Can owning a cat enhance spiritual/psychic abilities?

After the death of my beloved cat, Fluffles, I wrote a short essay entitled "What My Cat Taught Me":

A long-haired cat named Fluffles graced my life for fifteen years. She taught me two very wonderful life lessons.

First, she taught me how to walk in the woods. Many years ago my husband and I bought a house along a small river, and there was a trail that led along the river for quite a long distance (half hour hike) with no houses or other development visible. The first few times I walked the trail by myself, and I hiked at my ordinary brisk pace along the path.

Fluffles liked being outside so she and I started going on walks together. The first few times I walked like I always did, and felt as if I was taking Fluffles out for a walk. Then one day she walked a little way off of the path and started meowing. I called to her, fearing that she had hurt herself, and moved towards her to see if she needed help. As soon as I got close, she bounded up the slope and I realized that she wanted me to follow her. I decided to not be the “leader” and to instead follow her that day. When she stopped, I stopped. If she walked through a rhododendron thicket, I got down on my hands and knees and found a way through.

And I learned something beautiful from Fluffles that day. I learned to stop seeing nature through the eyes of “process,” of moving through it constantly with some future goal in mind, and then spending maybe 10 minutes enjoying the view of the goal before slogging back. All of a sudden there was no goal; there was only being here, in the forest, now. Fluffles taught me not to be looking for the big views, but to see the same interest and beauty in every bit of woods.

We would move 10 feet and stop for 5 minutes, then move another 10 feet and stop again. I saw and heard things I had missed before in all my hurry through the woods—tiny flowers; spiders in their webs; the personality of the trees that surrounded me; the birds singing their songs; the skull of a wildcat on a steep slope among trilliums.

Now I think of being in the woods like going to church. And more than church, because not only is it the experience of being in the presence of the divine, it is the experience of being here now. I find it difficult to walk with others because they always talk while they are hiking, and mostly about subjects that have no relevance to the place at hand. I go to the woods to experience the place of no thought, of the place beyond me.

The second thing I learned from Fluffles was about attitude towards the day. She slept in our bed, and every morning when I woke up she would start to purr, and the feeling was she was saying, “isn’t it good to be alive for another day to love each other.” This allowed me to see that my attitude towards life had been one of drudgery—I thought waking up to another day was a burden. Fluffles offered me a glimpse into another way of seeing life: as a gift of one day at a time to love, and be loved, and be happy.

My cat is one of the only people who understands me. He listens so well that others like to point this out. Like he will come when I call him and such. Nicest guy there ever was.. he certainly helps heal my insides.

In ancient Egypt, the cat was a guardian. It was said that it lived and could see in both the world of the living and the world of the dead. If this is true, then cats hold tremendous spiritual power.

I also have a cat, she has been a member of our family for almost 14 years now, she sees things i do not, but since i have started my journey, i have learned things, such as trusting my senses. This is something i find Cats have the ability to portray to people, on an unconscious level. So in that respect, i do believe they can open a persons abilities up, but only if we are willing to receive the lessons they have to teach.

Originally Posted by Lightcat

That's definitely possible. I work primarily with animal spirits, and find cats are insightful creatures indeed. Felines are solitary, territorial hunters, by nature. It's no mystery that they'd be calculating, intelligent, and thinking two or three steps ahead. In other words- insightful.

Oh, and if you have not had a cat before, watch a few episodes of My Cat From Hell. The show gives you some very good advice as to how to make your cats feel safe and at home, keep them clean, and some of their body language. Make sure you give your cats some slow blinks once in a while! It is a cat's way of smiling.

I do take issue with one thing that the guy does on My Cat From Hell, though. When a kitty is scared or shy he insists on blocking off all hidey holes so that the cat has no option but to 'socialise'. I think it's much kinder to provide a safe place where the cat can come to terms with things gradually. By all means coax them out, but don't cut them off from their safe places :)

I have three gorgeous moggies, one of whom, Shanti, is my little animal soul mate She may even be one of my animal spirit guides, but either way, there's a huge bond between us, so much so that I feel like she's almost 'me'. I do believe cats are naturally much more in touch with the spirit world than we are.

I mean, when they look at 'nothing' in particular, with great intensity, and follow something with their eyes that you can't see, you have to wonder! I can often get my cats to agree to carry out my will (obey me, if you like) by simply thinking my request, although they do understand simple verbal requests as well. (You don't 'command' a cat, you only ever request something of it!!) They're very clever, really, because it's difficult for me to pick up their thoughts, although I'm getting quite good at 'reading' them anyway, but they have adapted to ask for things through action (my boy, Sabby, gets up on his hind legs and puts his left paw up like a salute to ask for things .... uber cute! Meesha taps me on my leg to get my attension, and Shanti miaows in different ways depending on what she wants).

The greatest mystery about cats is this, though ... why do they, for absolutely no reason whatsoever, feel compelled to dash from one room to another randomly selected room, as fast as they possibly can?!? lol

Originally Posted by Kathleen Brugger

After the death of my beloved cat, Fluffles, I wrote a short essay entitled "What My Cat Taught Me":

Kathleen, that is so beautiful What a wonderful lesson Fluffies taught you, and thank you for sharing. I will ask my cats to take me on a walk (as long as they don't take me to our grumpy neighbour's garden!).