Willow the Cat honored as a Cat Awards finalist for saving her diabetic owner's life
Cats have an incredible way of knowing when something is wrong with their human.
Willow and her owner, Amanda Jameson
Cats, like adorable, four-legged therapists and nurses, have an uncanny ability to pick up on subtle changes in our emotions and health. Research suggests that their tremendous sense of smell allows them to sense illness in humans, often before we know we're sick.
The feline olfactory system is 14 times more powerful than a human's, so cats can detect subtle differences in someone’s scent that may indicate if there is something wrong with their health.
An incredible example of this sense put into action comes from Liverpool, England, where a cat named Willow saved her owner’s life by noticing when she wasn’t well. Amanda Jameson, a 51-year-old diabetic, went to bed one night with dangerously low blood sugar. Somehow, Willow noticed something was wrong with her, so she went to get help.
Willow found her partner, Ray Sherwood, 57, asleep watching television. Willow nibbled on Sherwood’s legs to get his attention to wake him up. “I had fallen asleep in front of the TV and then around 4 am, I was woken by Willow biting at my legs and jumping at me,” Sherwood told The Independent.
“It was very out of character for her and made me get up to see what all the fuss was about,” he continued. “She was running between me and the stairs, looking back at me. I followed her up the stairs and she kept looking back at me to make sure I was coming.”
When he got to the bedroom, he found Jameson slumped over. She was unresponsive, so he called an ambulance. When she arrived at the hospital, doctors said she was close to slipping into a diabetic coma. But thanks to Willow’s bravery, she was saved just before her condition took a turn for the worse.
It’s impossible to know how long someone can last in a diabetic coma, but if untreated, it can eventually lead to brain damage or death. Jameson believes that since her scare, Willow appears to be worried about her health.
\u201cWillow the cat who saved diabetic owner\u2019s life among finalists in National Cat Awards\nhttps://t.co/wEHsPNO0KZ\u201d— The Independent (@The Independent) 1682056560
“Since I came home from the hospital, she has become very protective of me. I’ve noticed how she puts her nose to my mouth a lot. I think she’s checking I’m breathing,” she told The Independent.
Willow’s quick thinking has earned her the honor of being one of the 12 finalists for The National Cat Awards sponsored by Cats Protection, the UK’s biggest cat charity. Willow is nominated in the Moggy Marvels category for those who’ve displayed their “moggy brilliance.”
She’s up against two other cats in her category. Beau, who's taken care of an owner with blood cancer, and Dali, who went missing for a month and was found marooned on a tiny patch of rocks in the Bradford Beck River.
In the UK, "moggy" refers to a typical domestic house cat that’s often mixed-breed. Similar to how Americans refer to a run-of-the-mill, mixed-breed dog as a mutt.
Whether or not Willow wins the award, she’ll be loved by her owner all the same. "I love her more than anything,” Jameson told CBS News. “I can't thank her enough, and she is the world to me.”
"Now your fishes will be warmed."
"To have one’s eyes lined with ham."
"To lay your head in water."
"Repetition teaches the donkey."
"I only understand train station."
"To speak directly from the liver."
"Horse horse, tiger tiger."
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Medusa image of giant squid in Gulf of Mexico off of Mississippi Gulf CoastPhoto credit: 
Sign warning against feeding alligators next to alligator in Mississippi marshlandsCourtesy of Jacalyn Wetzel
Mississippi Gulf Coast beach in BiloxiCourtesy of Jacalyn Wetzel
2009 photo of giant squid caught in Gulf of Mexico near Mississippi GulfPhoto credit: 
Thank goodness this story has a happy ending.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."