Some cats are gifted with a "sixth sense", if you will.

By this I mean, some cats can sense when someone has been taken ill, has deceased or has simply been hurt. Some cats can even tell these things before they happen!

KatyKat knew Rex (good friend and neighbor dog of 14 years) had passed on to that doggy heaven in the sky. When he was buried under the lilac bush between his house and hers, she diligently watched over him for three days - leaving only to eat and use the litter box. Her perch wasn't the most comfortable one in the house either - she slept and watched from on top of the printer on Angel's desk, looking out the window next to the lilac bush.

One of KatyKat's predecessors, LadyBug (a beautiful longhaired calico who was a rescue cat in the middle of the worst deep freeze the midwest had experienced in the 1980's) could tell when Angel was feeling down and missing her parent's or her grandmother. LadyBug would cuddle with her and lick her hand to give her comfort. Other than those times of sadness, LadyBug wasn't much of a snuggler or lover.

When another feline friend, Henley, passed on following heart complications, his buddy and companion knew in advance and tried to let his people know that Henley was in trouble by meowing and yowling desperately. Sadly, they didn't know what he was trying to tell them.

Bittermelon, another predecessor of KatyKat's, knew when baby animals lost their parents. Bittermelon would bring home baby rabbits, baby birds, baby shrews, etc. and make a nest out of dirty laundry from the laundry shoot. (She could open the outside doors herself, so didn't need to bother waking Angel when she brought them in by their scuff.) Bittermelon would try to nurse them, even though she was neutered and couldn't produce milk. Our veterinarian was on speed dial and laughed as he would have Angel mix up different concoctions to feed these various babies, in the hopes they could survive to adulthood.

Many long-term nursing homes have found that facility cats provide residents with love and affection, when the resident's families have abandoned them.

Oscar, a nursing home cat in Providence, Rhode Island, could always tell when a resident was on his or her last hours. He would curl up next to the resident and purr loudly while the family gathered and the priest would give last rites. Oscar would quietly slip out after the resident passed on, to wait for the next soul that needed some love and attention before death claimed them.

Does your cat know things before you do?

To read about my friends Dusty and Fluffy and how they instinctively helped their people cope with the loss of a loved one, go to www.inspirational-words-phrases.com/CatBehaviorDuringBereavement.html