Did my friends cat sense that he was going to die

by Lucille

I have a friend that was gravely ill in the hospital for 16 days. His beloved cat was very stressed during this time, didn't eat, play or sleep well, and began losing clumps of hair. When my friend was on the phone talking to the cat (with the phone down on the floor), his cat would purr and rub her head on the phone, so we know she was recognizing his voice. He came home on a Thursday afternoon and died two days later. During this time, his cat would not go near him, hissed at him, avoided him. My question: Is it possible that the cat was getting a scent that he was about to die, much like some dogs can predict problems in some people such as cancer, a heart attack, etc. If you do not know this answer, can you lead me to a resource that might? Thank you very much, Lucille

Answer by Kate
Hi Lucille,
cats are extremely good at picking up other people emotions and so she may have been picking up on his fear or worry when he came home.

However I do think it is more likely to do with the fact that he probably smelled strange. and this would have frightened her. Cats often show this behavior to other cats who have been to the vets. The smell of hospitals etc is similar to that of a vets and so the cat would probably associate the smell with something she is afraid of.

As for cats sensing that something is wrong, well there have been a few cases where cats have picked on one person to be with all the time days before they day. Here in the Uk there was a case of a cat who lived in a nursing home and she would befriend certain people days before they died. So people said that she could tell this was going to happen. however she was not aggressive towards that person, in fact the complete opposite. So in this case with your friend i would say that no she did not know he was going to die but was afraid of his new scent as this was something she associated with being afraid at the vets.

best wishes KAte

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