We've already had reports of the reactions of your pets to the possible presence of ghosts. But we wanted to take a more organized approach here. So here's a thread where you can report on the things your pets have done that leads you to believe they might have psychic powers. This is something that's wide open for all sorts of possibilities. So, members, the ball is in your court.
My cats seem to know when my wife is approaching the house, even if she has been gone all day. A few minutes before she gets here, they get agitated and start looking out of the windows. They (especially the older cat) are startlingly accurate. When our older cat died (over a decade ago), I thought I could see it out of the corner of my eye for months afterward.
I almost mentioned my parents dogs. They seem to know when they are about to come home. However, it's a routine. Their dogs seem to know when it's time to do everything that's on schedule. When to eat, when to walk, when to wake up, when they come home. Biological clock accounts for it, til I can prove otherwise.
Heh, heh, well for what it's worth I can assure you cats have an equivalent time sense: when it's time to eat, time to sleep, time for a treat, and time for any other household routine that interests them. The "sensing my wife is approaching the house"-thingy, there is nothing remotely routine about that. Heck, sometimes even I don't know when she is getting home. Very useful for hiding junk food I'm not supposed to be eating anyway. If you get what I mean.
The go-to guy for this is the wonderfully articulate (and very British) Rupert Sheldrak. He's one a lot of really interesting (and delightful) research into the PET's with ESP subject. He has done a lot of wonderful audio interviews and presentations, all logged on his site (see below). And - He would be an AWESOME guest on the PARACAST (hint, hint). The title of one of his (many) books says it all: Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home: And Other Unexplained Powers of Animals by Rupert Sheldrake amazon LINK: http://www.amazon.com/Dogs-That-Their-Owners-Coming/dp/0609805339/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227459776&sr=1-2 Rupert's web-site LINK: Rupert Sheldrake Online - Homepage
i once had what seemed like a psychic dog once, his name was Boris, and he was a mongrel that had taken up residence outside a petshop near where we lived. the petshop wanted to find him a home and we were glad to do so even if his back was turned and he was facing away, if i thought to myself while looking at him "what a magnificent creature you are" he would turn and wag his tail. it was uncanny and hes the only dog to have seemed so "sensitive". but it happened over and over again, to this day i have no explaination as to how he knew when i was thinking affectionate thoughts, but he seemed to do so with uncanny accuracy
1) Sheldrake would be a very good guest, I agree. He has lots of interesting theories. 2.) The dog, Moses, can always figure out when I am coming home, routine or not. These days I would say he can hear the diesel engine, but that's only recent. According to my wife, he 'knows' from about ten minutes away and plants himself by the garage door, which corresponds to when I get back onto the 'island' (There's a bridge.) 3.) I had three lilac point siamese cats: Epicenter was the mother; Hurricane and Iridium were her very young babies. One day she seemed extremely agitated and would not settle down. The babies were also upset, probably because hey weren't being fed properly. Usually there is a 'cat crazies' time of day when cats will tear around the house releasing some energy, but this was way beyond normal and at the wrong time. We both noticed it and were concerned, kind of at the knitted brow WTF stage. Then we had a 6.9 earthquake. Epi nursed her babies and went to sleep. I called the local TV station and told them, but they were more interested in interviewing some guy getting beer coming out of the 7/11 about what he thought than dealing with the fact that Epicenter predicted an earthquake. A couple of years later Hurricane had Ricochet. For awhile there we had four. You have not had cats until you've had a 'hassle' of siamese. Hurricane is the only one left now.
I've seen many examples of this sort of thing. The dogs I have now know when I'm going to drive somewhere. They love to ride along. All I have to do is think about it and they get all excited and start jumping all over me. It doesn't work if I try to fake'em out. I don't know what subtle signal they're picking up on, but they do it pretty well.
my mixed breed cat Sugar was born blind. you would never notice until you watched for awhile. she knows when i am coming home. Sugar runs to the door 10 minutes before i get home so often we dont get too excited about it. my girlfriend used to tell me all the time that Sugar was sound asleep or downstairs in the litter box, etc, and she would run to the door and sit and wait for me to come in. i am not sure it is "psychic", i know she has incredible hearing as well. my studio is right on broadway which is actually a 4 lane highyway in a midsize minnesota city. i have squeaky 130 year old wooden floors and so the combination of the two makes quite a background rumble and ruckus as there is a fire department one block down. i say all f this because even tho Sugar is around all that noise she can still hear me TOUCH 2 fingers together from up to about 10 feet away. last summer i was standing with a client in my studio and we were watching Sugar on the ledge in the front window, she seemed to be "watching" a "box elder bug" crawling up the window approximately 2 feet higher that where she was sitting. we were shocked that she HEARD the bug, now here is the crazy part, i went to catch the thing and throw it outside but it already was! she heard the bug and precisely located it with her ears while we spoke and traffic roared by only 10 feet away. the very first day i had her, after a short exploration of my studio she sat in the middle of the room with her head back listening to stuff. all of a sudden she started going all "stevie wonder/ray charles" on me. she swayed her head back and forth repeatedly, and then all of a sudden she made an incredible leap straight up about 3 feet and snagged a fly out of the air and as she landed popped it into her mouth and was eating it before her front feet hit the floor! i immediately got on the phone to the women tha had given her to me a few hours earlier (rescue cat) and told her that Sugar could see. turns out she had been catching flies since a small kitten (she was 6 months when i got her). i hung up after a short chat and was not convinced of her blindness. well long story short, she is in fact blind. she is now on the cover of a (caring for a blind cat) book (Cat Professional - Caring for Cats - Home Page) i could type quite a story about her nearly everyday. when i am having a bad day she will lay next to me and put her paw on my hand.
eh Pierre, fermez la bouche, eh. Vous n'avez aucune classe, j'espéreriez que les puces de mille chameaux infesteraient vos aisselles.
Of the two cats I own, the more intuitive one finished a phase he went through a few months ago where he would intently stare at the same spot on the wall without flinching for hours on end. He would meow a strange and confused, almost mournful sounding meow, and would not abandon his post.
I don't know if this qualifies as truly psychic, but it was weird. I worked at a nursing home, and know of a couple other places that have a community cat. Most of the residents loved the cat and the ones with dementia would refer to her as "their" cat. Her name was Molly. When people would become ill, the cat would "make rounds". If someone was in the dying process, the cat would sit in their room during their last hours of life. It was very comforting for the residents, but as you can imagine would make the staff very nervous when Molly would pay attention to one person more than the rest for any length of time.
Since I get home first at my house my dog will come hang out with me in the basement. My parents get home between 530 and 630 at night, but 5 minutes before they get home my dog will run up and wait by the door for them. I'd normally associate this with it knowing time, but when they are getting home at 530 she's up there at 525, when they get home at 630 she's up there at 625. She's stopped doing it as she has gotten older, but every once in a while she'll do it again.
Here's another strange one with the dog. I walk Moses every day between 10:30 and 12:00 am, 7 days a week. My wife is usually home at that time on the weekends. It is usually my job to fix brunch for us, a time when Moze always gets excited. Once in a great while my wife will do so. Out of the times she will do that, once in awhile she will start brunch when I am walking the dog. Every time she does that, the dog will pull me home quickly. When she does NOT do this, he will mosey along slowly, doing his usual sniff & pee routine. I've grown to trust the dog in this. yesterday he pulled me home and I figure I was going to get fed. Sure enough it was almost ready when I got home. Moses, of course, gets some bites from our meals, so he has a vested interest to race home. Given the variability of the routine, the only conclusion I can come to is that the dog knows.
I'm quite sure this wouldn't qualify as psychic..yet I think it's interesting: (and sorry if tmi) Every single month, at exactly three days before my cycle, my female (spayed but has had kittens in her past) gets extra lovey-dovey and pays extra attention to me. She's done this for many years. I can clock my hormones by her, lol!
