YourLifeChoices columnist Peter Leith recently wrote about Chloe (or Claude), the resident cat at Eventide Nursing Home who seemed to have a sixth sense. She/he made especially close friendships and spent a lot of time with people shortly before they died. This prompted several emails about similar observations from other people. We share them here.
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Alcida wrote:
My adult son Iain has leukaemia. He sometimes collapses in the shower and lies there until a little furry paw gently pats his face and wakes him up. Astro doesn’t hesitate to get right into the shower. Iain usually awakes to see a bedraggled soaking wet face right against his, and a quiet ‘miaow?’ from Astro. The cat seems to know that Iain shouldn’t be so long in the shower. Maybe the water pressure hasn’t changed as it should.
Astro is a small, sleek, short-haired moggy. Iain and Astro are very close, and they look after each other.
Each visitor is thoroughly inspected by Astro. If he approves, he’ll sit on your lap. If not, he stalks to the cat door with his tail in the air and won’t come back until the visitor leaves.
It is a very true saying that ‘Dogs have masters. Cats have staff’.
I hope this true story answers the question about pets having a ‘sixth sense’. Thank goodness Astro does.
Ned* wrote:
Our story is of our cat Winki. She was an all black, half Siamese with typical Siamese features. She was very friendly and would allow people to pat her, but would never sit on their lap or even beside them.
We had a meeting at our house. There were 15 people attending, one of whom was Lyn. She had been through chemo and radiotherapy. Her prognosis was terminal.
Winki came into the room during the meeting. She walked around the room then sat for a minute or two looking at Lyn. She jumped onto Lyn’s knee and, standing on her hind legs, put her paws on Lyn’s shoulders and lay her head on Lyn’s chest.
She was a remarkable cat in many ways. She lived until she was 22 years old … and yes, I do believe that many animals have an extra sense.
* Not his real name.
Have you encountered an animal with a sixth sense? Is the evidence overwhelming?
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