A 64-year-old woman's cat started behaving strangely - but then she realized he was trying to tell her something

Twenty years ago, 64-year-old Sue McKenzie discovered something outside her home.

A black-and-white cat howled during heavy raining outside her door in Sconthorpe, England.

Sue's husband didn't want to let the stray cat into the house, but Sue couldn't help but open the door for him.

Sue fed him, and since then, Tom the cat has stayed to live with them.

But what Sue didn't know is that 20 years later, Tom the cat will repay her in the most unexpected way possible..

Towards the end of the 90s, Sue Mackenzie adopted a stray cat and named him Tom.

From the first moment Sue and Tom had a special bond, but this cat was different from most cats.

Tom was independent and kept his distance from others. He preferred the yard over the living room, and in a sense continued to be a stray cat.

Then, in 2014, Tom surprised Sue when his behavior changed.

After he was distant for 20 years, Tom suddenly wanted to be as close to Sue as he never was before.

Tom began to pat and caress Sue at a certain point on her body - her right shoulder.

"Tom never looked for human touch, so I thought he was behaving very strangely when he suddenly started patting and stroking me with his feet", Sue told ITV News. "He was patting the back of my neck and at the same time howling loudly. He did it non-stop for two weeks and to be honest it started to drive me crazy".

Sue worried there was a problem with Tom. She never thought her cat was trying to tell her something..

Sue took Tom to the vet, but was even more confused when he told her that the cat was perfectly healthy.

The vet told Sue that maybe the cat was trying to tell her something.

Sue, who worked as a nurse, thought she knew her body well enough to know if she was sick. But the things the vet said resonated in her head. And suddenly felt there was a problem with her clavicle.

Sue went to the doctor and found out she had a lump in her shoulder. And it turned out that it was Hodgkin's lymphoma - a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system.

Sue was diagnosed in August 2014 and immediately underwent surgery to remove the lump.

After a number of chemotherapy treatments, she has fully recovered and feels great - all thanks to Tom the cat.

"I always thought animals had a sixth sense about these things", Sue said.

"I guess it's all thanks to Tom. He saved my life", Sue said.

Our pets give us so much. But how many pet owners can say their cat or dog saved their lives?