Dogs are known to have heightened senses but most of the time, these abilities end up annoying owners more than anything, except in this particular case. This is the story of how one loyal dog helped save not just its owner’s life but also her child’s.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
The couple, Alhanna and Ricky, were living a small quaint life in England and had no idea that their newly adopted Akita Inu, named Keola would end up not having such a huge impact in their lives, but also, turning them into overnight celebrities.
1. Family Life
Though the couple was living an idyllic life unfortunately they were having issues with fertility. The couple had tried for some time to get pregnant and it seemed like, things were just not going there way.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Thankfully, during this tough time, Alhanna relied heavily on her peaceful and quite cuddly dog to help her calm down and bear the stresses of infertility. But as you can tell from the title, things were about to change for the couple.
2. The Starting
After months of disappointing test results, she finally got the news she wanted and felt overjoyed by it all! The couple was finally pregnant and it looked like things were looking up for them!
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Ricky and Alhanna immediately went into family mode and started stocking up on baby products, baby clothes and everything and anything with the word “baby” in it! As they were busy preparing for their little arrival, there was something peculiar happening with their pup which they failed to notice!
3. Behavioural Changes
The otherwise peaceful dog began acting strangely. Once a docile pet, she started to poke and whine and wanted to press her nose against Alhanna’s belly for hours at a time. And She was always lying as close to her owner as possible.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Alhanna had no idea what had gotten into her dog. She decided to ignore the odd behaviour, but she would soon realize that was a mistake—and that Keola was actually trying to tell her something incredibly important!
4. Smooth Sailing
Meanwhile, Alhanna’s pregnancy went off without a hitch, and she was excited to experience motherhood. Although she felt great, it became harder and harder to ignore Keola’s increasingly strange behaviour.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
At that point, neither one of them had linked this change in attitude with Alhanna’s pregnancy but it looked like Keola was picking up on warning signs that even the couple couldn’t understand yet.
5. Sudden Shift
All Keola wanted to do was spend her entire day, hovering around Alhanna. It seemed like she had no care for herself or her own needs and seemed to feel attached to Alhanna like she never had been before.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
At first, the couple just thought it was an odd phase but as the weeks went by and Alhanna progressed in her pregnancy, Keola seemed more and more disturbed. What was happening to their once normal dog?
6. No Idea
In the eighteenth week of her pregnancy, Alhanna suddenly developed a sharp pain in her back. It was so strong that she could barely walk. Worried over what this could mean for their unborn child, Ricky rushed her to the hospital.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Oddly, the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong. They told Alhanna she was suffering back pain because the weight of the baby was putting stress on her body. It seemed to make sense and looked routine, so the couple went back home.
7. Friends And Family
As soon as Alhanna returned home, Keola seemed to be hyper-vigilant whining and begging Alhanna but she couldn’t figure out what the faithful puppy was trying to tell her. It wasn’t until she started telling her friends and family, that she had her answer.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Alhanna logged in to Facebook and posted about her situation. Almost immediately, she had an outpouring response which urged her to listen to Keola’s instincts. Even though the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong, the dog was likely sensing a very real problem.
8. More Tests
And while the internet is full of sceptics and confusing answers it was Alhanna’s mother’s firm voice which pushed her over the edge and convinced her to look deeper into her health issues.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
So, she went to another doctor for more tests, even than the doctor told her that she was being paranoid but her mother had made her believe that Keola’s behaviour wasn’t a coincidence.
9. The Results
Sure enough, after a series of examinations, Alhanna found out she not just had a very serious health issue but also was actually close to death! The young expectant mother was suffering from a double kidney infection.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
This was a time-sensitive illness and it looked like, Alhanna was very lucky that she found out so quickly! This ensured the safety of both her and her unborn child. She was immediately placed on a serious antibiotic regimen and received all the proper care she needed to reverse her kidney damage.
10. Stunned
You see the thing with kidney infections is that if they go untreated, maternal and fetal complications may develop including premature labour and low birth weight, so it is important to seek medical care.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
But sadly, the symptoms of the illness are often misdiagnosed as normal pregnancy issues and often don’t get treated until the very end. So, Keola might just have saved Alhanna’s life by alerting her to the infections even before her doctors knew it!
11. New Mother
Thankfully though, the treated for Kidney Infections is pretty straight forward and does not put a strain on the mother and child. Alhanna spent a few weeks taking oral medication and was back to normal.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
The remarkable thing here is that as Alanna recovered so did Keola! With each passing day, the dog was returning back to its old personality. By the time Alhanna gave birth, to to a beautiful baby boy named Lincoln, everything and everyone was well-settled.
12. Adjusting
But this wasn’t the end of the story, it seemed like not only had Keola protected Alhanna from any medical issues, she also wanted to do the same for Lincoln. Keola was turning out to be one extraordinary dog!
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
As soon as Alhanna brought her new son home from the hospital, Keola was instantly smitten with her new human friend. It was almost as if she knew how close Lincoln and his mother were to danger the whole time.
13. Watchful Eye
The dog spent as much time as she could with her new little brother! Treating the baby with a stunning level of delicacy! She even got up with the parents for nightly feedings and diaper explosions!
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Even though she’s a big and powerful animal, it looked like Keola knew exactly how to spend time with Lincoln, from cuddling him and even protecting him from both the outside environment and even herself!
14. A Strong Bond
At first, Alhanna and Ricky were both a little nervous about letting Keola spend so much time around Lincoln. They monitored the pair, but the pup soon proved that she was more than fit to keep a watchful eye on her little friend.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Amazingly, Lincoln wasn’t frightened at all by Keola. He was able to fall asleep easily whenever she was around, and she loved to give him kisses when he was snoozing. She treated him like he was her own puppy!
15. New Routine
Now, Keola and Lincoln love going for walks around their neighbourhood with Alhanna and Ricky. As soon as Keola sees Alhanna dressing Lincoln up, she jumps around with excitement because she knows it’s playtime!
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Keola even hangs out with Lincoln while he plays in his pyjamas. Most dogs don’t have the patience for this kind of thing, but check out this photogenic pooch! She was more than happy to pose with her best buddy.
16. The Perfect Duo
Keola and Lincoln are truly an inseparable pair, and Alhanna and Ricky are thrilled that they took to each other so quickly. Just look at that grin! There’s no place in the world Lincoln would rather be than sitting next to his four-legged friend.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Alhanna and Ricky have a great life together in South Yorkshire. They have plenty of friends, and now that Lincoln’s in their world, they’re able to bring him along to all of their social events. Their neighbours love his company, too!
17. Gratitude
Alhanna understands that she wouldn’t be here without her dog. She said in a recent interview “Because it was untreated for so long, it was one of the worst cases they had ever seen.”
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
She continued ” On top of that I had an antibiotic-resistant bug that had only ever affected one other person in the UK. It was killing me and the doctors told me if I had left it any longer I would have died and more than likely my son also”
18. Public Reception
The story of Keola and her love for her owners soon spread around like wildfire on Social Media. Everyone who heard of the loyal dog’s determination over protecting Lincoln and Alhanna was left with a big goofy smile on their face, including us!
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Thousands of people liked and shared their story, making videos of love for both the doggy and the family. The couple even got invited to various news channels and asked for interviews and more.
19. Guardian Angel
Alhanna thinks about her close call with death nearly every day. She can’t believe that Keola’s intuition was correct. To think that if she had believed the initial doctor, she wouldn’t have survived.
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
Keola is truly the cornerstone of this beautiful family, and she’ll always be cherished for it! We hope that from now on, this becomes the first and last heroic thing the Keola does and she gets to enjoy lots of dog cuddles, and lazy days in the park-like her other four every four-legged friend.
20. Canine Instincts
As amazing as Keola is we do want to point out that canines especially have this innate and remarkable instinct and all dog owners should know that if your animal is acting weird, you can’t always ignore it. Alhanna is sure happy she didn’t!
Alhanna Butler / Facebook
What a wonderful and heart-warming story, at a time we all need to find something to smile about. Let’s all take a lesson from this story and cuddle, hug and kiss our pets for extra-long tonight!