Can Cats see ghosts ?

[parkers]

I am positive that our cat Barbie - don't ask ! see's ghosts.. She'll be sat there and then cower down, her ears go back and she looks up, terrified, then scarpers off... very odd.. !

Also, why won't she drink the water in her water bowl? She'll only ever drink out of the loo.. or the tap? Is this normal

As you can tell I am a dog person, so this whole cat thing is new to me...

[annavc]

Not sure but it wouldn't surprise me! My cat, Sam, spends long periods staring at a blank spot on the wall. I've tried many times to figure out what he's looking at but I'm yet to see anything so either he has x-ray vision, is seeing ghosts or is perhaps imagining bugs to chase. The last option is the one I think is true as he does seem to have a bit of an obsession with chasing flies, spiders, woodlice etc etc and when there aren't any real ones to chase I think he just imagines them instead!

I'm pretty sure that I have read somewhere though that cats and most animals are much more tuned to things like paranormal activity etc so maybe that is exactly what Barbie is seeing.

[annavc]

Regarding the drinking problem - I think its quite normal. My cat does drink from his bowl but he also likes the kitchen tap and whatever happens to be in any glass that is within reach - even if its wine!!

[parkers]

Certainly agree with you on the imagining bugs to chase.. !! I've never actually believed in ghosts etc, but seeing how she reacts sometimes does freak me out a bit.. oh well, if there is one, I'd like it to introduce itself !!

As for the drinking, as long as they're drinking I suppose it doesn't really matter !!

Thank you

[drgnrdr]

Maybe she likes her water real fresh, see if you can get a water fountain for cats at a store or on line shopping pet store, my cat didn't care for bowl water either, he always prefered tap, I never let him in the toilet, kept the lid down, also I didn't care for him to drink it since it is nastey, and using cleaner and a disinfectant, is not good for them, then I got him a fountain of his own, and BINGO he loved it. Some cats can't judge the level of water and don't want their face wet, so they don't care for that either. One cat I had she liked to lick the water in the tub after a shower, but since it could contain soap I tried to make sure to squeegy it down and close the doors, until it dried completely.

As for the paranormal thing, who knows maybe or they could've seen a fly in that spot before and are still looking for it, there is so much we still don't understand about animals.

[cartie303]

an aunt of mine had a spirit of a little girl in her house she had 3 cats while she lived there all ran off and wouldnt come in her house she had a dog as well that could see it but dogs are not that scared so i believe as for the water thing get a fountain we have 4 cats and they all drink out of the fountain but not a bowl must be because its cool and fresh cause it goes through a filter first.

[itsallyellow]

I'm assuming the water in her bowl is next to the food. I haven't read the other answers but the fact the water is next to the 'kill' as it were they wont touch. They dont usually have water next to it in the wild so hence don't touch it in the ' no so wild'

[logman]

I remember a cat that i used to own (if its possible to own a cat) It used to chace an apparently phantom mouse, what only he could see, it was always in the same area on a wall,which had me baffled, until it suddenly dawned on me! He was picking up on high frequency mouse squeaks behind the caverty wall or behind the skirting board, that only he could hear..

[qapmoc]

Logman has the answer, cats (and dogs) can hear much higher frequency sounds than we can, so it could be almost anything in your environment which is making high pitched sounds which is upsetting the cat. Have you noticed anything which happens around you when the cat behaves this way, such as the fridge motor starting or water filling the toilet tank or whatever or maybe even a plane overhead.

[parkers]

Excellent, thank you..

Looks like Barbie is getting a water fountain for Christmas...

[Tammera]

about the ghost, as far as im aware all animals can see/sense ghosts, apparently from what ive heard and read, we all can see ghosts and sense dangers but we dont use that part of the brain as we dont need to so therefore most of us dont see ghosts or sense dangers. animals use much more of their brains than we do so therefore see/sense these things. i saw on a documentory that when the tsunami happened they didnt find any dead animals (other than ones incapable of escaping) as they knew something was about to happen and they went to safe ground.

something i recently saw that i found quite impressive is they have trained dogs to sense when their owner is going to have an seizure and warn their owners before hand so they can get safe and call for help. animals are amazing and still use sense that we have lost touch with due to the lack of need to use it.

[hellafagal09]

when I lived in my old apartment. it was a very old brownstone in brooklyn my cat was terrified of one corner in my room. i put a couch there and held her on my arm. by the time i tried to sit down with her on the couch she stared in the corner terrified, meowed ,hit me and ran away...she usually never scratches or hits me and is always very gentle..i was surprised and didnt know what to think of it. plus she would never go close to that corner i tried to put her there again and exactly the same thing happened . there must have been something on that couch or in that corner that conpletely freaked her out.my roomates friends from trinidad told me how cats can see ghosts and that she probably was scared of something that i just coudlnt see...well that kinda scared me myself..another friend of mine told me that even though cats are thought to be able to see ghosts he mentioned that they would at the same time protect me. so Im not that worried anymore. in case there is anything harmful that im unaware of. so no worries :)

[felix89]

well i know this question was posted a few years back but i stumbled across it & only joined there now..ive had my cat for ten years and not once have i saw him drink water from a bowl, he'l drink it from the tap rarely, this morning infact i found him IN our pond walking through it...hopefully not for the fish lol.

as for the ghosts my cat freaks out the odd time in my room, its always spooked me a bit, he'd be fine then he'd stop and stare eyes wide and raise his paw swiping at whatever it is in front of him and sniffing around it.

once out of interest i lifted him up and moved him closer to the spot he would be so interested in and he'd go mad, wriggling and digging his claws into me to get away. proved my point! and this cat is one lazy lazy loveable cat, who would now in his old age barely move to get his food at times yet be so scared of nothing.

:)