Have you ever wondered whether or not your companion animal has psychic abilities? While some might scoff at the idea, many are convinced that this is certainly the case.

Over the years, I’ve heard so many stories of animals exhibiting behaviors that seem as though they might fall within this realm of experience. For example, did you know that during the massive tsunami in December of 2004, scores of elephants in Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Thailand moved to higher ground before the destructive waves struck land? There were even reports of buffalo grazing by the beach in Thailand who lifted their heads in unison, stared out to sea and then stampeded up into the hills. Most, if not all of the villagers who followed the lead of these animals were saved. How did these elephants and buffalos know what was coming? Did they pick up on slight tremors that seismologists themselves were not able to detect? If so, why was it only the animals in low-lying coastal areas who exhibited strange behavior and not the rest of the animals in Southeast Asia?

There are many other documented incidences of animals sensing earthquakes all over the world. No one really knows how they sense an earthquake, although theories abound, from sensing vibrations, noticing changes in the Earth’s electromagnetic field or smelling released subterranean gases. Some of these theories could also explain why dogs ‘freak out’ before avalanches, but what about human-made catastrophes? During World War II, families in Britain and Germany relied on their pets’ behavior to warn them of impending air raids while the enemy planes were still hundreds of miles away! Just how did these pets know what was looming in their immediate futures?

We’ve all heard stories of lost dogs and cats who’ve travelled hundreds of miles to return home. Even more common are accounts of pets who seem to know when their people are coming home. Pet parents have told me that they just have to ‘think’ about their sleeping dog or cat and their companion animal will immediately awake and stare as if to ask, “Did you want something?” What can possibly explain such occurrences? Do our pets and other animals have abilities that allow them to tune into our own brainwaves or even see into the future; i.e., are they‘psychic’? Or, are they just more sensitive than humans to factors and changes (visual, magnetic, aural, etc.) too subtle for humans to detect?

The fact is, there’s no clear answer … it’s definitely an ongoing debate, usually with devoted pet parents and ‘psychically gifted’ on one side, and skeptics and most scientists on the other. In the past, scientists have not provided satisfactory answers about what non-human animals know, much less how they manage ‘miraculous’ behaviors (e.g., how every bird in a flock is able to turn on a dime simultaneously and change course in unison). With actions so incredible they are impossible (and unproductive) to ignore, even by-the-book scientists have begun to examine new perspectives in animal kingdom consciousness.

Veterinarian Allan Schoen, DVM, wrote in Kindred Spirits that humans and other animals share an intimate connection. Schoen thinks that pets can read our moods, understand our needs, and can even communicate with us on a level that transcends body language. ESP researcher Dr. J.B. Rhine thoroughly documented the travels of a cat named Sugar, who was left behind in California when his family moved away to Oklahoma. Fourteen months later, Sugar showed up at his family’s home in Oklahoma, having undertaken an extraordinary 1,500 mile trip to a place he had never been before. And biologist Rupert Sheldrake, author of Dogs That Know When Their Owner is Coming Home, has published many papers concerning the perceptive abilities of telepathy and premonition in non-human animals.

In fact, several researchers believe there is a conscious connection between humans and their companion animals, referred to as ‘non-local mind’, which is not limited by locality, making it possible for humans and animals to affect each other even when miles apart. This is certainly true about the emotional bond between ourselves and our four-footers, so perhaps it is not so ‘far out’ to think they enjoy a mental connection that seems to defy explanation. Personally, I think it is possible that we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the incredible conscious abilities of animals.

What about you? Where do you fall in this debate? Have you ever experienced a psychic connection with your companion animal?