Okay so I’m no animal lover. But before you switch over to someone else’s blog in protest at this disturbing information please know, I don’t hate them either. We just don’t share any special kind of connection. I’m more in synch with children than pets. This might have something to do with the fact I was raised by a parent terrified of getting animal hair on the furniture. Hence no pets that couldn’t be contained within a wire perimeter (and they’re not so much fun, are they?) But that doesn’t mean I’m unfamiliar with the ways of the animal kingdom.

For example. Today a friend of mine who is a massive animal lover shared this quote on her Facebook page: ‘If your dog doesn’t love someone maybe you shouldn’t either.’ And even though I’m no dog lady it makes sense to me. Dogs and cats just seem to know stuff. Like when thunderstorms or fires are coming. Like when their master or mistress is about to come home (my neighbour’s dog always barks at this hour.)

In my newspaper today the resident astrologer, Jonathan Cainer, shared a letter he’d received from a reader:

‘My mother died in a nursing home. Before she passed the hospice informed me she probably wouldn’t last many more days, and to start planning her funeral. That night I was in bed when my cat jumped on my chest and took its two front paws to cradle my face and gaze into my eyes. Seconds later the nursing home rang to say my mother had just passed away sooner than expected. To this day I’m convinced that somehow my mother was able to say she loved me and to say goodbye through the cat.’

Jonathan has shared many such stories this week. About how pets have woken their owners from sleep just before the alarms went off or when the owner had been wanting to get up. About how a squirrel would come and feed out of a reader’s hand every day precisely at the hour she nominated.

I had a budgie when I was growing up (feathers conveniently molt inside a cage.) Imaginatively named: ‘Budgie’. One night I dreamt he died and when I came down in the morning he had indeed passed away. Yet he hadn’t even looked sick the evening before.

When we don’t know how. When we don’t know why. When we experience something that is outside the realm of human understanding we are in the realm of the High Priestess card.

Have you had an experience like this with a pet? Please share.