celebrate his ninth birthday Tuesday at the Edmonton Humane Society, where Mel-O received a certificate and special tag for her part in keeping him alive.

Alex's parents, Danielle and Sean Rose, say they're grateful for Mel-O's heroics.

"Did she save his life? In my mind, yes," said Danielle, referring to the March 28 incident at the family home in Morinville, north of Edmonton.

"He had five minutes before he would have seized. He would have seized and slipped into a coma and died."

After Alex woke up, Danielle quickly gave him orange juice and cookies to boost his flagging blood sugar levels, she said.

Then the family rewarded Mel-O with a plate of tuna.