Are Cats Psychic?
Animals can generally sense more than we do. In many cases this is simply because the ordinary senses such as sight and smell are more efficient and the animal is better attuned to them. However some reports of animal sensitivity seem to go beyond this and the psychic cat is well established in folklore.The strange psychic powers of animals - if they exist - seem to be strongest in dogs and cats. This is possibly because in our Western society they are the advanced mammals that with which most humans have most contact.
Statistics
A 1997 survey (1) showed that 53% of dog owners and 33% of cat owners believed that their pet responded to their unspoken commands.Such results could be put down the wishful thinking on the part of the human or of the animal picking up on non-verbal cues. More difficult to explain is the fact that many pets seem to know when their owner is about to arrive home, even if this is at a wildly diferent time to normal. 46% of dog owners thought this to be the case compared with a mere 14% of cat owners.
Those familiar with cats might suspect that the other 86% did indeed know but were simply too cool to show it.
Premonitions Many animals also appear to have premonitions and become agitated before a disaster. The most well known example is animals of all types apparently predicting earthquakes.
There are tales from World War II, especially during the London Blitz, of cats knowing when an air raid was on the way. Often they would become visibly alarmed and would sometimes head for the shelter themselves, thus allowing the family to get to safety long before the sirens began to wail.
These examples could be due to the cats picking up subtle sensory cues to which we are insensitive. However many animals, especially cats, also seem to have premonitions of other forms of disaster for which there is no apparent physical cue.
In the same way that cats know when their "owner" is due home it has also been said that they know when the owner has come to harm. There are many stories of cats becoming visibly distressed when their owner is involved in an accident, even when this occurs many miles away.
There are also reports that cats seem able to sense when someone participating in an out-of-body experience comes close to them.
These alleged psychic powers of cats, along with their supposed ability to sense the spirit world, are probably one reason for their association with medieval witchcraft.
References:
Psychic Pets: A Survey in North-West England
