• A married couple went on vacation and left their cat with an aunt at her house while they were away. The aunt lived two miles away, and the cat had never been there before. When the couple returned home two weeks later, they found their cat on their front porch. They called their aunt to thank her for returning the cat, saving them the trouble of collecting him. The aunt heaved a sigh of relief, saying that the cat had slipped out the door that morning, and she’d been searching for him ever since.
• One woman had to move far away, leaving her beloved cat with her parents. The cat disappeared a few days later, and the parents could not find him anywhere. But every two or three months, the woman came home for a visit. The cat would always turn up at her parents’ home just in time to greet her. He was well-fed and nicely groomed, but had no collar or ID on him. Everyone was baffled as to where he was living, and how he knew to show up just when his beloved previous owner came for a visit. The curiosity continued, as he disappeared as soon as she left to return to her new home. This continued for some time. The cat would always come whenever she came home for a visit. The biggest surprise came when the cat showed up at the parents’ home, even though she had not scheduled a trip home. Then she showed up for an unannounced visit, showing that the cat was right once again.
• One woman owned five cats who had the run of the house and the yard, using a cat door to come and go. One time when she suffered a prolonged illness, the five cats took turns staying by her side, while the others roamed free. They had a very exacting rotating schedule which they never varied from, so she was never alone in the house and always had a companion by her side.
• One lady who was an enthusiastic cook often used a grinder to grind vegetables, fruits, and meats. Her cat would always come into the kitchen whenever she got out the grinder to grind meats, because she would drop scraps. But the cat never came to the kitchen when the intention was to grind fruits or vegetables.
• Cats can even sometimes sense things coming over the phone. Take the case of Carlo, who belonged to a young girl. When she grew up and went off to college, she would phone home occasionally, but not on any sort of schedule. In the family’s house, the phone was on the stair landing, and the cat was not allowed upstairs. But whenever the phone rang, and it was her on the line, Carlo would bound up the stairs and stand next to the phone. He never did this any other time.
• Sugar was a Persian that belonged to a family in California. When they moved to a new home in Oklahoma, Sugar jumped out of the car window in panic and could not be found. The family continued with their move, and the neighbors notified them later that they had found Sugar and would keep her safe until they could return for her. Unfortunately, Sugar disappeared a few days later and could not be found anywhere. A year later, the cat turned up at the family’s new home in Oklahoma, having traveled over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) through unknown territory.
• A survey of vet clinics showed that 64 out of 65 often experienced cancellations when cats were scheduled for appointments, because cats would so often intuit that a vet visit was in the offing and would disappear. The only clinic that did not report this phenomenon had stopped making appointments for cats, and just told cat owners: “Bring your cat in whenever you can catch it, and we’ll see it then.”
