Thread: Do your pets see things in the corner?

My pets are always staring at random things, and I can say without a doubt that it's not always the same direction.

My dog barks at things that I don't see everywhere. Sometimes he looks at the ceiling and barks at nothing.

Whilst using a ouija board one night I asked the spirit I was talking to where she was in the room and she said she was in the chair next to me. I asked if animals could see her and other dead people. She said yes. My boss's dog Minerva was asleep in front of the fire so I aksed the spirit to prove that animals could see her and to call Minerva. Immediately Minerva woke up, turned her head and looked at the empty chair next to me.

I really consider these things so weird and it scares me a lot to see my dog bark at nothing and my cat meows on nothing too. They said animals can see things that we cannot see like ghosts, spirits, and all invisible.

I'm not sure this thread was what you were looking for, theCusp...

Yes, my cat is very sensitive to "it"... long story.

And no, its usually behind me, making my cat look past me unnervingly.

No but call me crazy I swear I saw something that looked like a ghost cross in front of me about 45 minutes ago(I don't believe in ghosts) I say it on here so my friends don't call me crazy..any ideas pitch black room no windows a white light hovering just floats in front of me and vanishes...I'm not sure I can believe my own eyes

My cat is a bit of a catnip addict. He is a total fry head sometimes and sees imaginary things every where. Not on direction.

The clear time I bring quickly to mind of waking to an odd entity, and remember the direction it was NNW

[Answering information asked while expressing no beliefs]

My cat often seems to be staring at imaginary things. I don't remember what direction in most instances, but the couple places he often stares that I can remember right now are north and north-east.

I don't think I've ever woken up and sensed anything in a top corner of my room. I have had hallucinations upon waking up of things on my ceiling. On the south-east corner, but that's the corner my bed is under so it would be expected.

Both my cats have reached up and scratched at room corners several times in the past, especially if they can get up close on top of furniture or a cat tower. I don't know what it is. One of my cats has practically fought a room corner, when he was hyper.

My GF's cat quite often looks at the floor in front of her as though she is watching something. I have checked the floor to see if she watches for spiders, etc. but nothing is there. (You can tell this by how her head/eyes move. It is not a 'blank' stare.)
Also when we had our cats then I often noticed that they seemed to look just above your head a lot.

However I have not noticed any staring in corners; not as I can remember, nor do I 'see' or experience anything in a particular corner of a (bed)room either.

I honestly think cats either naturally hallucinate, or they like to pretend that things are there because they're bored. Cats are weird so I wouldn't be surprised if either were true.

It was after midnight, kitty was staring off into space and hisses. I was sitting right next to kitty and I had no idea what she was hissing at. It was super creepy! I got scared and went to bed, lol

I live on the Northpole and for that reason cannot help you, The Cusp.

My dog I had between age 15-30 used to do that. I've "had" three other dogs, and they didn't seem/don't seem to be as sensitive as she was.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

I honestly think cats either naturally hallucinate, or they like to pretend that things are there because they're bored. Cats are weird so I wouldn't be surprised if either were true.

You must remember cats sense of smell.. It's highly likely a cat is smelling something a large bug, rodent.. etc Just because it's not visible... Remember the cats traditional role in human society was keeping pests out of the storehouses.

^^ Remember also that cats (and dogs) don't actually get bored, as boredom is a side-effect of sentience, which is a quality that cats and dogs lack no matter how hard one believes.

I think there might be way too much anthropomorphism going on here, which sort of trashed the conversation.

Our pets are not us. They don't do sentient things like get bored or imagine. What they do is exercise senses that surpass human capabilities, so they might actually be smelling, seeing, hearing, or tactilely sensing things that are beyond human capability to notice. Though they're likely sensing "unnoticed" things like distant barking dogs, hidden bugs, the neighbor's pizza, they might just be picking up on supernatural energies or events that lie beyond human senses. I think that's where the OP was headed here, way back when.

The past three nights my cat has kept me up all night, I'm drained. My cat sleeps in my room on my bed with me every single night for years. If I shut him out of my room to go to bed he'll meow at the door until I let him in. He's very good at staying asleep most of the night, and quiet about going to the corner of my room for food, water or the litter box. But the last 3 nights he has been loudly and anxiously meowing and running up and down my bed and meowing right in my ear and laying by my head meowing. Like trying to get my attention to help him or something. The first two nights I just thought he was being a rebellious butt-head trying to annoy me, but last night around almost 4 in the morning after I heard him make a horrifying long hiss at something towards my bedroom door I decided to roll away from my wall as I usually sleep and face the room area he's distracted by and watch him and he seems to be completely compelled by something, he looks around up and down and side to side at something I can't see. Then when the morning finally came he knocks out exhausted. I feel bad for him that something is scaring him, but I felt no fear, so he layed in my arms while it was happening to feel safe. I tried to comfort him by petting him but I was so tired that every time I dozed off he'd start getting jumpy again at something and meow again as if the little fucker who was messing with him would wait until I was faced my wall or dozed off. Maybe tonight if it happens again and my cat starts getting messed with I'll have to jump up and play spice girls and rave and dance in the middle of the room for a few minutes, then get back to sleep. That'd give me and my cat at least a few good hours of sleep until it would happen again. I think, i don't I feel like it would. But if anyone has any suggestions of what to do to stop it, it'd be greatly appreciated by my kitty and me

My dog stares down the hallway and barks from time to time. It's looking directly east. The hallway entrance is in the southeast corner of the room. Interestingly enough, I had another dog, which has since died, that did the same thing.

My cat has been known to stare north, but not sure if he's ever stared north-east. But the door is to the north. Why? What's special about north-east? Is that where hell is?

Originally Posted by Sageous

^^ Remember also that cats (and dogs) don't actually get bored, as boredom is a side-effect of sentience, which is a quality that cats and dogs lack no matter how hard one believes.\

That is really quite an opinionated statement. By definition, cats and dogs actually are sentient, as in they are aware of their own existence, they do imagine things, and they even have dreams. These things are proven.
If you are talking about whether they actually perceive, that is a matter of opinion. I am referring to the concept of a philosophy zombie, or someone who has the exact same functions and can act exactly the same as a real human, but doesn't actually experience their senses like normal people do. As in, they aren't actually conscious, they are just a computing machine. But then again there would be literally no way to know if a person is like that, and what is to say it is even possible? My belief is that, since there is no actual physical piece of our brain that accounts for us experiencing our situations (as opposed to simply computing our senses and forming an output without ever being conscious) , consciousness is an illusion.

So your consciousness and brain is no more than a pattern of zeros and ones, neurons that are firing or not firing. So if you were to take a humongous crowd of people and somehow organize them to each function as a neuron in a perfect imitation of a real brain, this brain, made from millions (or billions, I'm not actually sure how many neurons a brain has) of humans would be just as conscious as me or you. There is no difference between a small human brain made from single-cell neurons and a massive brain made from multi-cell neurons if they have exactly the same function. So take away some people, and some more people, and more, until there are only 2 people left. The consciousness that was once made from a massive throng of people is still conscious, but it has been dumbed down and simplified to the point where it is not capable of any kind of thought or feeling in any way. It is effectively dead. But it is still conscious. So if there is a consciousness (albeit a non-functioning one) between two people, what's to say there isn't one between a person and a rock, or two rocks, or any random group of things. Well, there are consciousnesses between every possible singular thing and every possible group of things in the entire universe.

Thus, animals are not only sentient (scientifically speaking), but also conscious (metaphysically speaking). You can applaud my super duper final move double smash-house brawl debate argument deluxe premium 9000.

Originally Posted by Avian

That is really quite an opinionated statement. By definition, cats and dogs actually are sentient, as in they are aware of their own existence, they do imagine things, and they even have dreams. These things are proven.

As far as I (and the entire scientific community, for that matter) knew, exactly the opposite is true.

By definition, dogs and cats are unaware of their own existence and they do not imagine things. Yes, most higher animals dream, so no argument there. I had assumed that I was stating well-known fact, and not opinion. But perhaps I was wrong: can you cite some of this proof for these things? Maybe a link?

Also:

The average brain has about 100 billion neurons, each making multiple (sometimes thousands) of connections with the cells around them. So your crowd had best be fairly big, and each person better grow a whole lot of arms, before you can simulate a human brain in action.

There is a difference between sentience and consciousness: every living thing has some level of consciousness, but very few living things (possible only humans, on this planet) have self-awareness (sentience).

Beyond that, and in the hopes that you're just kidding and don't really believe this nonsense, I'll say no more.

Well I was partially joking, especially the last sentence. However, this is a theoretical situation, so yes, say all these people have a lot of arms and are perfectly organized to simulate the human brain. That brain would be conscious, and sentient.
Do Animals Know Who they Are? | Psychology Today
Scientists Declare: Nonhuman Animals Are Conscious | Earth in Transition

I could also cite several more links if I wanted to, and probably even a few books if I had more time on my hands. Also I have personal experience:

My dog is very obviously and clearly sentient, and shows a huge amount of intelligence. If her mind were put into the body of a human, she would probably be able to function (although she would probably be considered learning-impaired) as a human. She does see her own reflection, and notices that it is ,in fact, her reflection, not another dog. So she doesn't pay much attention to it. There are several things which she enjoys doing and seeks to do, a very obvious sign of sentience. That thought is definitely relating to the self and the idea of "I want to do this". These things are in no way related to survival, so you can't say they are instinctual. For example, she likes listening to people talk or read aloud and will often sit by and listen when someone does that. Many animals also love playing around, even games that do not involve survival-type things.

Animal researchers have taught many apes to speak using alternative systems such as hand signs or symbols on a chart. They can communicate complex ideas. One gorilla at a zoo enjoyed fruit and often asked for it using one of these systems. Again, I could provide plenty of links if you insist, but for now I don't feel like taking the time to do it.

I would say any animal or thing capable of perceiving and processing what they perceive must be self-aware. To call my argument nonsensical is actually a nonsensical statement, as it is very well-founded.