It was pretty late by the time I left the ER and I was exhausted. When I got home, the front door was wide open. And this was the first time I’d ever been alone in the house. It gave me pause, but I figured the kids hadn’t shut the door all the way and it had sprung open sometime after they’d left with their dad.
But I checked the entire house. Just in case. I turned on every light and inspected every room and closet. The house was empty.
While I was going from room-to-room,
my black cat was watching me. Closely. After my inspection, I was still feeling a little
edgy, but glad to be home. Then the cat's low menacing growl stopped me in my tracks. Her tail fluffed to about three
times its normal size and her tiny fangs were bared.
First, I’ll give you some back-story...
My cat is normally very sweet and playful. She adores me. (Yeah, she’s super spoiled.) I’ve only heard her hiss once when my daughter was pestering her while she was trying to take a cat nap (pun intended), and that was about two years ago. But she’s never growled or scratched anyone. Ever. She’s super shy too, and hides under my bed if we have company. We always know when someone’s about to knock on our front door, because she gets low to the ground and darts into my room to hide. Basically, she only really likes us. Which I secretly like.
My cat is normally very sweet and playful. She adores me. (Yeah, she’s super spoiled.) I’ve only heard her hiss once when my daughter was pestering her while she was trying to take a cat nap (pun intended), and that was about two years ago. But she’s never growled or scratched anyone. Ever. She’s super shy too, and hides under my bed if we have company. We always know when someone’s about to knock on our front door, because she gets low to the ground and darts into my room to hide. Basically, she only really likes us. Which I secretly like.
Anyway, my sweet-tempered cat starts growling, hissing, and spitting at me in a very aggressive
manner. I try to soothe her, but she won’t let me near her. I shrug and try
to ignore her. I get myself a bottle of water and while I was chugging it down, I stared at her.
I could tell that she was still really agitated over
something. She crouched low to the carpet as if she were ready to pounce, her tail resembling a
bottlebrush. She stayed a good five feet away from me, with her fur standing on end, and growling like she’s getting ready to attack.
Okay, so this was getting REALLY
weird.
And it was starting
to unnerve me. So, I say, "What's wrong with you, kitty?"
Just for the
record, I don’t claim to understand her meows. Well, sometimes. But that’s just
a little too “crazy cat lady” for me. I
reached down to pet her, but she sidestepped me and continued to yowl and hiss,
like I was the Devil himself.
Maybe I smell
different, I thought, like the hospital or something. Although I’ve been going
back and forth to hospitals for months with my daughter (for most of her treatments), the cat has never acted weird before. So, I get in the shower, hoping that once
I put on some clean clothes, she’ll stop acting as if she wants to rip my
throat out.
Guess what? No difference.
Clean and dressed
in my PJs, I emerge from my bedroom to find the cat, crouched, ears flattened,
whiskers back, and teeth bared. She growls and hisses. I stalk past her
and turn on the TV. Every time I get up, she starts growling at me again. If I have
to move past her, I make sure to stay away from her razor-sharp little claws.
Now, it’s really bugging
me. What the heck’s wrong with my cat?
I give her some
yummy kitty treats, then call her into the kitchen. This cat will sprint from anywhere in the damn house to gobble up
her favorite delicacies. I wait. Five minutes go by, no cat. I sit on the couch
again, and watch my recorded episode of “Lost Girl”, then check my emails. The cat
stays crouched with big pupils, watching me. She snubs her treats.
This is getting super weird.
After about two hours of this odd behavior, I search the NET for a possible reason that a cat will suddenly start hissing and growling. The sites I found stated that it meant an animal was injured or sick and it didn't want to be touched. Which made total sense. So, I decided that if she was still acting all crazy by morning, I would take her to the vet.
After about two hours of this odd behavior, I search the NET for a possible reason that a cat will suddenly start hissing and growling. The sites I found stated that it meant an animal was injured or sick and it didn't want to be touched. Which made total sense. So, I decided that if she was still acting all crazy by morning, I would take her to the vet.
An hour later as I'm watching TV, something occurred to me. I remember going on this ghost tour of San Francisco last October
(lame), and the tour guide claimed to be a part-time paranormal investigator. I'm not sure why I suddenly remembered this, but I recall him saying that hospitals were one of the most haunted places on earth. Which makes
sense if you think about it.
Can animals sense paranormal activity?
Can animals sense paranormal activity?
Everyone just
assumes that cemeteries are haunted, but why
would they be?
Nothing but dead
people there. No living energy to feed off. Nowadays, more people die in
hospitals than anywhere else. The morgue really just houses the body in which
the "energy" was contained. And it's a scientific fact that energy cannot
die.
After giving this some deep thought, my theory is this…
Think about it, hospitals
are places where people die, and are born every day. It's no wonder that some spirits might get lost, trapped or frustrated. There’s a lot of
suffering and anguish in hospitals, too. Negative entities might like that.
Anyway, let’s just
say, for arguments sake that something followed
me home. Although I was unaware of it, the cat could sense it. Honestly, there
was nothing there that I could see or feel, and to me everything seemed normal,
well, besides my cat acting all growly and frightened.
I always wondered
if cats and dogs can see and/or sense ghosts or demons. Obviously, we’ll never
know because of the obvious communication barriers. But I believe that animals can sense
paranormal activity or dark energy, and I’ve heard stories about how animals behave
differently when they become aware of paranormal activity around them. Now in my own opinion, I'd have to say it's completely possible, and not just because I'm a horror writer...
Animals are supposed to be more sensitive to things like this than we are, right?
Animals are supposed to be more sensitive to things like this than we are, right?
Back to my cat, who
was still growling. It was really bothering me now. So, I decided if she were still upset
in the morning, then I was definitely taking her to the vet.
Finally, I go to
bed and shut my door on the growling, hissing, hating kitty, then lock it. Yes, I know she can't open the door, but she was freaking me out. LOL
In the morning, I ease open my bedroom door and look around. The cat seems totally back to normal. Happy, purring, and frisky. We play hide and seek, and afterwards, she lets me pet her. She likes me again. Whew!
So, I don't call the vet either. Okay, yes, I do have an overactive imagination, I'm a writer! But the whole incident is still bothering me, because it was so dang weird...
To read about my current haunted house / paranormal occurrences, you can read this post on my blog HERE
In the morning, I ease open my bedroom door and look around. The cat seems totally back to normal. Happy, purring, and frisky. We play hide and seek, and afterwards, she lets me pet her. She likes me again. Whew!
So, I don't call the vet either. Okay, yes, I do have an overactive imagination, I'm a writer! But the whole incident is still bothering me, because it was so dang weird...
I truly do believe animals can sense things.. When I was younger I had a dog that loved being with me, he followed me everywhere. Well I was outside by my grandmothers garage door , which was in the back yard, an my dog just started barking and showing teeth, naturally I jumped an was startled but he kept on barking. So I looked around an saw no one an no other dogs or anything. I just kinda stared at him like he was crazy but it seemed every time I walked outside he would bark. Well after a while I just figured the dog had issues, so I kept doing what I was doing. Then all of a sudden I smelled this nasty odor, like death or something, all I know is it smelled so bad it kinda scared me, so I just went inside the house. Well later on in the week my grandma said her neighbors father had passed away some nights ago, so then I started to put 2 an 2 together an then I realized. That's probably why that damn dog wouldn't stop barking. Maybe his spirit was passing through an the dog was telling me to stay my butt in the house. So your answer do I believe? Yes I do!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Sherry,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! Animals tend to be more aware/sensitives. Dogs are being used on paranormal investigations because of their ability to sense. Since this is totally not your cats behavior, I would wonder what was setting it off. Cats can hiss and growl when they don't feel good or are injured but this is usually when they are curled up or favoring -- it is different. Since you know your cat, I'd imagine you could tell if he/she was upset because it felt sick (different grumbling). I've seen dogs that refuse, cower, whine or growl at 'something' or area of places. This dogs are trained and to disobey or act like this would be so out of character. It's likely something was around - whether it stayed or just passed through who knows -- If it happens again, document it :)
Let's hope it DOESN'T happen again. LOL But a few strange things have happened around the house since that day, but nothing I would say was definitely "paranormal". *shrug*
ReplyDeleteAnd I never think to record weird this stuff when it does happen. *smacking forehead*
I honestly have no idea if animals can sense it or not, and I kind of like the idea of never truly knowing. Like they have a whole secret world that we can't ever see. But I definitely know they have some sort of extra senses, my best friends dog knew I was sick months before I did. She went from a dog that would tire Tigger out to very quite and always protective of me and constantly trying to sniff my belly and a few months after it began I was rushed in hospital for surgery on my belly. So they almost definitely have extra senses. Glad your cats back to loving you though.
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe cats can sense ghosts and other paranormal entities. But if something had followed you from the hospital - and why should it? -, it would still be there.
ReplyDeleteAn alternative explanation is that you smelled of hospital. Many cats hate the smells of hospital and show extreme agitation when exposed to it. You probably carried the hospital smell with you, which is small wonder after spending a whole day there. To your kitty's sensitive feline nose, that smell was probably intense and threatening.
By the morning, you had probably showered and changed your clothes, I guess? This would explain why she no longer freaked out in your presence.
Sounds plausible? :-)
Hi Rayne,
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but I showered and changed clothes once I got home and she was still acting all freaky. And over the last 4 years because of my daughter's rare illness and chemo treatments, we've been in and out of hospitals monthly and she never acted that way before.
It is still so strange! I may never have an answer.
Perhaps, for whatever reason, "it" left that night. Or the cat could've scared it off!