Cat Therapy: My Cheetahs Helped Me Through Breast Cancer

Big cat lover Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2013 and underwent a double mastectomy as part of the treatment.

The 53-year-old, who bought her first cheetah Fiela back in 2006, also had to have chemotherapy as she walked the road to recovery.

Riana’s unique bond with the animal means she can cuddle up with it in bed, and even allow it to lick her face and eat from the same dinner table.

The South African cancer survivor has now opened-up about how the cheetah would comfort her during the frightening ordeal.

She said: “I was so afraid our relationship would change - I lost all my hair and the first time she saw me she just licked my head to say, ‘You are OK, I still love you.’

“When I came back from hospital I was so afraid that we should jump on me and she would hurt me.

“But she had a certain way to get on the bed.

“She did not get on top of me, she was always getting on the other side, as if to say - ‘I know you’re hurt and I know there’s changes.’

“She could read that I am in pain.

"She looked after me somehow and that purring of hers, being with me, you don't think of yourself, you just want to live for them. It's amazing how they can sense things in humans."

Riana has had a passion for the world’s fastest land animal since she saw one in a magazine when she was a 13-year-old girl.

And in 2006 she resigned after 22 years at the Department of Justice to pursue her dream of breeding cheetahs to release back into a 'protected wild'. 

The big-hearted survivor now runs the Cheetah Experience in Bloemfontein, South Africa, with her home based on the site.

The centre is open to the public and is home to 19 cheetahs, as well as a plethora of other animals including lions, tigers, leopards, wolves and meerkats.

However it is 9-year-old Fiela who Riana holds dearest.

She explains: “Fiela was my first cheetah - we have a very special bond.

"We all call her the Queen, she does whatever she wants to do.

"She doesn’t like people touching her.

“When she’s with me it’s just different - she likes to sleep on the bed, she sucks my finger, she sees as her companion.

"Nobody else can touch her, but I’m her mummy and I love her a lot.”

Riana opened the Cheetah Experience in 2006 and now has five full-time staff, alongside a regular influx of volunteers and animal lovers come from all over the world

Cheetahs are endangered animals, and Riana says her main mission in life is to help them.

She continued: “If humans don’t look after them, we will lose them. The fastest land animal is running out of time.

"We want to breed them in captivity, so one day I hope we can get a sponsor for a piece of land.

“We will be able to release them, where we can watch them and monitor them without predators.”