March 30, 2009

My Cat's 9/11 Premonition

Rate this encounter:[an error occurred while processing this directive] Lew - Baltimore, Maryland - September 11, 2001

I have told very few people this, and I have never told this story on a forum such as this. I had a very loving cat named Miss Churchill. She was my faithful and loving friend for just short of 18 years. She passed on last November, two days after my birthday.

All of her life, she used to tell me in her actions and body language if a thunder storm, snow storm, or any other occurrence of nature. She would sit alone, usually in a corner, staring intently into blank space. She would tense up her body in such a way that she could be picked up and it was like picking up a stuffed animal. The morning of 9/11, I was getting ready to leave for work. As a normal part of my day, I would always seek out each of my four cats, give them a scratch, and say, "See you tonight." On 9/11, I could not find Miss Churchill anywhere. Finally, I found her behind my hot water heater. She had that look about her like there was a storm coming. I even remember saying to her, something to the effect of... "Sweety, is there a storm coming today?"

She would not budge, and when I went to pick her up, she was frozen still. It was like picking up a stuffed animal. Two hours later the planes began to hit the various locations around the country. I did not put this together until I got home from work that evening. She was still hiding in the basement and whenever I tried taking her upstairs, she would meow in protest and then run back down the stairs. I was wondering... has anyone else had this experience with any of their animals during the 9/11 attacks?