ALT and AST
17.06.2019

Can cats see the souls of the dead? Do animals see the other world? Scientific evidence behind cat oddities

Cats are intelligent creatures that hear, see, feel more than a person, they are able to communicate with each other without using sounds, understand a person’s mood, and even heal. The strange behavior of pets sometimes frightens owners. Thoughts immediately arise about the connection between cats and the other world. How to explain the animal’s gaze directed into nowhere, hissing into the void, playing with something invisible?

IN Ancient Egypt cats were considered sacred creatures, they were deified, and after death they were mummified and kept in mourning. They were believed to be guides to the other world and protectors from evil spirits. But can modern cats see ghosts?

Countless facts from history confirm that at all times people have seen a special connection between cats and the spiritual world. According to psychics, these animals see deceased relatives and are able to warn the owner about evil spirits entering the house.

On the one hand, skeptics will not allow even the thought of this ability of cats, but on the other hand, psychics and ordinary people who believe that cats with supernatural powers can see ghosts. Of course, the existence of ghosts has not been proven, but the opposite has not been proven either. There are several features of animals that will help to understand this issue.

Extrasensory perception in cats

In cats incredible vision, their field of vision is much wider than that of a human. Animals distinguish colors in a different spectrum than humans. Their eyes recognize fewer colors, and the colors are not bright, muted, but they see better at night. According to the results of studies conducted by English scientists in 2014, animals can see ultraviolet light. Perhaps, due to their vision, cats can see ghosts, or they simply perceive objects familiar to humans differently. For example, some household items can be treated with optical brighteners that absorb ultraviolet light, so animals can look closely at these objects, perceiving them differently, and look at them for a long time.

Cats are credited with the ability to telepathy and foresight. Some behaviorists, including Rupert Sheldrake, believe that there is psychic connection between an animal and its owner. So, for example, animals can come to the door, knowing in advance about the owner’s arrival, regardless of what time he returned home: spontaneously or after work, as scheduled. And animals can easily recognize their owner’s mood. Some evidence suggests that animals sense natural disasters, for example, reacting to changes in weather, changes in air pressure, tremors before an approaching storm or earthquake.

How cats react to ghosts

Many stories from owners of meowing pets confirm the unusual behavior of their pets. One version of this is explained by the ability of cats to see ghosts. IN similar situations the animal sits motionless, looking at the wall, ceiling, and the pet can be in this state long time without reacting to external stimuli (touch, toys, sounds). Some pets arch their backs and hiss into space, as if meeting someone dangerous, while they may try to hide and meow anxiously. Some pets exhibit different behavior: the animals seem to be playing with someone invisible, purring and arching their backs, as if someone was stroking them.

There are people in the world endowed with the ability to see another world, predict the future, they have access to the world beyond the limits of physical perception. Maybe cats, for the most part, have an innate ability to see the otherworldly.

Our smaller, dumb and unreasonable brothers, it turns out, can see what is hidden from our eyes, and probably have access to the world of ghosts. There are many examples of this.

The cat saw “something”

This happened in the city of Kharkov, in the house of the Shcherygins, who had a cat named Nikodim. His grandfather Nikodim Fedorovich named him that way.
He was very attached to the animal and therefore gave it his name. The cat also loved his grandfather very much. They practically never separated. Nicodemus spent all his time on his grandfather’s bed, and when he lay down, the cat jumped onto his chest or slept at his feet.
But grandfather Nikodim died on his own bed in his room. The cat walked around the apartment for a long time, meowing, looking for its owner.
Time has passed. His grandson settled in Grandfather Nikodim’s room. A new sofa was put in place of the grandfather's bed, and, perhaps, because this sofa took the place of the old owner's bed, the cat gradually became attached to his grandson and slept with him.
One night young man The cat was awakened by wild screams. Nicodemus stood with his back arched, his hair stood on end, he screamed and hissed heart-rendingly, looking into the corner of the room, as if he was very frightened of something. The grandson peered into the darkness and saw nothing there. He turned on the light; the room was empty, but the cat continued to hiss and purr.
When the young man tried to pick it up, Nicodemus broke free, scratched him, and ran out of the room. More cat I didn’t go there under any pretext. What scared the animal so much remains a mystery. Unfortunately, cats cannot talk.

Who lives in the corner?

Lidia Pavlovna Semenikhina from the city of Dnepropetrovsk has a parrot named Kesha. He does not speak by imitating people, but constantly chatters in an incomprehensible language.
Immediately after Kesha was bought, he was placed in the room where Lydia Pavlovna’s old, paralyzed mother lay, so that she would not feel lonely when the household went to work. Kesha probably liked this neighborhood. When someone entered the room, he began to beat his wings and squeal, as if expressing dissatisfaction with the intrusion of strangers. Mother died. Kesha was missed. At first he sat with a ruffled face and was silent, then he suddenly took a dislike to the far left corner. Something scared him there: Kesha looked there, screamed and even rolled his eyes in fear. However, the parrot did not want to move out of its mother’s room. As soon as his cage was moved to another room, he began to rush around and make noise. Returned to his original place, Kesha immediately calmed down until he turned his gaze to the left corner of the room.
Lydia Pavlovna pulled a rope in the corner and hung a sheet on it. Kesha calmed down. The experiment was repeated. And again - the same result. Deciding that some object was frightening the bird, they removed all the furniture from the left corner, but the parrot continued to worry. It was assumed that Kesha saw something terrible on the wallpaper, the design of which was shifted in this place. The wallpaper was re-pasted, but that didn't help either. To somehow distract the parrot, they bought him a girlfriend, but she also began to behave like Kesha.
I had to block both sides of the cage with paper so that the parrots could not see the unfortunate corner. The birds immediately stopped worrying. For unknown reasons, they refused to move out of their room. What is hiding in the left corner of the old woman’s room and why do parrots see it, but people don’t notice?

Did the dog see the spirit?

One evening, three young girls gathered in Vicki's apartment to practice spiritualism.
We did everything as expected: we drew a circle and lit a candle. The saucer began to move, and the letters formed the first sentence: “Remove the dog from the room.” Vika took the dog out.
A strange dialogue began. The spirit answered the girls' questions quite intelligently. One of them asked: “Where are you now?” The answer was: “Here. I'm sitting in a chair." Everyone looked at the chair. Naturally, there was no one there.
At the end of the session, the friends sat down at the same table and began to drink tea. The girls were cheerful and did not experience the slightest fear, until Gina ran into the room barking joyfully. But suddenly the dog suddenly braked, pressing all four paws into the carpet, like a horse that saw a wolf on the road.
She stared at the chair indicated by the spirit, the hair on her back stood up, the dog growled. Vika tried to take her by the collar and, calming her down, lead her to the chair so that Gina could make sure that no one was there. But she seemed to have gone mad: always kind and affectionate, the dog, breaking free from its owner, almost bit her.
From then on, Gina did not like to go into the room where that same chair stood by the window. And if, after all, the dog crossed the threshold of the mysterious room, strange things began to happen to it. She stopped at a distance of no closer than one and a half meters from the chair, stretched her neck towards it, rested her front paws on the carpet, looked closely, moved her nostrils and suddenly shuddered and burst into hysterical barking. Each time after such a “concert” Gina had to be locked in another room.
The dog behaved this way for a very long time. Two years have passed. During this time, the owners cleaned the upholstery of the chair more than once, even replacing it with something else. The chair was moved to the opposite end of the room, replacing it with exactly the same chair. However, in spite of everything, the dog continued to avoid the exact chair on which the “spirit was sitting,” unmistakably distinguishing it from two identical chairs.
She did not even dare to approach the owners who were sitting in this chair. Maybe the dog still sees a ghost on it or smells someone else's scent?

Discussion of the question of whether cats are able to see objects of the other world has become a fashionable Internet trend relatively recently. However, the topic of the supernatural abilities of cats, in particular, their ability to observe ghosts, has a solid history. In any case, at least a hundred years - back in the century before last there was a version that sometimes strange behavior felines is due to the fact that they see something that we do not see, has already arisen.

Ghost cats, ghosts and cats...

In general, the topic of ghosts and cats can be easily divided into two. The first is frequent reports of people seeing the ghosts of their deceased pets. There are no special statistics, but the number of cases where people see ghosts of cats is much more than 50%. Cat ghosts have been reported to appear to people in a variety of ways.

So, at the end of the 19th century in the English town of Congleton, located in the county of Cheshire, there was a legend about a ghost white cat, who once lived with one of the local housewives and was once killed by a pack stray dogs. This ghost had the ability, when people approached him, to slowly disappear into the air, as if melting. Many literary scholars see in this legend the source of one of the most mysterious images in world literature - the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll's fairy tales about the adventures of Alice. In addition, you can often find stories about how the ghosts of dead cats come to the houses of their former owners or appear to them in mirror images.

The second part of the ideas about the connection of cats with the supernatural concerns the opinion that cats can see ghosts and other guests from the other world.

Stories about this almost always come from cat owners and in almost all cases develop according to the same pattern: the cat is in some room or near the house, while looking intently and warily at a point where, from a human point of view, there is nothing interesting, and then takes inappropriate actions. Inappropriate actions in this situation are a sudden stampede, taking a defensive position (arched back, hissing, etc.), strange jumping in one place, somersaults, various sounds, and so on. From this it is concluded that cats' attention is focused on something that people cannot see, and their reaction relates to the same thing, invisible to humans. What can't a person see? That's right, ghosts - hence the final conclusion, cats see ghosts.

What if you think about it?

Of course, there is no reason to say that cats cannot see ghosts, the other world, people and the like - there is simply no clear evidence that cats are not capable of all this. However, if we think logically, then there is also no clear evidence that cats can see ghosts. In any case, there are definitely no reasonable arguments. First of all, we need to look at the history of the issue. Firstly, cat vision in itself is something amazing and mysterious for people. Because it’s no secret that in low light conditions cats see much more better than people. From a scientific point of view, there is no secret in this: cats have a visual field of 200 degrees (we have only 180), and besides, they have a special layer behind the retina that reflects additional light - the tapetum. This means that given the same weak light source, a cat's eyes perceive more light than we do. At the same time, in complete darkness, cats do not see in the same way that we do not see, besides bright light worsens their vision compared to ours.

Secondly, for thousands of years cats were perhaps the most mystical animal that coexisted with humans. We know very well from school that cats were especially revered in Ancient Egypt, where they were considered the personification of the goddess female beauty, hearth and fertility Bast. Cats were, without exaggeration, sacred animals. The cats had mystical meaning and in other pagan religious systems, where they often served as guides to the world of the dead or companions and servants of powerful spirits and gods.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, this did cats a disservice - their veneration in paganism was perceived by the Christian consciousness as evidence of closeness to devilish forces. Cats, especially black ones, began to be perceived as embodiments of demons and servants of witches , which led these animals to almost complete extermination in European cities. By the way, there is a version that it was the destruction of cats that became one of the causes of the disastrous medieval plague epidemics: there was no one to destroy rodents, the main spreaders of the infection.

So, in the end we get two ideas - about the peculiarities of cat vision and about the mystical nature of cats themselves. They are superimposed on one another, and there is a “knowledge” that cats have supernatural vision.

The same cases when the behavior of cats seems inappropriate to people, when there is no obvious object of the cat’s attention or reaction, began to be explained by the fact that the animals saw ghosts or “something like that.” In fact, for the most part, these cases are explained simply - cats pay attention not to what they see, but to what they hear. For example, cats hunt the same mice by ear, when they initially determine where the sound of moving prey comes from . So when cats hear a sound that is too quiet for our ears, they trigger hunting instinct. In addition, cats are known for their penchant for play and the desire to have fun in those moments when they get bored. Therefore, inappropriate jumping can be just such a playful cat element.

Alexander Babitsky


It has long been known that our smaller brothers are more susceptible, compared to people, to natural phenomena. The supernatural abilities of pets allow them to sense the approach of natural disasters, changes in weather, and relieve pain.
How many cases have there been when a cat warned its owner, for example, about an impending fire or bombing!

But is it true that cats see ghosts? Discussion of this issue in Lately has truly become an internet trend.
However, the topic of paranormal abilities of felines has a solid history.

Excursion into history

Representatives of the cat family have been endowed with supernatural abilities since the Egyptians managed to tame them. Initially, cats were bred for the purpose of exterminating rodents, but subsequently cats turned into objects of worship. Cats were reputed to be the personification of the goddess of beauty, hearth and fertility. Their cult still exists to some extent in Egypt. Special vision
In many religious systems, these animals served as guides to the world of the dead or were companions of spirits and deities. Since ancient times, the magical ability of cats to see not only ghosts, but also, in general, another world hidden from us by a layer of reality, was explained by the peculiarities of vision of these animals - the unique ability to see in the dark and the magical glow of their eyes. After all, an animal with such unusual vision cannot help but observe something irrational!
However, with scientific point From a perspective, this phenomenon can be explained quite simply. On a surface cat eyes there are special photoreceptors, in numbers much greater than in humans - they are what allow the mustachioed to see in the dark. The glow is due to the presence of a special “reflector”, thanks to which the light is used with maximum benefit, and is not absorbed by the retina, as in humans.
In the Middle Ages, Christians perceived the cult of the cat as proof of its closeness dark forces, so animals, especially black ones, began to be destroyed.
As a result, ideas about the peculiarities of a cat’s vision and the mystical nature of the “sacred animal” traditionally overlap one another. However, at some point even ardent skeptics who are directly related to science may believe that their cat saw a ghost.

Why do they think cats see ghosts?

All owners from time to time notice absurdities in the behavior of their pets. Some are inclined to explain the strangeness precisely by the fact that the cats saw a ghost. “Inappropriate” behavior of animals, when there seems to be no object of attention, manifests itself in the following:
- They arch their backs, snort, raise their tails straight up, and jump;
- look intently at one point without moving;
- they begin to hiss and run out of the room as fast as they can;
- they play happily with something, running around the room, but there is no toy in their paws;
- get scared, look around or run away, as if someone is chasing them;
- avoid a certain place in the house (corner, piece of furniture, etc.).
Are you familiar with such situations? Don’t rush to immediately look for reasons for cats’ behavior in the otherworldly realm. Modern science tends to explain the overwhelming amount similar cases quite simple and logical. Smell and hearing
If you are sure that your cat sees ghosts, what we categorically do not recommend doing is immediately contacting psychics. Remember that in addition to her unusual vision, she has very acute hearing. When hunting for mice, a cat relies primarily on sounds from the movements of its intended prey. This faint sound human ear unable to catch, but our smaller brothers have a hunting instinct.
In addition, our pets are endowed with an amazing sense of smell. In addition to the nose, cats, as scientists have proven, have a so-called “Jacobson's organ”, which is located on the palate. With the help of this “device” our pets sense odors at a great distance. In most cases, this explains the seeming oddities in the behavior of pets.
The third explanation for the “strange” actions of felines lies in their character. Even adults are prone to games and the desire to have fun in those moments when it becomes boring. Therefore, jumping, snorting, hissing, etc. may be just a game element.

Maybe it really is the ghosts

The son of the famous director of the Cat Theater Yuri Kuklachev, Dmitry Kuklachev, does not wonder why cats see ghosts, but he does not doubt their paranormal abilities. The artist spoke about his confidence in an interview.
Once on tour with Dmitry’s cats something happened amazing case. During the rehearsal, the animals did not look at the artist giving commands, but at a completely different point. It turned out to be an ordinary white column, next to which, at first glance, there was nothing unusual. During the performance the situation did not change, and the performance was almost disrupted. Later, Dmitry Kuklachev was told that one day a crow flew into this hall and died near that same white column.
There is also famous story about grandma and her cat. Woman for a long time lived with her pet until she died. Her grandson and his family moved into the apartment. The cat behaved friendly and quiet with its new owners. But when the next anniversary of the death of his beloved mistress came, the animal sat for hours at front door and looked at her.
From time to time the cat meowed, as if he was having a conversation with someone. The new residents noticed the pet’s unusual behavior and, thanks to this, never forgot about the anniversary of their grandmother’s death.
There is evidence that it is true that cats see ghosts. modern science no, and it is worth noting that all these cases may have completely natural explanations. Therefore, it’s everyone’s personal choice whether to believe mysticism or not. Perhaps a video will help you confirm your opinion and answer the question of whether cats see ghosts.

Is your cat sleeping peacefully by the window, and then suddenly jumps up and starts looking at the ceiling, as if a bird had flown into the window? But no matter how hard you try, you can't see anything that could be in the room!?

Or your kitten will suddenly hide and stare at the wall for a minute, as if his favorite scene from the movie (The Lion King) is playing there! And again, no matter how hard you try to see something on the wall, you find nothing there: there is nothing there to attract his attention.

A lot of people claim that cats have a very subtle sense that allows them to see ghosts or spirits. But, before concluding that your pet is communicating with Casper, let's look at how cats' perception works and what they actually see.

How cats see the world

When your cat starts looking at something in a way that makes you think she's looking for something, in some cases she is. Perhaps she is trying to look at a shadow that flashed there a second ago, or a fly that has already flown away. But it should be noted that cats have exceptional night vision, and their ability to see during the day is much weaker than ours. In fact, they see only in two basic colors - blue and yellow - while our vision allows us to see three colors. And everything that is at a distance of five centimeters to eight meters in front of them seems blurry to them. However, instead of being able to see a third color, cats have the ability to see at night.

Cats are predators by nature. They see everything in their field of vision very clearly - this helps them focus on the goal - but everything else remains blurry. Therefore, when these animals hunt, they never rely only on their vision. They also use two other senses that are more pronounced than ours: hearing and smell.

How cats hear the world

The way we perceive environment, is very different from how cats perceive it. Did you know that they are able to perceive frequencies four or even five times higher than the one we perceive? It can be argued that they are capable of capturing a number of ultrasonic waves that remain inaccessible to human hearing due to their high frequency.

So, when your cat starts looking around frantically for something that doesn't exist, she may not be trying to find anything, but just trying to find the source of the sound. It could even be a sound bat flying outside the window, or even the ultrasonic wave that airplanes use when flying. If your pet behaves this way mainly in the summer, then now you will know what could be the reason for her behavior.

Cats are able to hear a mouse running across the lawn at a distance of about 10 meters from them. And now we don’t mean the sound of the footsteps of a mouse running across the parquet. Imagine for a second the sound that a mouse could make when 10 meters away from you, and then you can imagine how far beyond your auditory perception is your cat's ability to pick up frequencies. This also explains why cats sometimes stare at a wall as if they saw a ghost or spirit there. Perhaps your pet hears a squirrel walking on the roof, or a strange cat walking by the window, or even a neighbor playing on the musical instrument, while in their basement... Just imagine what else they can hear with such sensitive hearing!

We haven't completely convinced you yet? Then listen to this: In addition to sensitive auditory perception, cat ears are also able to determine exactly where a sound is coming from. Humans can pinpoint the source of a sound to within 20 degrees, while cats can pinpoint it to within 5 degrees and know exactly the direction it's coming from - something we simply can't do.

So, when your pet starts turning her head or moving her ears (as if she saw a ghost), she simply hears a sound coming from somewhere. This ability is inherent in cats due to the size and mobility of their ears, which work similar to locators, which, for example, are used to eavesdrop on conversations from a distance in spy films. Cats could be great spies if only they could talk. Imagine how much they could tell about your neighbors or even your teenage children!
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