What is our cat seeing?

[Moonhead]

Our cat Saffy doesn't live with us now, but she does come and stay at weekends, and she has a strange facination with our stairs. They're the wooden open type. She likes to sit in the living room, and stare at the same step (it's 4 from the top). Sometimes she'll just sit there staring intently for ages, other times, she'll sit there ears twitching, tail swishing, and then suddenly run up the stairs and 'pounce' on the step. She also sometimes runs up the stairs and then rubs her head on the step and purrs. She does it at all times of the day and night, which rules out a shadow or light play. So what is it she's so interested in? My mother's dog has also sat and stared at the step, and even 'yipped' at it on occasion. Any ideas?

[quattro]

Sounds like a ghost problem my mother in law has a dog and it is scared of going into her bedroom and will sometimes bark at 'unseen' things . She herself has seen the ghost an old man with a flat cap.Why don't you see if you can find a psychic who may be a little more in tune with these things to see if he can see anything.

[Moonhead]

As a "sceptical believer" that idea had crossed my mind quattro, but not having seen or felt anything myself, I just wondered if there was possibly a more logical reason. She doesnt seem scared of "the step" the opposite infact, so maube it would be nice to have a friendly ghost about the place! :)

[Lennon]

I know you're a sceptical believer, but the fact that you have not seen or felt anything screams volumes. Usually its dogs, but cats too can pick up on frequencies and detect presences, that we cannot see, hear or sense. It could be more than one 'entity', as sometimes the cat seems affectionate and sometimes ready to attack. Hope it is a friendly one! :)

[Kim White]

obviously a staircat! Moony. ;-)

[sft42]

The fact that a bunch of rational people haven't been able to come up with a better answer than "A ghost" is a bit disturbing.

All things in life have a natural resonance and you might well find than for some reason or other (water pipe passing nearby the step or some such) this step is giving off vibrations that most humans would be oblivious to but puss is well tuned into........I remember a story from years ago about how a friends cat used to love sitting on an old radiator in his flat even though it was no longer connected, only problem was the cat would occasionally jump up very quickly with a yelp...he put it down to cat nightmares...only later on did he find out that there was electric short going to that radiator...cat was quietly giving herself ECT.

[thewillow]

sft42 - At last - some commonsense. Whatever it is, it ain't a ghost. There's always a rational explanation. Maybe someone dropped a kipper on the step.

[manics_]

The reason could be that the grain in the wood appears to be moving to the cat. A cats eyes are constanly refocussing, and therefore the 'picture' that the cat is seeing will be changing slightly, and the wood grain may be acting like those 'MagicEye' illusion pictures from the early 90's. The cat is seeing something 'moving' therefore she will hunt it. This is only a speculatoin, but it has been seen in some wild animals.

[Shadow]

i think i have the answer! Cat's are believed to have a second sight! They have the abiltiy to see things we human's don't! That's probably why u see ctas aswell as your own stare into space! It probably might be seeing old memroies in the step for all we know! And maybe the dog is too seeing stuff!

[FP]

Could a spider be living in a corner of this particular step. Cats will often sit and stare for ages if they have seen a spider. This could account for running up the stairs and pouncing and also for the dog 'yipping'. I don't know whether it accounts for the purring.