
Animal Ghosts
#1
Posted 17 February 2012 - 11:29 AM
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Dr. Duncan MacDougall. Dr. MacDougall was from Haverhill, Massachusetts; he was not only a man of medicine, but a spiritual man too. He believed he could prove that humans had a soul by weighing a person as they expire to see if there is a difference in weight before and after death. In 1901, the doctor convinced six patients who were dying of tuberculosis to allow him to put their bodies on a special bed attached to a sensitive weight when they were close to passing. He would then see if some weight was lost when these people exhaled their last breath. He figured 21 grams was the average amount of weight that a person lost as they died. To MacDougall, this was proof that the human soul existed, it had weight, and it left when a person died.
To test his theory, Dr. MacDougall euthanized 15 dogs while they were on his scales and noticed the dogs had no loss of weight upon death. To him, this proved that humans have a soul or spirit and animals do not. Dr. MacDougall’s tests have been criticized as being both unscientific and unethical and few give much credence to his findings. However, the reason I keep thinking about the doctor and his tests is because I have presented the story of Dr. MacDougall in front of a few lecture audiences recently and I notice the collective groan when I mention the dogs and them not having a spirit.
Ghostvillage.com is filled with many accounts from people who have experienced the ghost of their beloved pet. Others have claimed to hear phantom footfalls of ghostly horses, and legends are filled with many different tales of animal spirits coming back to interact with our world. It makes me question: what is a ghost? Is a ghost the spirit or essence of a living thing that pays a visit? Or is it a living person’s memory manifested into some sort of reality such as a semi-translucent figure that we recognize as our lost loved one? These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night. I invite you to stay up late with me as we explore animal ghosts this month!
Supernaturally yours,
Jeff Belanger
Mayor of Ghostvillage.com
#2
Posted 17 February 2012 - 12:30 PM
#3
Posted 17 February 2012 - 01:20 PM

#4
Posted 18 February 2012 - 06:33 PM
Cry Havoc! And let loose the Dobermans of war!
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#5
Posted 23 February 2012 - 04:07 AM
Later in the day, I was back home depressed but keeping busy by making the bed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his big, furry butt and crooked tail leaving the bedroom. I looked in the living room, and of course there were no cats near the door.
I had two other cats then, but their tails are long and slender, and they are short-haired, skinny cats. They were at other ends of the rooms and not near the door to the bedroom.
It was a cool experience. I still question if I really saw him, but then again I know what I saw.
Carlotta
#6
Posted 25 February 2012 - 02:10 PM
I had a beloved dog of many years that I had to put down when her cancer became too painful. I got another dog soon after because I love dogs. One day not too long after I was in the bathroom standing before the mirror. I felt a light pressure on the back of my legs and thought it was the new dog, but I looked into the living room and she was looking at the TV. Then I knew it was my old dog.
It made me very happy. Of course they have souls and spirits!!

#7
Posted 05 March 2012 - 11:20 PM
One story I have is about my cat Allie, he passed very tragically, I actaully had to stop his suffering myself. The guilt I went through was horrible. I loved him so, but knew what I needed to do that late night.
A few days later, I was laying on my bed, needing a nap, and I heard little foot pads near my bed, then I felt someone jump up on my bed and walk towards me. I looked up to see if it was one of my other cats and there was no one to be seen. I layed back and moments later I felt a rub on my chin as Allie used to do all the time. I knew at that moment he was ok and not angry with me for what I had to do.
My daughter had also seen him laying on our washer as he did many times waiting to come into the house.
Recently, Greg and I lost our best friend Keyes the rat. Before his passing, he slept with me as I layed down to take a nap. He layed with me for quite some time, he like to lay across my neck. I didn't know he left me. I woke to Greg almost sobbing as he tells me Keyes came to him, fell asleep in his arms and passed away. Many times our pets know when they are leaving us and seem to find a gentle way of telling us good bye.
Keyes had a little spirit friend in our loft apt. We never quite figured out exactly what sort of little critter it was, we think it was a rat. Many times we would get into bed and thought it was Keyes getting in with us and there would be no Keyes. He also acted many times as if he was playing with someone. The first time we really noticed this little guy, was when we saw the sheets moving on the bed and thought it was Keyes under them. We of course checked to see what he was up to and there was no Keyes in the bed! We felt and sometimes saw a shadow of this little guy so many times it was kinda wild.
After going back to California to get my pets, my one cats Mitty was so sick when we got home. We tried for a year to get his health back, but with his age and lung issues, we lost him this past Oct. Now sometime back in CA, we had Mitty's brother Seven, that I raised since they were kittens. He got out of the house one day and a coyote got him. When Mitty passed away, we were outside burying him. As we finished, Greg looked up and under one of the nearby trees he thought he saw Mitty. He was telling me and in my tears I looked to see and said "OMG, it's Seven". I told Greg he has come to take his brother home. Just then my daughter had come home and she knew we were burying Mitty and she saw Seven under the tree and broke out in tears. She said then same thing as I did to Greg. We knew in our hearts what we saw and felt that moment and it was a very good feeling.
Some people thinks it's crazy how we love our pets and tell the tales of their passing and what we have seen or felt after, but there are so many stories out there, that I can't say they don't have spirits or souls.
Les
#8
Posted 09 March 2012 - 08:08 AM
We've had a number of pets, and my dog, who barks incessantly at people, will oftentimes stare off into nothingness and track it with his eyes with great curiosity - as if he's watching another animal. His line of vision would make sense because he's small, and is looking straight across at something instead of looking up, like he would a human...
And I'm seeing a trend here with more CATS showing themselves than dogs - Is it because cats are more intelligent and seem to possess a more spiritual or ethereal aspect? Have you ever heard of a witch without a cat friend (how many ever had dogs?).
We have had a few cats, and we used to take in ferals - Kitty lived to be 20 and Wendy Whiner lived to be 21...Sophie got sick and had to be put down at the tender age of six - I don't know which one of them it is, but in the late afternoon, I will often hear a sound coming from the upstairs bedroom that sounds exactly like a cat jumping down from one of the beds.
The sound is a definite "tha-thump"! This is not something I look for or wait for; it happens at times when I'm not even thinking about it - but each time, I know it's a cat. With three cats, I remember that sound distinctly...especially when they would hear me making food and would jump down and scurry down the stairs.
Another thing I should bring up is I was told by a medium (doing a tarot card reading for me) that my father, who passed away almost 20 years ago, doesn't know how to communicate, but being an animal lover, he instead uses my dog to let me know of his presence. This medium had never seen my dog, Malcolm, but she said that my dad prompts a little white dog and when that dog nudges me out of the blue, it's sometimes my dad saying hi. Malcolm is a white Bichon Bolognese. So, is it possible that, for some people who have passed over, they use our pets to talk to us? Or maybe, they use their own passed pets to talk to us or our pets?
Cool stuff to ponder!! Love this place, thanks!

#9
Posted 09 March 2012 - 01:09 PM
I think that most of us with pets see them watching things we cannot see. It's pretty cool.
It's wonderful that your father is using your dog to help him communicate with you.
I think he is afraid that direct communication would scare you badly and that is why he's holding back. Since he is as close as a thought, why don't you just talk to him and tell about it. He'd love to hear it from your own mouth. Remember: love never dies.

#10
Posted 07 April 2012 - 08:56 PM
I had one dog give instructions to the family about the new dog they had and to get rid of the mat that they had for him. The dog kept chewing up the new mats.
Another dog told his momma that they could give the new dog his toys except two and the toys I described were his favorite! That dog was special because he also had the ability to tell when people were sick. He would jump up and start gently nibbling on an area of someone and that area is exactly where they were diagnosed.
#11
Posted 06 August 2012 - 08:34 PM
#12
Posted 09 August 2012 - 06:45 PM
Ditto, White Witch!
#13
Posted 23 August 2012 - 04:05 AM
The next day my son called with incredible news. A neighbor had found her! I went to retrieve her and was told that the night before, she had climbed up on their bed and cuddled into the face of the woman who had found her.
Was her spirit projecting to me to tell me she was all right? It was interesting to say the least.
#14
Posted 14 September 2012 - 10:43 AM
#15
Posted 15 October 2012 - 09:29 AM
I asked my Anthropology of the Paranormal & Supernatural teacher about animal ghosts and little while back when we were discussing human ghost apparitions, because the topic of animal ghosts had not been brought up.
I asked if people regularly report seeing animal ghosts as well. He says that the most common apparition seen is a human apparition; but, almost as common as the human apparitions are cat apparitions. Dogs, horses, and other animals, not so much.. they are much farther down the number of reports seen.. but humans and cats seem to be much higher. Humans, understandable.. but the cat ghosts I found interesting.
Personally, I believe that animals do have souls.. at least certain animals. The fish.. I'm not so sure of, but animals like the cat, dog, horse, pig, dolphin.. makes total sense that they would have a soul. To me, it's hard to believe that an animal who can learn, adapt, and show emotion (anyone who says that a cat or dog doesnt have emotions haven't fallen in love with a pet or BAD_WORD off a dachsund), wouldn't have a soul.
With all that being said, I have seen the apparition of a cat ghost before.. a long time ago. Not a cat that I knew in the past, but something that looked like a cat.
(anyone who says that a cat or dog doesnt have emotions haven't fallen in love with a pet or BAD_WORD off a dachsund),
Sorry.. "PO'ed" a dachsund.
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