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The Ghosts Of Animals

We've experienced similar things in the house I currently live in. We have four cats and the people who lived here before us were also cat owners. After the previous owners had moved out we spent a week decorating the house before we moved in. My partner was in the lounge one day when he had the sense that there was a cat in the room and saw a cat-like shape "out of the corner of his eye" (something I'm always a bit dubious of, I have to admit). We knew that it wasn't our cats as they were still at the other house, so I just put it down to his mind playing tricks in a new place. Through the course of the week he had the same experience a few times, although I never saw anything or experienced anything. Since we have actually been living here the experiences have continued. One day I was coming out of our bedroom and on turning to shut the door was stopped in my tracks as I saw the blur of cat attempting to follow me out of the room and I was about to shut him in - when I opened the door fully there wasn't anything there and all of our cats were downstairs. Similarly when getting up one day my partner saw the face of a cat poking out from between our bedroom curtains and, thinking that one of ours had been on the windowsill all night, opened the curtains to say good morning to him - but there was no cat there (he swears blind he was fully awake although I'm not so sure!). Very often we will be sitting in the lounge and from the corner of our eye see a cat-like shape jump down the last few stairs into the hall or rush from the kitchen to the computer room and expect one of our cats to appear in the lounge any second, but they are all upstairs.

These occurrences seem to happen in spates - we will have a few days where it happens often and then nothing for a while - although I have to admit that I've always assumed it is largely our eyes and minds playing tricks on us.
 
This is probably the right place for this post which I originally oput in the 'Anyone seen a ghost?' thread-


22-09-2003 14:49

Ghost dog! Ghost dog! TODAY!!
Just had this email from the BF at work-

'We have a lift access door in our office that is only used by us once in a while when we have deliveries etc.

There is a double door to the lift

This afternoon no one was using the lift and wet dog pad prints
appeared on the carpeted floor from the lift to the back wall !!

no one except us has a key to the lift door !!!!

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllp we're haunted by a dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cool hey

xxx'
 
Minor Drag said:
Yes. It kind of reminds me of Chinese/Japanese paintings of demons and monsters. They all have a worried, slightly sad expression.
Hhhmmmm.

Could that be that while they are being painted the "demons" could see the rampaging mobs lit torches, pitch forks, and ninja priests approching from the south;)
 
I've had a couple of experiences with ghost cats - they are amongst my best paranormal experiences in fact.
The most recent was whilst moving into my current home, the GF's brother Kev (who has proved to be spritualy sensitive in the past) claimed he had seen a cat dash across our landing whilst taking boxes upstairs, and immediately claimed he knew it was not a normal cat he had seen, but an apparition.
It had run into a spare room that was completely enclosed and had disappeared - because it was moving day there was no furniture for it to hide behind/under!
Weeks passed, with the usual 'see something out of the corner of your eye' type experiences, and I had also heard on many occasions that sound all cat lovers will know - when a cat is walking with claws extended and 'tugging' at your carpet
!This carried on for weeks, climaxing one noght when my GF had gone to bed, leaving me watching TV.
She yelled for me to come upstairs - I dashed up to find her scared silly because she had felt the cat jump onto the bed, turn around several times and snuggle up behind her knees (she was lay on her side). She had previously heard it padding around the bedroom, but had held back screaming out in fright as she, like me, is curious about these things.

We retreated downstairs for a cuppa and a calm down, and, as she insisted, I lead the way back to bed.
The landing light was on, but the bedroom light was out, so the room was in half-light, and as I turned the corner and looked at the bed expecting to see a cat, I DID! A black shape jumped from the floor at the bottom of the bed and darted up the bed and disappeared through the wall where the headboard would be (if we had one). I flcked the light on quick - it was so real I was certain I had seen a REAL cat, but none was to be found.
We sat in bed for a few minutes, not really feeling like sleeping, then we heard the 'padding' sound of a cat's footsteps again. We had both heard that ghosts will sometimes leave a place if you explain to them they are not really welcome or supposed to be there, so we both said something like 'Bugger off cat! This is our house now, sorry you passed away but leave, cos you scare us!'
Then we heard a sound downstairs like a 'bang' and we've never seen anything since! (Our back door actually has a sealed catflap that a previous owner installed)
 
Here's an "animal-ghost" story with a twist.

I know someone who was going through a seperation with her husband and was therefore staying over at her parents' house. She was sleeping on the couch in the living room and woke up during the night to see her husband's dog looking at her through the living room window. After staring at her for a minute or two the dog trotted off down the street until it disappeared into the darkness. After lying in shock for awhile, she decided she must have been seeing things and decided to go back to sleep as the dog was miles away in another state, living, for the time being, with her husband's brother. The next day she recieved a call informing her that her husband had died during the night in his sleep.

Now, her husband (a cousin of mine) and her may have been a going through a seperation, but I feel there was still a certain amount of love between them at the time of his death. It wouldn't surprise me that, if he could, he would choose to say goodbye to her in his own way. My cousin also cherished his dog which served as a kind of symbol of their love as, I believe, it was a present from her to him. Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me that he might choose to take on the appearance of his dog when saying goodbye.
 
Unlucky Drowned Kitten

I like historical cases, I like the air about them and, perhaps more importantly, the distance of time allows us a little perspective; even if this merely amounts to swapping our own preconceptions and prejudices for theirs.

Anyway, here's a succinct one:

From Mrs Gordon Jones:
February 22nd, 1892

I have the strongest aversion to cats - a tendancy which i have inherited from my father, who could not endure a cat's presence. After my marriage, i would never have one in the house, until obliged to do so on account of mice. The one that i then allowed to come was an ordinary grey and black striped one - but i very seldom looked at it, and it was never allowed to come upstairs.

One day i was told that the cat was mad and asked if it might be drowned. I did not look at the animal myself, but said, 'yes.' I next heard that it had been drowned by the groom in a copper [Presumably a bath]. As the cat was not a pet and had never been my companion, its death made no impression on me. it was drowned in the morning. The same evening i was sitting alone in the dining-room. I am sure that i was not thinking of the cat or of possible apparitions. I was reading; presently i felt impelled to look up, the door seemed to open, and there stood the animal that had been drowned in the morning; the same cat, but apparently much thinner and dripping with water - only the expression of the face was changed - the eyes were quite human and haunted me afterwards, they looked so sad and pathetic. I felt so sure of what i saw that at the moment i never doubted that it was the living cat who had escaped from drowning. I rang the bell and when the servant came i said, 'There's the cat, take it out'; it seemed to me that she could not but see it too - it was clear and distinct to my eyes as the tables or chairs. But the servant looked frightened and said, 'Oh ma'am, i saw the cat after William had drowned it - and then he buried it in the garden.' 'But', I said, 'there it is.' Of course she saw nothing and then the cat began to fade, and i saw nothing more of it.

Extracted From Sir Ernest Bennett's Apparitions & Haunted Houses (London: Faber & Faber, 1939), pp. 349-50.

Well, we've had sightings of humans with cat's eyes, and now we have a cat with human eyes, albeit a spectral one with what sounds like a just cause for grievance.

:)
 
No one's posted here in a while, but last night's event belongs in this thread.

I had to take my cat Riley to be put down yesterday. He was fifteen and in failing health. The vet was gentle and compassionate, and it was a quiet, peaceful passing.

Last night I woke up to feel Riley curled up behind my knees, his favorite place to sleep. I sat up a bit and reached out, thinking to scratch his head and tickle his ears, a ritual we went through every night for years. Of course there was no cat there, but I distinctly heard (and felt) him purring.

It might have been just a waking dream, or my imagination expecting him to be there, but I've had this sort of thing happen with other cats who have passed on. I prefer to think Riley came back to visit and let me know he's okay.
 
sorry to hear about your kitty brighid. i have to say though, when the cat has been sleeping on my bed it's not unusual for me to think she's still there when she's actually not (just the power of expectation i guess). i suppose what you believe is a matter of how sure you are that you heard purring.
 
Thanks Fluffle :)

The purring was both auditory and tactile. Riley had a wonderful warm, vibrant purr that could be felt, if that makes sense. He literally shook when he purred, especially when he was happy or pleased about something. I not only thought I heard him, I felt that purr against my leg, a familiar sensation.

I have my suspicions about this possible encounter, mainly because I had just woken up, and also because Riley's passing is still very new and a source of grief--but I have had other cats seem to come back to visit after they've passed on. One cat in particular, with whom I had a very strong bond, would show up crossing rooms, sleeping on her favorite windowsill, and so on.

Wishful thinking or seeing what I want to see? Could be. A visit from an old friend and companion? Could be. Something else entirely? *shrug* Could be. But I did take comfort in it, all the same. :)
 
Our German Shepherd died on November 23, 2003. I always remember the date. She was a reject guide dog who we 'adopted' at the aged of 18 months after she was found to have allergies that prevented her from completing the course, and probably as a result of her training, a more friendly, loving, intelligent dog I've never met. I've had lots of dogs in the past and have never encountered anything weird after they die, having always been into ghosts and the paranormal I always half expected to, but previously every time the dog died, the house had felt totally empty, they weren't there anymore.

In the weeks and months after she was put to sleep, we would hear her whinging at the back door, like she did in life asking to be let back in. We'd just be doing normal things, on the computer, having lunch, watching TV, when there would distinctly be a whinging noise at the kitchen door. At first it was always when I was alone and I didn't mention it to anybody....I thought it was all in my head because I would hear it, and pretty much the moment my brain registered what I was hearing, it would just stop dead, like somebody flicking the off switch.

Then one afternoon, I was in the kitchen with two other family members, and all of us heard it. It was only then that we realised that we had all had the same experiences individually as well.

It hasn't happened for ages now. It was like she sensed when we had moved on and come to terms with her death, and then went. Makes me happy thinking of it now. :)
 
Manx Ghost Dogs

Does anyone know anything about Ghost Dogs on the Isle of Man?

My late Manx Grandma used to tell of a Black Dog which guarded travellers on the unlit roads at night, and which had accompanied her, and her sister to her cottage in Laxey. But all the literature I've seen for the UK has them as Bad Luck, rather than Good luck portents.

And before you ask, yes it did have a tail. It was visible, but made no noise.

Does anyone know any Manx-specific ghost lore? The only folklore stuff I could find, last time I was over there was about Fairies, rather than Ghosts.
 
When I was about twelve years old, I had fallen asleep in the back of the family car on the way home from somewhere. When we got home I was so sleepy I just wanted to stay in the car, but my dad picked me up and sat me down on my feet in the driveway. Just a couple of feet in front of me were two cats that I had never seen before. They were staring intently at me in a relaxed, unafraid way. One sat in that proper way that cats do, with his paws neatly together, tall and erect. The other in a display of friendliness, walked a tight circle around the sitting cat, on tiptoes, with arched back, and tail held high. I thought them charming and reached down to pet the circling cat's back. As my hand made "contact" with the cat's back both cats became transparent. My hand sliced through the body of the cat, at which point both cats disappeared, and I screamed. My dad asked what was wrong, and I jabbered something about cats, but I don't think anyone else saw them.

I saw what I suppose was another kind of cat ghost many years later. I'll share that one when I have more time.
 
Re: Manx Ghost Dogs

TheQuixote said:
Niall114 said:
Does anyone know anything about Ghost Dogs on the Isle of Man?

There is the Moddey Dhoo.

Thanks TheQuixote.

Checking it out, it's probably not the one who accompanied Grandma, as she lived to a ripe old age. Friendly Ghost Dogs seem rare in the literature, though I guess people prefer scary death's herald stories.
 
Years ago I had 2 pet guinea pigs . They were brothers and died within 2 weeks of each other (the one died and the other one was never the same after that ) . A couple of weeks after they died , I kept hearing squeaking noises coming from the room in which there hut used to be , which sounded just like them . Either it was ghostly guinea pigs or another guinea pig had snuck into house .
 
We used to have a pet house rabbit which would gallop into my study every morning and spend the day with me. After it died for severaleeks afterwards I would on occasson here it doing its morning gallop.
 
what do you call it when you experience a pet before it even arrives rather than after it leaves? i was sitting up late one evening in the sitting room when i was about 12. i wasn't a great sleeper and sometimes i'd get up and watch a bit of telly or just sit in the sitting room. i could hear a funny clicking noise coming from this alcove we had between two presses. it freaked me out a bit so i went back to my room and got back into bed.

a fortnight or so after this, if memory serves, i bought a pair of gold fish that i called Castor and Pollux (i'm a Gemini and i was only 12!). i thought they were super, they would come to the surface and nibble fish flakes from the tip of my finger. i could watch them for hours. another insomniac evening after everyone went to bed i got up and went into the sitting room to have a look at the fish and see what they were up to. there they were swimming about and arranging the pebbles in the base of their bowl as they liked to do. i sat on the sofa to watch them for a bit and i could hear the strange clicking noise again from the alcove where i now had the fishbowl. it was the sound of the pebbles being turned over and arranged by the fish but it was the exact same noise and the exact same spot i had heard it coming from before i ever thought of buying the fish.

weird!
 
placeholder said:
... i bought a pair of gold fish that i called Castor and Pollux ...
OT - A friend of William Rushton had twin Labradors called Castor and Pollux. Guess which went missing at midnight around Notting Hill, forcing the owner to wander the streets bellowing it's name :D?

Back on topic - that's pretty strange! Are you sure there was nothing else at all that could have made the same or a similar noise?
 
I was walking my dog one evening, and I saw a man walking a small brown dog, he was on the other side of the road some distance away, it was dark and the area is badly lit due to the trees and the weird orange glow of the street lamps. At that moment the man was in the shadow of a tree but visible. My Llasa Apso will bark at anything when he is on a lead, so I always keep an eye out for other dogs. When I looked at the man again, he had two Scottish terriers on leads, and no little brown dog. I looked back after we had passed each other, and I got the impression there was a third dog.
I was really tempted to turn round and strike up a conversation with him, to ask him about the other dog, but I would have probably ended up sounding like a nutter.
:D
 
I have a friend who is seeing a 'ghost' of a cat in her home. The cat isn't a previous pet of hers and as far as she knows the previous occupants of the house did not own a cat.

The cat has shown itself to both her and her partner (although on separate occasions).

Does anyone know of any literature on ghostly animals that are not pets and what, if anything the significance of such a sighting is?

Has anyone heard of human spirit taking on the form of animal spirit?
 
Hiya.

I live in Stockport so, wheres the house? We could arm ourselves with tins of Whiskas, and get the camera on standby.

Joking aside, the previous owners may not have had a cat, but how old is the house? Chances are there was one there a some time or other.
 
The house is a relatively new build circa 15-20 years. It backs onto a graveyard. Aparently prior to the house being built there the land was simply fields.

The house is actually near Leeds.
 
Kazza34 said:
Aparently prior to the house being built there the land was simply fields.

Ah, so the cat could have once roamed the fields. Interesting tale though. Get your mates to take some random pics around the house. Specially when they sense the cat.
 
We have entire thread on here about ghost cats.
Our ghost cat nearly gave my ex a nervous breakdown. :D
 
Kazza34 said:
Has anyone heard of human spirit taking on the form of animal spirit?

It's a cat. Cats never leave until they get fed up of being ignored. I've seen or heard every one of my expired moggies after their demise. It's about the only Fortean experience that I truly believe in.
 
Might be worth introducing a real cat into the home (if only for a few hours) and see how it acts.
 
My hubby and myself once took our dog on a weekend away in Knaresborough. (I have previously posted a thread on here about that weekend - the place just gave me the creeps the whole weekend) The hotel we stayed in we chose from a 'Pets Welcome' website. Anyway, we only stayed 3 nights but each night at about 3 am we were woken by the sound of thundering paws up the stairs and along the landing. Our dog would then run around the room barking her head off and the scruff of her neck standing up.

As we were checking out. I asked the proprioter of the hotel about any other dogs that were staying' to which he replied that our dog, Milly was the only one there this particular weekend. When I told him about the noises he then told me about the ghost of the black dog that some guests have claimed it see. We definatley didn't see anything but I am in no doubt as to what we heard.

As we left, the gent asked us if we would be visiting again........... I think not :shock:
 
CHIPMUNK1974 said:
Anyway, we only stayed 3 nights but each night at about 3 am we were woken by the sound of thundering paws up the stairs and along the landing. Our dog would then run around the room barking her head off and the scruff of her neck standing up.

I once started a thread on 3am and why so many odd things start kicking off about that time. Spooky.
 
Thanks Escargot I have looked at the link you directed me to and read the accounts. It would seem that the ghosts of animals are very common.
 
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