There’s a story told that many folks used to pay special attention to their cats during World War II. Apparently the cats would become agitated some time before the bomb sirens went off, warning their owners of a pending air raid. Other stories told are about cats who react strangely before volcanoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters or have returned to homes many kilometres away.
In December 2004 when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit Phuket and other parts of Asia, more than 200 000 people lost their lives. Strangely, no large-scale animal deaths were recorded, indicating that many animals, both domestic and wild, had moved to higher ground. Animal behaviour specialists have attributed this to natural animal instinct. It’s the same innate instinct that enables predator to find prey and prey to avoid predator.
Cats have always been viewed as mystical, even mythical creatures who are able to foresee the future, or at the very least have some sort of premonition of pending danger. Hundreds of accounts are available on how cats have escaped danger or even cheated death – the mystifying ‘nine lives’. It’s because of this unexplained behaviour that throughout history the cat has experienced a type of reverence by some and outright suspicion by others.

The sixth sense
In their book Everycat (Allen & Unwin, 1992), authors Eric Allan and Lynda Bonning ask the question: “Could the cat’s so-called ‘sixth sense’ be ESP?” The authors believe that this is not the case, but indicate that our feline friends perhaps do not get all the credit they deserve. “Cats are acute observers and read our activities, behaviour and routine with surprisingly accurate perception,” they write. “Some cats may choose to ignore a modification in the daily routine. Others are more demonstrative and follow the owners from room to room refusing to leave them alone, or alternatively dash for cover and refuse to be induced out. This is not ESP. This is achieved by reading and reacting to our behaviour with a sensitivity of observation that is surprising.”
Feline analysts have documented four areas where cats show ‘unusual’ power or premonition. These are: having or showing a forewarning of impending danger or a dangerous event; knowing when an owner will arrive home; the ability to find their way home after being lost; and lastly, locating an owner in a place where the cat has never been before. The first three can be explained through science. The last can not.

Are cats clairvoyant?
Whether you believe in your cat’s clairvoyant powers or not, scientists have yet to find concrete proof that it exists – in animals or humans. “Until this is absolutely confirmed we have to believe that it must be animal instinct,” says Sandton-based Animal Behaviour Practitioner Karin Landsberg. “A cat’s senses are almost supernatural if compared to our own and these heightened senses can easily be mistaken for a ‘sixth sense’, since cats are so extraordinary in everything they do.”
The ‘acute five senses’ definitely offers a plausible scientific explanation. Cats can hear high-pitched sounds that our ears aren’t able to pick up on; their eyes are able to detect faint movements even in very lower light conditions; and their sense of smell is 14 times better than our own. This may well be the reason why some cats return home after being lost, sometimes for many months.
“Cats have extensive territories and many recently moved cats will return to their previous homes if the range is such that they can pick up their markers – these are often scent based so the cat knows where his territory extends to,” explains Karen. “There are always exceptions of course, where a cat will do something amazing like travel many kilometres to return to his home, and we are not exactly sure how they map where they are – but it is almost certainly some animal instinct that we don’t fully understand yet.”

Can cats predict the weather?
Extensive research has been conducted in China on how various animals react before geological events. Cats are believed to be jumpy and agitated. They display atypical behaviour, often hissing, meowing or pacing up and down. Some will react aggressively while others may try to cuddle close to their owners. Many cat owners notice how their pets begin to groom themselves just before a thunderstorm, anxiously rubbing their head or ears. Scientists link this behaviour to changes in atmospheric pressure which may disturb the balance in the cat’s sensitive inner ear. This can also be likened to humans who may suffer from migraine when barometric pressure builds up before a thunderstorm. 

Cats also seem to have some sort of forewarning system before volcanoes and earthquakes. Again this is credited to the cat’s remarkable sensory system. Numerous stories are told of how cats have reacted just before major earthquakes – either trying to break out of buildings or frantically carrying kittens to safety.
An explanation for this lies in the cat’s ability to pick up on changes in the earth’s magnetic field. The cat’s feet and whiskers are very sensitive to vibrations, tiny tremors and electrostatic activity that aren’t picked up by man or possibly even by sensitive electronic equipment. These are then relayed through the cat’s sensory system, causing it to react in a certain way. The cat’s extraordinary Jacobson’s organ may actually allow it to ‘taste’ the air and possibly pick up on traces of gas that may be in the air long before a volcano actually erupts.

We also need to consider that the cat’s powerful ears can pick up on ultrasonic sounds. These may be audible to the cat long before our own ears are able to hear any sort of sound that our brains can interpret. Scientists believe that it’s the same reason why cats seem to ‘know’ in advance when their owners will return home. Familiar vibrations, maybe from the owner’s car, or perhaps even footsteps from far away may be detected by the cat and when information is pulled from the other senses, they alert the cat to the owner’s pending arrival.

'Psi-trailing’… an incredible journey
Then comes the behaviour for which there are no explanations and we can only guess at and perhaps marvel at their meaning. ‘Psi-trailing’ is the ability of animals to find their owners in locations that they have never been in before, sometimes two kilometres away but sometimes, thousands of miles. All sensory clues are wiped out for these animals – there is no smell, sight, memory or audible signal that they can follow.
Although cats are not the only animals to have this ability (the journeys of dogs and pigeons have also been documented), cats seem to be able to travel extraordinary distances to reunite with their owners. Some cases have been dismissed as mistaken identify of the cat, but in others this is simply not the case.
One such account is told by a New York vet who moved to California but left his cat behind. Some months later he was surprised to see a cat who looked exactly like his previous pet at his new home right across the United States! The vet was suspicious and took x-rays. Some years before his pet had suffered a nasty bite that resulted in a tail-bone injury. Sure enough, the x-rays were concrete proof that the cat was his! Remarkable.

Text:  Gina Hartoog
Photography: Johann Theron

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