Paranormal or just nuts? Cats see things we don't

[Bob Hubbard]

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/living/columnists/gary_bogue/7511314.htm
GARY BOGUE
Paranormal or just nuts? Cats see things we don't

Gary has gone off on vacation until Dec. 23. Meanwhile, here is one of his favorite old columns from Feb. 28, 1982.

THOSE SLINKY BEASTS

Have you ever seen your cat staring across the room, deeply intent on watching something when you know that there is nothing there?

The fascinated feline slinks softly off the arm of your chair, eases around behind your legs while never once removing its eyes from the nothingness that seems to attract it like iron filings to a magnet.

You can place both hands in front of the cat's face and it merely slides its head sideways, intent only on watching that now almost palpable emptiness. You can move it to another room and the instant you release it, it is back to the door and carefully easing around the corner as if expecting attack from any direction.

I recently experienced such an occurrence with the cat of a friend. She was a young Siamese and was sitting in my lap as I was reading a book. I was just turning a page when I realized the cat had moved off my lap and under my arm and was staring -- no, glaring -- into a corner on the opposite side of the room.

Thinking that maybe she'd seen a mouse or a spider, I tried to see if I could find it. I even got up and moved to the corner and examined every square inch of space. Nothing.

But when I was back in my chair, I discovered that the cat had moved to the floor and was flat on her belly, her tail flick-flicking its "I see a bird" beat, her back feet making bread on the rug as she dug in and prepared to charge.

But she never moved. It was as if she had become frozen in time. An ivory sculpture forever posed in the beginning of a leap.

And then I heard it. A high-pitched chattering sound, like frightened teeth at the midnight creak of a haunted house. And the back of my neck and all across my shoulders got prickly, and I felt a surge of adrenaline through my body.

The sound was from the cat. Her bottom jaw trembling frantically as if she were staring at a flock of birds through the kitchen window. And she was staring hard into that opposite, and empty, corner of the room.

I got up again and went once more to the corner. As I moved past the cat, she mewed plaintively, as if she were trying to tell me something. But look as I might, I could find nothing there.

If you are a person with half the imagination I have, you'll understand how I felt. The dark corners of my mind were telling me that maybe I should jump into the car and take in a movie. And my logic was telling me that the idiot Siamese had a screw loose.

What does a cat see when there's nothing there?

Surely, if you own one of these slinky beasts, you have experienced such an occurrence. It's quite disconcerting.

And what if there is something there that only a cat can see?

I read a science-fiction short story once that said cats can see into the future and they are watching something that has yet to come, or maybe something from the past that has already been. Or something that might never be.

Mysteries such as this have followed cats from the very beginning as they slink down the hallways of time. Their toughness and ability to survive seemingly insurmountable problems have earned them their mythical nine lives. Black cats are said to consort with witches, and books have been written about the superstitions that fill their paw prints.

With all this swirling around my head, I did the only logical thing to be done under the circumstances. I locked the cat in the bathroom and sat down to write this column.

Funny thing, though. I keep having the creepiest sensation that something is reading this over my shoulder.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Cats in many cultures have had mystical reputations, from being able to see the dead, to protection from the dead, to representations of witches, etc, ..., .

I notice man details that other people do not. Yet, I can point them out and have someone recognize them. I have never been able to see what my cat(s) have been looking at, or why certain locations in the house are ther favorite.

I believe they see someting I do not, even if it is nothing more than dust or heat that I cannot perceive .

 

[RCastillo]

Maybe we're losing status in the "Food Chain." Like maybe droping a notch, or two?

 

[hardheadjarhead]

Why can't there be schizophrenic cats?

Our male cat did the same thing. His sister does not.


Regards,


Steve

 

[MA-Caver]

Originally posted by hardheadjarhead
Why can't there be schizophrenic cats?
Our male cat did the same thing. His sister does not.
Regards,
Steve

It is possible. One of my favorite animals was a gorgeous all black long haired whatsits cat and I caught him in the same "poised to leap" pose pointed directly at a blank space on the wall in my bedroom. The difference was he launched himself at the whatsits he was staring at and stood on his hind legs batted the air in front of him with his front paws and then did a leap straight up with a twist spin to orient himself to run like black lightning out of the room. A minute or so later he walk casually back in the room and jump on my bed to curl up at my feet, like nothing happened.

I cut back on his cat nip for a while.... didn't help. =^.^=

 

[hardheadjarhead]

I knew a girl with a whacked out cat that wouldn't walk on the floor...at all. He got around the house on tables, counters, shelves, whatever. If you put him on the floor, he'd freak


Regards,


Steve

 

[Rich Parsons]

Originally posted by hardheadjarhead
I knew a girl with a whacked out cat that wouldn't walk on the floor...at all. He got around the house on tables, counters, shelves, whatever. If you put him on the floor, he'd freak


Regards,


Steve

Steve,

THis made me laugh. It is a sad thing, but it mad me laugh. I could just see this poor little animal.

Oh Well

 

[RCastillo]

Originally posted by hardheadjarhead
I knew a girl with a whacked out cat that wouldn't walk on the floor...at all. He got around the house on tables, counters, shelves, whatever. If you put him on the floor, he'd freak


Regards,


Steve

Reminds me of the sudents I have at school. Ask them to use a dictionary, and they have a minor stroke.

 

[theletch1]

Ask them to use a dictionary, and they have a minor stroke.

My eldest daughter was talking to a friend of hers on the phone the other day and somehow or another I wound up interjecting that they should use a thesaurus. My daughter relayed this to her friend and the next thing I heard was "No, they're not extinct. It's a book with different words in it." Hoo boy!:shrug:

 

[Cryozombie]

I dont think cats are mystic, just stupid.

Parrots go insane. They even have insane asylums for insane parrots. So why not Mentaly Ill cats?

 

[hardheadjarhead]

Dogs and cats have unique personalities. We anthropomorphize them a lot...but many of their behaviors reflect our own.

Dogs, for instance, have guilt...and eyebrows to go with it. Cats are sociopathic and have no guilt. They also have no expression of guilt.

Now, I've never known a crazy dog. I've known dumb dogs. Neurotic dogs. Manipulative dogs. But I've never known a crazy dog.

Personally, I think if all humans were like golden retrievers, we would have no wars. We'd be too busy hanging out and playing fetch. GR's are the most gregarious mammal...EVER.



Regards,


Steve

 

[theletch1]

Personally, I think if all humans were like golden retrievers, we would have no wars. We'd be too busy hanging out and playing fetch. GR's are the most gregarious mammal...EVER

Not to mention chasing our tails and licking ourselves. We would have no war right up until dinner time.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Originally posted by hardheadjarhead
Dogs and cats have unique personalities. We anthropomorphize them a lot...but many of their behaviors reflect our own.

Dogs, for instance, have guilt...and eyebrows to go with it. Cats are sociopathic and have no guilt. They also have no expression of guilt.

Now, I've never known a crazy dog. I've known dumb dogs. Neurotic dogs. Manipulative dogs. But I've never known a crazy dog.

Personally, I think if all humans were like golden retrievers, we would have no wars. We'd be too busy hanging out and playing fetch. GR's are the most gregarious mammal...EVER.

Regards,

Steve

I have seen a cat act guilty, in particular when the cat has a middle name and you use it. They run just like a three or four year old.

And I have seen a crazy dog. A damnation, oh I mean a Dalmation. Now maybe this dog was not a sociopath, but it was crazy.

I do agree that the medium sized dogs do act well (* in general *) and are or make good pets.

 

[MA-Caver]

Well here's one cat that should express something that they see and we don't...