Animals' sixth sense

RE: Animals' sixth sense

Anthony Dennison — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 09:17:13 GMT

Sorry to hear about your mum Judith.

I do agree with you about the 6th sense thing. There was a video doing the rounds on social media a couple of years ago of a severely autistic woman who when stressed would start hitting herself and having panic attacks. Her large Rottweiller type dog would then just climb on top of her and hold her, which seemed to bring the woman back and she would just cuddle the dog. Rumour has it a while later police shot the dog during one of these episodes because they thought he was attacking her (in the US).

My dog certainly knows when something is up. My wife lost her grandma a few weeks before our wedding, and it really affected her. The dog is normally a right daddy's boy and spends his time with me. For about 2 weeks he wouldn't leave her side.

RE: Animals' sixth sense

emma o'connor — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 16:08:57 GMT

not much more to add only to say I agree with everyone else's thoughts.... and to say sorry about your Mum Judith, I understand to a degree as my mother-in-law is going the same way, the only difference being I don't have to deal with the day to day challenges that you are.

RE: Animals' sixth sense

Julie Innes — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 08:40:39 GMT

Sorry to hear about your mum, Judith. My gran had dementia, and yes, you do need a sense of humour.

My old beagle also had dementia, and it got to the point where my other dog started to attack him, despite them being constant companions for 12 years. I watched a fascinating programme on this last year, there was a man who had blackouts whose dog alerted him so he could sit down and not fall and injure himself among others.

Animals are so much cooler than humans

RE: Animals' sixth sense

Judith Archbold — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 07:55:04 GMT

Lovely words Niall.

RE: Animals' sixth sense

Lazy Bee — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 07:54:26 GMT

About 15 years ago I suffered what turned out to be 3 separate TIAs over the period of a few days - quite minor, visual disturbance only.

A week later I was alone at home in my office when my Weimeraner, Duke, started fussing round me, wouldn't leave me alone, he was very bothered. I guessed Duke wanted to get outside - so I got up to take him out - and "came over all queer" - Yep, I'd had the stroke that the TIAs should have warned us about! No, Duke didn't want to go out, he just knew something was up.

The stroke was minor and I was back at work in a few months - and Duke was my constant companion during my recovery. I don't kid myself Duke had a 6th Sense, he just could see/smell/hear something about me out of the ordinary which worried him. Remember, our pets/patients senses of smell etc. are so much more acute and discriminatory than ours - that explains a lot.

RE: Animals' sixth sense

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 01:56:45 GMT

Probably the same way they pick up on subtle signs of an impending seizure. I think animals tend to instinctively avoid individuals who may be demonstrating unusual behaviour when they are sick , perhaps self preservation against infectious disease or signs of weakness attracting predators. Humans do the same if people behave in an unusual way , they avoid them. So sad for you and your mum if she still gets pleasure from seeing the cat, Kate is right , make sure you look after yourself too.

RE: Animals' sixth sense

Kate Richardson — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 22:00:03 GMT

Oh and remember to take time out for yourself x

RE: Animals' sixth sense

Kate Richardson — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 21:59:28 GMT

Also sorry to hear that Judith. Humour is a good way to deal with difficult situations in my opinion and maybe that good feeling that comes with humour transmits to your mum, even if not detectable to you?

with regards to your cat, I would think it is more that your cat feels somehow threatened by your mums behaviour changes now and is natural for her to avoid said perceived threat? Not in any way suggesting your mum is a threat. Rather than a sixth sense as such in this case?

my gran had dementia for years, I felt I had lost her way before she did pass away.

keep laughing and talking if it helps

RE: Animals' sixth sense

Niall Taylor — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 21:45:55 GMT

Sorry to hear about your mum, Judith, dementia is one of the most cruel of conditions. Like you, it never fails to amaze me how exquisitely perceptive animals are of certain things. They must live in a completely different sensory world from us. I often wonder what it must be like to live in a world of subtle scent, ultra and infra sonic hearing and whiskery touch, with vision reduced to a mere monochromatic tool, employed simply to detect movement or interpret the nuances of a rich body language.

Niall