Pets

[Claire]

What do animals know? My little Keiki woke me up to take her out, and as soon as she came in, it started to rain. This happens often. Can they feel the atmospheric change or something?

 

[Loprraine]

I think my cats can feel a thunderstorm brewing. They seem to get edgy and race around the house.

 

[bowlingshirt]

Yep, one of my dogs always gets upset whenever a storm is coming.

 

[sattie]

Yes, dogs and cats (most animals) can sense this type of stuff and it can also trigger certain actions in our companions and wildlife as you have seen. My dogs even sense when we are having marital issues, oddly enough, it seems to affect the whole family including the dogs!

 

[Renee Attili]

Animals are excellent at reading the world around them and being able to sense any subtle changes to the enviroment as well as people. They notice little things like change in breathing, barometric pressure. When Hurricane Charlie and Wilma came through I knew we were in for a bad time by the way my dogs, cats and horses were acting. I could tell it was going to rain, but they sensed all the other changes that my human-ness can't detect.

 

[LT72884]

yeah i was watching a public television show on tv about the tsunami that hit that one place. They said about an hour before it all happened all the animals started to come inland.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

My dog can definitely tell when a thunderstorm or even just rain is coming. She's really scared of it so I know when she sticks to me like glue, better pull in the laundry.

My 10 yr. old cat has always seemed to know when someone is getting sick because that's the only time he tries to sleep with us or get in our laps. I learned early to watch him because he'd let me know when one of the kids was catching something.

 

[Jeekinz]

My cat had some messed up hips after being hit by a car years ago. I had to keep him inside so he wouldn't aggrevate the injury. He would sit on my bed and watch TV. Those wildlife shows with birds and tigers was his favorite.

Anyway, everytime a commercial would come on, he would ignore the TV or go get a drink of water or something. It cracked me up.

 

[jennyema]

My little dog, Schnitzel, seen at left is a very accurate barometer.

When pressure is falling -- whether it rains or not -- he retreats under the covers. When it is likely to rain, he refuses to come out.

Conversely, when high pressure rules, he lounges atop his pink blanket, preferably in the sun.

 

[Barbara L]

As a lot of you have said, many animals are good at signaling changes in the weather. It goes even further than that. I have seen several reports about animals who can sense when someone is going to have a heart attack, when someone has cancer, and even when a diabetic's sugar levels get erratic. I read a story in Guideposts about a woman who said her dog was driving her nuts. He would wake her up 10 or more times a night. Then he would sleep all day. Because of some other problems the woman was having, her doctor suggested she participate in a sleep study. She asked if she could bring her dog so they could see how horrible he behaved at night, waking her up. It turned out that the woman stopped breathing 10 or more times a night. Her dog sensed it and jumped on her to wake her up. That is why he slept all day--he was worn out from saving her life all night! I cried buckets when I read that one!

Barbara

 

[Fisher's Mom]

My cat had some messed up hips after being hit by a car years ago. I had to keep him inside so he wouldn't aggrevate the injury. He would sit on my bed and watch TV. Those wildlife shows with birds and tigers was his favorite.

Anyway, everytime a commercial would come on, he would ignore the TV or go get a drink of water or something. It cracked me up.

That's so cool. I've heard of cats and dogs that will watch TV but mine never have. So funny that he hates the commercials, too! Mine don't seem to notice much of anything beyond what affects them directly, but the dog does get upset when we put on hats. For some reason, she thinks she doesn't know who we are then. (She's not the brightest bulb, but she is sweet and devoted beyond reason.) Also, both of the cats will play fetch. The younger one will do it for almost an hour but the older one seems to do it just to humor me.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

As a lot of you have said, many animals are good at signaling changes in the weather. It goes even further than that. I have seen several reports about animals who can sense when someone is going to have a heart attack, when someone has cancer, and even when a diabetic's sugar levels get erratic. I read a story in Guideposts about a woman who said her dog was driving her nuts. He would wake her up 10 or more times a night. Then he would sleep all day. Because of some other problems the woman was having, her doctor suggested she participate in a sleep study. She asked if she could bring her dog so they could see how horrible he behaved at night, waking her up. It turned out that the woman stopped breathing 10 or more times a night. Her dog sensed it and jumped on her to wake her up. That is why he slept all day--he was worn out from saving her life all night! I cried buckets when I read that one!

Barbara

I have seen stories about cancer sniffing dogs but had never heard about the woman with apnea. I love that story, Barbara. I can just imagine an exhausted little dog standing vigilant all through the night. Our pets really do enrich our lives in so many ways.

 

[Barbara L]

My cat had some messed up hips after being hit by a car years ago. I had to keep him inside so he wouldn't aggrevate the injury. He would sit on my bed and watch TV. Those wildlife shows with birds and tigers was his favorite.

Anyway, everytime a commercial would come on, he would ignore the TV or go get a drink of water or something. It cracked me up.

Years ago we had a cat named Angel. She didn't usually watch TV, other than looking up now and then, but she watched the entire movie "Benji the Hunted!" She stopped to wash herself during the commercials, but when the movie came back on, she was totally wrapped up in the action.

My aunt and uncle had a cat named Taco. There was a moto-cross race on TV and Taco sat and watched the motorcycles racing for awhile. Then she batted at the TV and the motorcycle she batted at slid and crashed right then! It really looked like she had done it.

Barbara

 

[redkitty]

My big baby Raisin (Rhodesian Ridgeback/Airdale Terrier) is terrified of wind and thunder/lightening. She freaks out and keeps us up at night, or hides under a table or desk!

I think she can sense it coming too because of her behavior before the storm hits.

 

[Kaddehawk]

Animals have been shown to be able to sense changes in the weather. Especially before big events. I suspect they are more sensative than we are to pressure changes and humidity and such.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

I'm relieved to hear that other dogs don't like storms either. My dog is a big girl - about 70 lbs. - and she actually tries to climb in my lap during a storm. She seems to feel like it's her job in life to follow me everywhere and protect me. It's so sad because I love to sit out on my big front porch during storms and enjoy the light show. Poor Bella is soooo torn. She desperately wants me to come in and is terrified to go out on the porch. Her protection thing always wins and she cowers under my chair shaking like a leaf but she won't leave me out there alone. Who could want a more devoted friend in life?

 

[texasgirl]

yeah i was watching a public television show on tv about the tsunami that hit that one place. They said about an hour before it all happened all the animals started to come inland.

Are you talking about Sri Lanka?

I always knew when a storm was coming when I had my Kasey. She loved to sit out on the porch under the cover while a storm hit. We always had to force her in when we started seeing lightening.
She would go out and start sniffing the air and when she knew it was near, she stayed out there.

 

[jpmcgrew]

I had 2 redbone hounds at different times and both were terrified of thunderstorms my 3 current dogs a german shepard a boxer mix and a chow mix have no problems with a storm the 2 cats do not have problems either.The only time they get a bit nervous is a big hail storm they will come rally around me until the storm passes I think its because it sounds so loud when hail hits the roof.However the shepard gets a bit upset if DH and I get in a loud debate after a couple of drinks its a not a fight as we dont fight but the raised voices seem to upset him so then we just stop because its nothing important.

 

[Dave Hutchins]

There was a story in our paper about a cat in a nursing home that would signal when a person was about to pass. The cat would go in to the room and jump up on the bed and be very still till it was over then she would git down and leave.. The nurses trusted her so much that when she did this they would call the relative and tell them to come as it was time. animals are so precious. Where I live we can not have a pet, that does not stop me from loving them

 

[Fisher's Mom]

I had 2 redbone hounds at different times and both were terrified of thunderstorms my 3 current dogs a german shepard a boxer mix and a chow mix have no problems with a storm the 2 cats do not have problems either.The only time they get a bit nervous is a big hail storm they will come rally around me until the storm passes I think its because it sounds so loud when hail hits the roof.However the shepard gets a bit upset if DH and I get in a loud debate after a couple of drinks its a not a fight as we dont fight but the raised voices seem to upset him so then we just stop because its nothing important.

My dog is a 4 year old mutt that we found on the freeway a couple of years ago. She was so glad to be able to jump in my car that day and she still loves a car ride to this day. She doesn't like loud voices either and when the boys start wrestling around, she gets upset and tries to get in between them. But if I'm yelling at the kids for something, she sits right next to me like an enforcer! It's so funny - she's very jealous of my attention and seems to get a kick out of someone else getting in trouble.