Cats know exactly when they are taken to the vet. Dogs feel the presence of their owners - even when they are miles away. And birds seem to mourn the deaths of those around them . our pets and other animals are always intuitive - but is it true that they have a mysterious sixth sense?
A new book by one of Britain's leading experts on near-death experiences, Dr. Peter Fenwick, and his wife Elizabeth, a consultant, survey remarkable cases of animals that have strange premonition.
There is nothing new about the idea that animals can get information from an extra sense that we humans have lost - if we ever had. Most pet owners can give examples of dogs or cats behaving as if they can read our thoughts.
Dogs often act as if they know when owners are going home, although their owners may be quite far away, and they wait at the door until they come home. Cats are famous for being able to feel the need to go to the vet.
Researcher Rupert Sheldrake, author of Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, contacted 65 veterinary offices in London and asked if they were having trouble. Whether to schedule an appointment with cat owners. The 64 clinics confirmed that they had problems, even though some places no longer had an appointment for cat owners and explained that ' Cat's appointment is not effective.'
Cats easily recognize that the owner is approaching the cat basket. In fact, this animal began to hide when they felt that the owner began to think 'I should find Puss right away if I want to go to the doctor on time .' Similarly, realizing death is not limited to humans. The most exciting case is the American cat Oscar, showing the surprise that the animal's prophetic ability creates.
Oscar, a cat living in a nursing home, has a special ability to know when patients here are about to die.(Photo: AP)
Oscar lives in a nursing home and is mysteriously able to sense when someone is about to die. When a patient is near death, Oscar almost always appears and jumps on their bed.
The staff here recognized and respected Oscar's instincts. They contacted relatives of any patient he rolled up beside. However, they have no explanation for this. Oscar did not pay attention to simple patients who had sick looks or who still lived for a few days.
One theory is that cats are capable of smelling and can detect subtle changes in the metabolic system around the time of death, but no one can explain why any cat shows up. care when death comes near.
Based on this, it is perhaps not surprising that many people tell us stories about cats and dogs related to death.
Ann Liddell described the odd behavior of her new dog Newfoundland the night her mother died. 'At about 4.30am it started barking - not the usual sharp warning bark, but it almost howled. I knew immediately that my mother had just died, and soon I received a phone call from the hospital. '
Michael Finch's mother is dying of cancer. One night Michael left the hospital and went home to release the dog. 'I will never forget this all my life. At 10.45 pm, the dog began to howl like a wolf. I feel cold spine. I knew immediately that my mother had just died. Within five minutes it barked madly and then went to bed. This dog belongs to the Cavalier King Charles breed and has never emitted that deep, wild and harsh sound. When my father and sister returned, they confirmed that my mother died at 10.45 pm.
Susan Burman recounted when her husband died in bed, their cat curled up at his feet. When he took his last breath, the cat's fur stood up as if it were static.
We were told by our caregivers the same reaction of a cat who usually sleeps in bed with a sick person. The cat suddenly entered the room at the time of his death. A nurse showed up and said, 'He trembled around the room a few times and then zoomed out as if he didn't want to stay there. It sensed the souls to lead the master. '
Cat story
The story of Cox's cat is even more strange. It concerns Brian, one of our longest friends, a biochemist working in a university research department, someone you would think is rarely imagining or concluding in a hurry.
A few years before Brian's aunt died, she visited him very regularly. Every time she comes, she spends most of her time sitting on a certain chair, and the cat will spend her time sitting on her knees.
The aunt always insisted on her that when she died, Brian must be sure to bury her next to her husband, otherwise she would come back to haunt Brian. A few months later, she died. Between the day she died and her funeral, the cat behaved strangely. When he went into the living room, his feathers were up. He avoided the aunt's chair and hid behind the sofa. After the funeral, when she was actually buried by her husband, the cat behaved normally.
Unlike Oscar - the cat has never lost his temper in the face of death - most animals are said to be very disturbing.
Dogs bark or howl, and cat fur is upright. Perhaps they are experiencing the presence of dying, or recognizing death - but there is no need to ask if they are comfortable.
However, birds are often associated with death - often a bad sign. Some people sent us stories related to birds.
In two cases after someone died, a small bird will fly into the house and park indifferently on an object before flying out. Not all are unusual - but it is strange for a bird to appear and not be afraid. Usually when birds fly into the house, they will fly around, knocking people against the window, panicking to find a way out.
People in both cases felt the bird's visit was closely related to death. The nurse Alison Hole described to us the moment after the death of one of her patients.
The heavyness in the room air and the feeling of having 'something' lurking to escape after death, is also mentioned by many people. Alison wrote 'Going across a room must be slow because the atmosphere is heavy and the floor is like walking on asphalt.'
'When I opened the window, the atmosphere in the room was relieved and I noticed a white bird on the other side of the window. It is normal for birds to nest or rest by the hospital window, but this time it is nearly 4 am in the winter. It was dark and it was too early before dawn, moreover this was not a gull. I've never seen a bird look like that in the area. '
The following story describes bird behavior that exceeds expectations for a normal bird under normal conditions.
Oliver Robinson 's owl appeared some time after its death, so it was classified as a post - death communication rather than a coincidence upon death.
But the strange act of the owl, along with the feeling that it endangered Oliver's mother, made it impossible for us not to include this story.
Strange behavior
The first appearance of the owl was a warm April morning, a few months after the death of Oliver's grandmother. Oliver's mother recounted what had happened.
'There was a terrible chaos outside the kitchen, caused by the birds in the garden. When I went out to see what was going on, the birds were rolling on an owl parked on one of the lower branches of the oak tree. The strange thing is that an owl is out in the middle of the day and even though the little birds are trying to shoo it away, it just sits silently on the branch.
When it gets hot I open the south window of the house. When I walked out into the garden, I heard the flapping of the wings and the owl flew down and parked in front of me on the grass. It was a big brown owl, about 30cm high. He looked at me with big brown eyes and cried. It looks tame. All day, every time I walked out, the owl flew down and stood in front of me. It's almost trying to tell me something. His brown eyes looked very human and it reminded me of my mother, who was also brown-haired, lost the previous summer. '
Birds such as snow owls are thought to appear well after someone dies.
The strange behavior of the feathered guest does not stop there.
Oliver's mother continued. 'When my husband and children came home I told everyone about the owl but didn't think about it anymore. We always slept to open the window, and on that night there was a rustling noise outside the window. The owl flew down to sit on the window - my husband didn't like it at all. The next morning, I opened the kitchen window. As soon as I opened the big door on the sink, the owl flew right into the kitchen. '
'It is best if my husband and children go out and close the door and I open the door outside, hoping to scare him out of the house, but look at it quite comfortably in the kitchen.'
'It flew to the other end of the room and parked on the bar with the curtains watching me. It has a very wide wingspan, and surprisingly, nothing is knocked over. It finally flew out of the window and parked the following summer. '
'When we went to the car that morning, it flew straight down and parked on the flowerpot I was carrying. When we drove out, it landed on the gate column and watched. It flew to our window again that night and parked the next morning, but didn't come near me anymore. After a few days it disappeared. From then on, I often hear it around. '
Flying ability is always said to be a magical power, only in dreams. Perhaps so that birds are always considered to have supernatural elements and why in many legends and myths, they are the connection of the human and supernatural or divine worlds, both to death or born, release.
In many cultures, the human soul is believed to come to earth under the guise of birds, and in many communities, birds are considered carriers or symbols of human souls, flying to heaven after death, or the guardian god is responsible for leading human souls to the afterlife.
Perhaps today's complicated bird stories show the origin of these myths - or they are just an illustration of what is not as simple as a legend.
The Art of Dying by Peter and Elizabeth Fenwick, published by Continuum Books, is now widely available.
