I was recently on an on-line forum where a member was questioning the existence of animal ghosts. This got me to thinking about the subject of animal spirits.

My childhood pet was a cat called Sooty. She lived a until a very good age, dying when I was around 15 years old. When she was alive she had a preference for sitting on the back of the sofa near my head. Kind of like a fluffy feline head-warmer. After she passed away I often got a sense that she was sitting in her regular position on the back of the chair, keeping me company. And then I remembered that she was in fact dead! I had this feeling on numerous occasions. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling though. It was quite a peaceful and comforting feeling to have her there.

My other childhood pet was a cat called Dingle. He was half Persian and half regular moggy. He had a dish face and extra long claws, which used to pick along the carpet noisely as he walked. When Dingle was alive he could be heard picking his way up the stairs and he would often yowl outside my parent’s room or sometimes my room when he wanted a midnight snack or to go outside.  Dingle also lived to a grand old age and died when I was around 18 years old. After Dingle passed away, he could often be heard doing this same routine at night. I certainly heard him picking his way up the stairs with his long claws many times in the dead of night, and both my mother and father heard the same, plus on one occasion his yowl. Even my father who is a total sceptic remarked that it often seemed like Dingle and Sooty were still with us.

Our family have moved away from there now, but I still wonder if Dingle and Sooty are keeping a new family company in the house they loved so much while alive.