How much do we know about what's going on in our pets' minds? If you believe that it's all simple in there, pondering about a delicious snack or where's the ball, think again. Sometimes our furry friends seem to have an incredibly intelligent side we're not aware of.
Reddit user Overt Operation started a viral thread about the most "creepily intelligent thing" our pets have ever done and it quickly spread to other platforms, gaining most of its popularity on Twitter. The well known Wholesome Memes account posted the same question and hundreds of responses started pouring in, each more surprising than the previous one.
Check out the best tweets Bored Panda has collected from the thread, upvote your favorite ones, and be sure to share about the times your own pets acted ridiculously smart in the comment section below.
Wholesome Memes posted a viral thread about the most "creepily intelligent" things pets have ever done and received hundreds of surprising stories
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Rats are super smart. One of mine figured out what the latch on his cage door was for. He wasn't strong enough to open it, but he would start grabbing at it to let me know when he wanted to come out.
We reached out to Dr. Brian Hare, author of Genius of Dogs, to find out more about our pets and their intelligence. He is a core member of the Center of Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University and has been researching the evolution of cognition by studying both humans and animal species.
When asked about the intelligence of our dogs, the best-selling author said that sometimes we do overestimate them, especially when it comes to understanding physics. “Dogs usually fail principles of connectivity, where they get tangled around lamp posts. Or gravity, when they drop their ball on a really steep hill.”
However, we underestimate them too: “For instance, dogs are better at reading our body language than our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos. Even though dogs do not have hands and do not point, they can understand what we mean when we point, either to help them retrieve something they’ve lost, or if we want them to see something that we have seen.”
Humans are also able to connect with dogs on a deeper emotional level, like through eye contact. “Researchers have found that when your dog stares at you, oxytocin, also known as the ‘hug hormone’ goes up in you, and when you return your dog’s gaze, their oxytocin goes up,” Dr. Hare explained.
He added: “This promotes feelings of warmth and bonding, and is also known as an oxytocin loop. This also happens to be how babies bond with their parents—before they can walk or talk. They rely on eye contact to bond, and it seems our dogs do the same.”
There have been countless studies about dogs and their incredible ability to detect smells. However, Dr. Hare mentioned that their sense of smell is actually not as remarkable compared to other animals, for example, a rat. “But because our human sense of smell is so pitiful, we find it wondrous that dogs can use their sense of smell to track down endangered animals, or find a missing child by smelling a scrap of clothing,” he said.
According to the best-selling author, smell might help dogs remember someone who has been gone for a long time, or who has changed remarkably in appearance. But what smell has done, paired with their relationship to us, is to help us through partnership—dogs can help smell explosives, or detect narcotics, or find missing people, or endangered species. "Because dogs are motivated to help us, their sense of smell benefits us in a way that a rat’s never would," he explained.
When it comes to canine intelligence, it is not just one-dimensional. Dr. Hare said that a person can be smart at math but terrible at English, one can be a great public speaker but a terrible listener. Dogs are the same: "There are many different types of intelligence and different dogs are good at different things. That being said, we can certainly help dogs hone their natural abilities, through training and practice."
We also contacted jei, a Twitter user who replied to this thread and shared how their cat came running into the room after they sneezed, trying to check up on them. Talking about how well our four-legged friends know us, jei mentioned that they probably understand a lot more than we realize.
For example, when their mom comes over, their fluffy cat is well aware of how to get a few pleasant rubs: "He knows she might ignore him if he sits quietly but if he brushes by her with his tail up, she’ll stop to rub him," they told Bored Panda. The same goes when their mother is eating, the cat will wait until she’s ready to get up, then "he comes tail up to entice her to rub him first before she moves."
Jei thinks that pets can sniff out our troubles simply because they watch us and have keen senses for picking up things we don’t yet realize ourselves. For example, their fluffy feline is very observant and caring: "If I sneeze he is usually coming to check and meow at me, if he hears me fake crying or making sad noises he will come (my chunky cat is not impressed or pressed to check), and if I am sick both will usually be more cuddly and tend to stick around more from room to room."
They assume that we can train our pets to become more intelligent. "I call my kitties Bonnie and Clyde sometimes because of the things they get into together. … I know I have seen them work together to figure out things on their own."
Bonnie (chunky) is highly food-motivated and always watches her owners to see where they hide the delicious snacks and how to reach them. She even figured out three ways to open most doors in the house. "Clyde (fluffy) would usually watch her and it would be several times watching before he could figure out how to do what she was doing," jei told us.
One of mine learnt that from a cat resort when I had to go away for a bit. It’s insane the stuff they do. My mini would get a firm “off the table!!!” Anytime she jumped up onto the kitchen bench or dining table etc one day I needed to make lunches and I told her “get of the dang table mini!!!” She looks around and continues to place all 4 paws on a folded cloth napkin off to the side and squat = technically not touch the bench. I could go on about her smarts but that one always makes me laugh, the fact she even processes that thought makes me proud.
Sounds like the same way an adult dog would behave with a puppy!
When I was little, my dog would always circle around the pool to make sure I didn’t drown. She fell in a couple times 😂
Even if we tend to exaggerate their intelligence, we can’t deny that sometimes our furry friends act ridiculously smart, surprising everyone around them. The stories in this viral thread range from acts of mild heroism to clever displays of how our pets simply try to show us that they care.
Her name was Mia. We live out of town and whenever we let her out she always checked the perimeter to make sure it was safe. The East side of the house backed up against the woods. That side was always first to be checked. That's were she always posted up.
My cat loves watching me play world of warcraft (not any other games I play) and I think its because she knows that her name Onyxia is a dragon from WoW
I had two dogs (with about 3 years between them) that were the best of friends and would bark on going when we took one to the vet that we had to take both just to save the carry on from them. the oldest died and the younger dog was never the same and died 6mths later, I believe from missing her. Animals are so loving!
My Doberman does that we call her slappy and my boy that’s nearly a year old (on New Years) and is massive does it too
OMG - so you have a family member for 6 years, and then he's "dropped" off? This is horrible.
Doesn't say much about those "mothering" instincts either.
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That's just not right. You don't get rid of a family member because you're having a baby. What you probably missed out on. Too sad.
I had to give my cat away after I had my baby. We had two cats, and when the baby came, one of them became very unhappy and started hiding all the time, not eating, and peeing everywhere. I rehomed her with my parents. She was much happier after that and lived a good life until she passed away (she was already about 10 when the baby was born). It is better to rehome a pet for their sake or for the sake of a child than to risk having an incident happen or force the pet to be unhappy. That being said, the mom in this story didn't even know how the dog would react, so acting preemptively was a sh*tty thing to do. Also, I would never agree with taking a dog to the pound.
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That is why the story doesn't have many upvotes. But I think it should just be removed as it doesn't belong here.
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I had a cat named "Fluffy" and when I was six years old she had a litter of kittens. My father put Fluffy and her babies in a box and left them at the pound. He was too cheap to have her spayed. Decades later, I still sometimes cry for her.
How is this a good story? Your mom is a bi@#h! She didn't even give Nico a chance to see if he'd be ok with the new memeber of the family. At the very least she cod have found him a good home.
We were dog-sitting my parents' collie while they were off on a trip. We went to a steakhouse for dinner, so I brought him home a bag of scraps. I dumped them into his bowl, then topped the bowl with a can of that meatball dog food and called him into the kitchen. When I came back a half hour later, the dog bowl was empty, but the meatballs were lined up next to it on the floor. All the steak scraps were gone. I called him back into the kitchen and fussed at him, "Look at the mess you made on the floor! Shame on you." He looked at me, then carefully picked up the first meatball and deposited it back into the bowl, went on to the second and did the same.
The rest of the story: "When I came home and realized I broke down and called my dad (parents divorced) and explained what happened and could he come get me. He did and we went right to the pound and Nico stayed with my dad till the day he died. A couple years after my dad rescued him, I was babysitting a family friends toddler. The kid didn't know how to do stairs yet and so I kept blocking them off. I was preparing his dinner when I heard a soft bark from the other room and when I went a checked the kid had gotten back To the stairs. Nico had laid down right before the stairs and kept trying to nose the kid back from them. He kept his body between the kid and the stairs the rest of that night. Turns out he loves babies. When my father had another kid Nico loved and protected her so well."
Following the twitter link, there is more to the story, but it was a really poor addition to the list in the format it is in currently
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He deserved a chance before giving up on him. Maybe only cares for the family's children.
I wish your mom had waited, maybe spoken to a veterinarian or dog breed specialist first. If your pup had Border Collie in his genes, he likely didn't "care" for "other kids" and was awesome with you, because you were "HIS". Border Collies are herders by nature and breed, so they focus on keeping safe those whom they are entrusted to do so. (I wouldn't be surprised if you have memories of him circling you from time to time. Likely keeping you from others or unsafe areas.) It's very likely that your pup would have been as protective, if not more so, of the new baby joining the family.
Following the twitter link, there is more to the story, but it was a really poor addition to the list in the format it is in currently
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What a horrible horrible thing to do to drop him off at the pound he looked after you and loved you there was NO REASON to think he would hurt any child
My parents divorced when we were young. My father had a German shepherd that adored my sister, they were the bestest friends. My father was having us for the weekends, so my sister used to spend the whole day with that amazing dog. After a year , we went to my father's and the dog wasn't there. Dad told us he gave her away to someone who had a big garden so she could play all day, because she was too sad with us being away. Took years for my sister to get over it. A few years ago, my father told me that the last time we were with her, when we left in my mother's car, the dog escaped and run after us. He lost her for a couple of days and he found her on the side of the road a km away , obviously hit by a car. Never told to my sister.
Missing parts (hey, BP!): Spooptacular @SpectaclarSpace · Dec 11, 2021 Replying to @SpectaclarSpace and @WholesomeMeme When I came home and realized I broke down and called my dad (parents divorced) and explained what happened and could he come get me. He did and we went right to the pound and Nico stayed with my dad till the day he died. Spooptacular @SpectaclarSpace · Dec 11, 2021 A couple years after my dad rescued him, I was babysitting a family friends toddler. The kid didn't know how to do stairs yet and so I kept blocking them off. I was preparing his dinner when I heard a soft bark from the other room and when I went a checked the kid had gotten back Spooptacular @SpectaclarSpace · Dec 11, 2021 I'm glad I got to keep him and he deserved much better treatment from my mother.
Sometimes you have to rehome animals (& it is heart breaking!) However there is no excuse for dropping them off at the pound! Since it was the mom who did it; there is no point in yelling at the OP.
I'm of the opinion that once you take an animal into your home and care you are responsible for that animal for the duration of its life and rehoming an animal is a last resort...I agree the pound should NEVER be an option as most pounds euthanize animals that don't get adopted within x amount of time
You have to go to the actual twitter feed to see the end of the story. I was also upset at first that only the first tweet is displayed on BP.
People who do this should themselves be dropped off at the pound. Animals are terrific to have for your children!
This doesn't really belong in the 'animals are smart' section; More like the 'parents are evil' one :(
Wow, that is very very sad. I cannot believe what people do to their pets
Your mother is a horrible person. Shouldn't own animals if your not going to be responsible! Should have gotten the dog fixed
this does not match up with the article's title. What about Nico was an intelligent thing they did? Your mother being a b!tch is irrelevant to the article.
That is SO sad! I feel sorry for you and Nico! 💔. I pray that he was adopted to a wonderful, loving person & lived out his life full of love, care & fun! 🙏🙏🙏
For anyone wanting the rest of the story, clink on the Twitter link for the thread.
Yikes! I dislike this person's mother on a nuclear level! Really?! What a selfish ass B! Feel bad for the fur baby AND the child that grew up with the pup. How do you ever trust your mom again? Apparently it is an easy decision for her to make to get rid of a family member . Shameful!!!!!
Why is this even on here?! It has nothing at all to do with the topic of the post (Animal Intelligence)...it's just a story about animal abandonment.
You dumbass obviously you can't read because it was about animal intelligence because the dog prevented the child from going to the stairs and kept alerting his owner until he got his attention and he blocked the kid from being able to get to the stairs.
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I don't know. I don't agree with dropping off the dog at the pound, but I do think about the family that was in bed with a baby and the baby was mauled to death by the dog after the mother coughed. Baby was only 3 days old so it happened pretty suddenly after the baby was born and brought home. Re-homing would of been best. People shouldn't ignore warning signs. If we do it with people what makes animals different?
most dog's get protective around a pregnant owner not aggressive towards her
Click on the link below the post, the rest of the story is on Twitter - her Dad collected her dog from the pound
Good thing the dog wasn't pregnant, or they'd have to drop the mum off at the prison.
first that's just horrible. second, is this dog a he or a she, cuz u r dropping both pronouns.
Dog was male. The mother got pregnant and took the dog to the pound.
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Pets aren't family members. They're property. Like a furry coffee table you have to clean up after.
I had just gotten into the bathtub & realized I didn’t have a hair tie. I called my 8 month old miniature schnauzer puppy & told her to go get her “bun bun” for me, I needed her hair tie. I had put a hair tie around the bunny’s ears a few days before that. A few minutes later I see her in the doorway pulling at the bunny’s ears. I’m in the tub trying to talk her into bringing it over to me & she walks away. I minute later she comes walking into the bathroom & drops a hair tie on the floor in front of the tub. It kinda freaked me out to be honest.
We had to give up my childhood dog for the same fear, but my parents took the time—months!—to find her the right home. She went to live with a sweet retired couple with no kids. I don’t know this woman’s mom, but I hate her.
Sorry but you can't possibly think that human being which gets rid of living creature because of "having baby" is sane and should be able to reproduce. That's the problem of today's world, way too many people like that. And way too many more supporting it...
There is nothing wrong with rehoming a pet to keep a child safe or keep a pet who doesn't like the child happy. The story is messed up because the mom never gave the dog a chance to react to the baby and she took him to a pound instead of finding him a loving home. Under different circumstances, rehoming a pet is a difficult but necessary and completely acceptable decision--unless you actually think it's better to put a child in danger or risk a pet going nuts because it hates the baby.
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You don't know the whole story. And to say that someone's mother is horrible, based on a recollection from when the person was an 11 year old child, without all the information, is a terrible comment for one to make. Shame on you. SUGGESTION: express your disdain for the situation, but ask for more information. Make an informed judgment.
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Sang Fe, You have the compassion of a wet rag... Felix and spooptacular are obviously still grieving over their loss and needed to talk about it. Hearing all of the loving and touching stories is great, but there's still room to empathize where these two peoole could obviously use a kind shoulder to lean on. You can choose to be right, that they are off topic, or you can choose to be kind, sensing they need validation!
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Just don't leave them together unsupervised!! Absolutely NO reason to surrender the dog to the pound!!
Load More Replies...Note: this post originally had 86 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I was trimming the nails of my rabbit, Gadget, and accidentally trimmed one too short. Gadget squeaked, jumped off my lap, and ran behind me where my other rabbit, Gizmo was. They conferred for a moment, and then Gizmo came around in front of me and nipped my hand. Only time he ever bit me. Fair enough, I thought. He's gotta take care of his friend.
One of my cats can open YouTube on my tablet. I sometimes put on videos for the cats to watch and he has memorized the location of the YouTube app. This cat is also the reason I've had to disable 1 click purchasing on my devices, as he has purchased items before.
My dog is incredibly dumb (but crazy sweet, honestly I love you). One night she started bark at a window that pointed to the back yard. It freaked me out so I grabbed my gun expecting a wild boar. I live in the country so I see they semi frequently. For those that don't know, wild boar is incredibly dangerous. They will ram and kill just about anything including small children and dogs. I've even seen them, as a pack, attack a car, taking out the tires and tearing apart the rubber. It's crazy. I wasn't about to let wild boar think that they could claim my yard when I had toddler nieces and nephew visiting a lot at the time. Nothing was out there. My dog was scared of the Groot popcorn bowl I got at the theater that was sitting on the table between the window and her.
Lol my dog gets completely freaked out by indoor furniture being outside. He ferociously growls and barks then sideways retreats and proceeds to have a panic attack where I have to pick him up and cuddle him while he's shaking. He is a 65lb german shepherd. I have no idea why he does this and I've had him since he was born (he's the son of my other shepherd) so I know there's no trauma involved. He is stunted and has some brain damage from being stillborn I usually attribute his quirks to that. Too funny it was a popcorn bowl for your doggo!!
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This was the beautiful and opinionated Ebony, who woke me up years ago in time to call 112 to save my mum. Sometimes I feel like she gave one of her lives to her that night. Zd0lPVt-61...c46532.jpg 
Aww, sweet thing reminds me of my Jiji, she constantly had her tongue out just a tiny bit. 💕
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my late boxer, evie, was my buddy that went everywhere with me. she loved the water. the family had a large pontoon boat & it was kind of the 'normal' thing for only the men of the family to take it out. well, i love to fish & i don't need a man to operate a boat. so evie & i would regularly go out. she usually jumped on first while i unmoored it but this time she refused to get on. i got it in the water & onboard but she still refused, running back up the dock to the woods. i followed her up to find her; she would not come w/me. then, a huge storm came in literally minutes w/lightening hitting the water & dock which was metal. we took refuge in the car until it passed then hooked up the boat & went home. she knew that storm was on the way even though the sky had been beautiful & no wind.
She probably felt the pressure drop before the storm.
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I'm never shocked by the intelligence shown by non-human animals. Once you've seen a pig unlatch its gate no matter what you do short of lock and chain? (True story, I was 8.) You figure the idea of intelligence and sentience is spread across the whole animal kingdom, even if it's not building pyramids. (Or is it? Hmm. Wouldn't put that one past the cats, jk.)
Cats are intelligent enough not to build pyramids. When they want pyramids built, they can purrsuade humans to do it for them.
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My ex and my cat never got along. One day after we had split up, I was sitting in the living room with my cat and he suddenly jumped up, hissed at nothing in particular, and ran out of the room. Just then, the doorbell rang. You guessed it. It was my ex!
My older sister sleeps with the cat in her room, and one time our cat was pawing her face and meowing like crazy in the middle of the night. My sister got up (confused and tired) to see the cat jump off the bed and prancing around the plug in light at the bottom of the floor. The room had a small hint of smoke and my sister luckily figured out that the light had malfunctioned and was slowly burning up and had started to singe the carpet. She safely unplugged it. Who knows what would have happened if she didn’t wake up that night. Who ever knows…
Our little dog Pepper was my Dad's best buddy after he had a stroke. He was emotionally labile, which sometimes happens. She would climb up on his lap to give him kisses. She was so close to him. In the winter months he would go to play darts at the Legion about a 20 minute drive from home. Driving at night on country roads. Later she would go to the door to wait for him & sure enough 20 minutes later he would be home. He never left at the same time because he might be socializing, but she was never wrong on the time. One night she went to the door but sat only a few minutes then went back to her bed. About 10 minutes later she went back to the door & he was home in 20. Turns out he was walking towards his car & stopped to talk to someone for about 10 minutes, then left. She knew. After he died we thought she would too. Mom put her on her lap & explained Daddy was all gone & was not coming back. She seemed to listen. She was fine. Crossed the Rainbow Bridge to him 6 years later.
TW suicide attempt One time I got into a fight with my parents, and that night I took a bunch of pills. My dog barked and barked until my parents came in, and she cuddled with me while the ambulance came and licked my tears away. Whenever I have a panic/anxiety attack or I get an episode she comes and cuddles with me and even growls sometimes. I just got covid, (it wasn't my fault tbh i was masked and vaxxed my friend was exposed to someone who didnt tell her that she had covid til after we met) and I got so sad bc I live in the midwest where we get seasonal depression and our trip to florida got cancled. I was laying in my bed on my side, and she layed down right there (almost as if we were spooning o.o ) and we just stayed like that for a long time
It probably has to do with the nature of intelligence. They intelligence is aimed at their natural behavior, but sometimes it becomes eerily human. Small example from one of my cats here; the cat is unable to figure out why she cats lift the piece of cardboard she is standing on, yet has figured out how to cup her paws, so she can open drawers with round handles.
Load More Replies... I had a large husky when I was young, he would greet me at the bus to walk me home or meet me when I would get dropped off. One day I was dropped off when my mom wasn't home in the evening, he didn't come to greet me. All the lights were on in our house and the doors were wide open (we lived out in the middle of nowhere so wasn't much for me to do and before cellphones) As I'm going to the door to try to peek in out comes my dog growling and acting almost vicious at me. I backed up, he went back in and a few moments later came back all friendly and licking me. The place was a mess, but no one was still there, not much ended up being stolen once we took inventory.
I was reading on my tablet and set it down beside me for a second. Jokingly I told my cat Leonard "don't swipe across that, it'll lose my page". He looked at me, looked at the tablet, and started swiping his paws across it. He had never touched it before that. I could hear the Thug Life music playing in my head.
😅 Duuuude, cats live in the reverse psychology life.
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My dog and I have conversations w the talking dog buttons. He tells me he loves me, he wants outside, where's dad, treat, I'm a good girl, he's family, play, he learned the mad and ouch button after a vet visit and recently he said paw ouch and I looked in between his toes and there was a small briar. He learns new ways to talk to me all the time. We add buttons frequently.
I had just gotten into the tub when I realized I forgot to put my hair up. I had put a hair tie around the ears of my puppy’s toy bunny a few days ago so I told her to go get her “Bun bun”, I need a hair tie. I didn’t actually expect her to go get it. A few minutes later she’s in the doorway of the bathroom swinging her bunny by the ears. I tried getting her to bring me the bunny but she paid no attention to me. A few minutes later, she walked in & dropped a hair tie about 2 feet from the tub. I was shocked. I told her what a good girl she was & reached for the hair tie. Of course she snatched it up & ran out of the bathroom with it. I was pretty impressed though.
I used to have a cat named Lily. She was afraid of the next door dog. Every time she wanted to go outside he would come through a hole on our fence and just bark and bark and he wouldn't let her go out. One day as she sat by the door just looking at him I looked at him too. Then I said Lilly. She looked up at me (and staring at me the whole time) I pointed to the dog and did like a mad fierce cat. I pointed to him again. I opened the door. She looked at him, barking and barking. She took a couple of steps out and then she hissed and just flew on to him with claws and all. From that day on she walked out with her head held high and he never bothered her again.
My first and smartest cat was a little silver tabby and white longhair that one of my brothers found rummaging in his garbage as a kitten. When I had her, I lived in a condo apartment complex that had ornamental gas flares in a central courtyard. One dry autumn day when there were dead leaves everywhere, she came into the room I was in, crying frantically and running around my feet, then out the door, then back to me... When I followed her out to the living room and to the patio window, I saw a bunch of bored kids starting fires at the base of the gas flares. She somehow knew that this was fire that was not supposed to be there, unlike the flares. We could have had a really bad fire if she hadn't alerted me. It wasn't the only scary-smart thing she ever did, but it was the most impressive.
After my 15th surgery, second Cervical Fusion. Our dog Bear Met me at the door as I came home, plastered himself against me and walked me the the living room to sit down. Sat in front of me like a sentinel, looked at my husband as to say " Mom's home, I'm taking care of her now." He didn't leave my side for 2 weeks. I miss my Dr. Doggy so much.
My old dog and my old cat weren't that close. They didn't fight that much but didn't seem to like each other very much. One day my cut was walking in my garden when a bunch of dogs started burking at him. He started running and they followed him. My dog heard all of that and came running to the garden. While my cat climbed a tree, my dog stood infront of the tree barking at the dogs and protecting my cat. I love them and miss both of them so much
My cat Zane, whenever I got a back spasm, would curl up right where it hurt most. He's been gone for years now, and I've had two cats since. Both get/got extra lovey-dovey when I'm sick or hurt, but neither has gotten the find-the-hurting-spot trick. (I refer to cuddling with the cat 😸 when I'm unwell routine as "feline therapy."
My dog is a beagle basset mix. I had no idea how accurate that Elvis song that says hound dogs cry all the time was until I got her. She's SO VOCAL. When someone comes to the door that she knows she absolutely screams. She sounds like she's being tortured. When someone she doesn't know comes to the door (delivery etc), she howls and barks and whines. But somehow that dog knows if I'm in a zoom meeting or on the phone and doesn't make a sound. Not. A. Sound. My office is right in the front room and she has a bed right beside my desk, right by a big window that gives her a full view of the front porch. I didn't teach her this, but if I'm in a call or meeting she will lay there staring, absolutely quivering as someone comes to the door and doesn't make a sound. I think she's amazing!
My 3 month old kitten came to me when I was passing a kidney stone a couple days ago. Up until now she never got on my side of the bed because she's terrified of my black silk blanket and she never cuddled unless she was sleeping on top of me. But I assume she saw me shaking and groaning? Because this was the first time she made her way across the blanket and cuddled with me all night without wanting to sleep on my chest/stomach. She's been getting very close to me ever since, like finding an open spot next to my face that it's almost weird? I'm not used to so much affection even with dogs I had in the past. Such a sweet girl.
Out of the blue, my previously well-adjusted cat started peeing in new places. We found out later he was sick with cancer and learned to work around the issue. But still, there was a day when I had had enough. I found the new pee spot, then found the cat, then carried (gently) him to the litter room which was literally carpeted with pee pads around a litter box that's cleaned twice a day. I looked him in the eye and said, "Dude - this can't go on. Pee outside the box if you have to. But do it on a pee pad, OK?" Cat looks me dead in the eye, and, holding eye contact, lifts his butt half an inch and pees right in front of me (on a pee pad). Lord I miss that little sh*t. ♥
My friend had three cats, and one of them died of old age. A few weeks after her cat died, she heard one of her other cats mewing sadly from her bedroom. She called out to the cat, asked it what was wrong and told it to come to her. It came to her with the dead cats collar in its mouth which it had grabbed off her night stand. Then the friend and the cat cried together.
When I was a baby, my 10 year old brother died and my mom was incredibly depressed. Our dog (technically a stray that never left) was strictly an outdoors dog that never came inside. He would sleep under her window every night. What's more impressive, she moved bedrooms, and he moved windows. When she fell asleep on the couch or camped out in a kids room(like if they were sick and might need her in the middle of the night), he slept under those windows. Wherever she slept at night, he would sleep under that window.
My last dog Diesel, was in his final stages of his life with bone cancer. Diesel was a Shepard / Rotty mix and weighed in at 110 pounds. Also sharing the house was my mom's black and white cat, who hateded me, and whom I inherited after my mom past. Although that cat, Royal hated me, and never came out of hiding. When Diesel out of confusion due to pain meds, mistook me for an intruder, growled backed me into a corner, and was ready to attack me, Royal some how, sensed the inpending danger, and came running out of nowhere, got between me and Diesel, and backed the dog away from me. That cat may have truly saved my life that day.
I was diagnosed with lupus in 2008. I stayed with friends for a couple months, until I was cleared to live alone again. I had rescued a kitten from my friend's backyard that was born around the same time I was diagnosed. Mr Rhett trained himself to recognize my panic attacks, but he was also smart enough that one of the nights I was having severe chest pains because of my lupus, he went and got my roommate to come check on me. He also figured out that if he held his paw down on one of the buttons on my phone, it'd call my mom. (This was pre-iPhone times, I had a ROKR, and then a N95) He always knew when I was really sick, and he'd snuggle up with me, but his favorite thing to do was hold hands. He'd put his paw in my hand, and that's how we'd sleep when I was sick.
Both my dog and cat would come comfort me as a child anytime I cried. They'd just let me hold them and cry. When I was a teen, I had undiagnosed endometriosis. I had cramps so horrific, I'd cry in a fetal position in bed. My cat, Cassidy, would come up and comfort me. He was a very large cat, well over 15lbs. I'd put him on my abdomen, under my pants (over underwear, nothing freaky) and while he was heavy, he was a warm heating pad that gave me comfort and wasn't a lifeless electronic. He helped my sadness over unexplained pain and kept me sane during those horrible weeks. -- One of my current cats, Zoe (in my avatar) she knows when I'm sad or when I need her. I don't cry or make noises but she still senses it. If it's a bad day or I have watched/read something particularly upsetting, before I know it, she's on my bed and walking up me to lay over my chest/neck and just give purrs and love. She's only 6lbs so she can get all squishy-ed up next to me without being too heavy.
My dog Levi can be frustratingly smart. We keep having to come up with new euphemisms for "have you fed the dogs" because he figures them out. Their catchphrase for suppertime is "What time is it?" and we can't even spell out the word Time because he knows that one too. We've progressed (or regressed?) to "Is it the point on the clock in which the animals residing here are given sustenance?" But I'm expecting him to learn that one too pretty soon. An amazing thing he does is let us know when another pet is sick. The first time he did it was with a new roommate's older Persian. Levi loves cats. He's gentle with them and just wriggles with joy when one lets him cuddle with it. Koko wasn't into dogs, so she thought Levi was being too pushy when he followed Koko everywhere and licking her head. She (the roommate) was getting angry at him. I told her he wasn't usually pushy, and went to check the cat over. She had a massive abscess behind her ear exactly where he'd been licking!
It was my neighbor’s dog that did the eerily smart thing. I was heartbroken after my dog dying suddenly from an aggressive tumor. I couldn’t stand the thought of coming home from work and not being greeted by a dog. When I finally forced myself to go home, when I got out of my car, my neighbor Alex’s dog, Fillmore, jumped into my car and greeted me. He’s never done anything like that before or since.
Our dog is generally very affectionate, but if either of us cries she’ll leave the room looking annoyed. Thing is, it’s so melodramatic that it usually cracks us up a bit, and we’ll joke, “Well, f*** you, too, dog!”
I was having a panic attack and finally decided to get my rat boy Brillo out for distraction..he pushed himself against my body and cuddled me for idk how long but long enough that I was able to pull out of it. He's not typically very cuddly but it seemed obvious he knew what was needed. It was a special moment for sure!
Our house was built with a small foyer at ground level with 6 stairs up to the main living level and 6 down to the basement. At the side of the living room facing the foyer was a wrought iron railing, so you could reach thru from the foyer and touch the floor of the living room. Our dog would always wait for my dad to get home from work in the corner of the living room next to the front door, and also the rest of us when anyone went anywhere. Dad came home at pretty much precisely 4:30 every day from work; he'd pet her and scratch her ears. This went on from pretty much when we got her as a puppy to when Dad passed, about 9 years or so later. Re4latives were there for about a week and everyone went home over the next weekend and were all gone by Monday. that afternoon, sure enough, Lady came out of her corner at about 4:25 and walked over to "Dad's corner" and sat down. About quarter till 5, she got up and walked, tail between her legs and head down, back to her corner. From
that day on, she would never wait for anyone in "Dad's corner" but at the top of the stairs to the main level. I like to think it was her tribute to my father.
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My yellow lab mix, Homer, always stayed by me whenever I had surgery or a minor procedure. Didn't want to go for a walk with our other dogs, wanted to stay and cuddle and guard me. He would always push himself past me when we went outside so he could check the yard out first to make sure it was safe for me. He'd rush out, all puffed up and tough looking until he was sure it was safe for us. He was always so in tune with me, he loved us so much and we miss him beyond belief. He was the best! Another dog we had, Spud, was a basset mix. He figured out how to get into the treat bucket. He would flip open the lid, grab a few biscuits, shut the lid, then hide behind the couch and very quietly eat his snack. He didn't want us or the other dogs to find out, he didn't want to share and he didn't want to get caught! I figured it out one day when I saw wet nose prints on the lid and followed him. He was the funniest dog we've ever had!
I had a Great Pyrenees Australian Shepherd mix. Her name was Raven. I remember when she got really sick ( she ate a whole bush of Pokeweed, which is how she passed.) I remember when she was really sick days before her passing. I was sitting in my room on my floor crying to my sister about Raven not making it and that I know she will be leaving soon. Raven came in to my room, and stared into my eyes. And pushed he ways in to my arms, like she was hugging me. I could do nothing but cry. I looked at her and told her I loved her and she nodded her head and pressed her nose against my check as if saying she knows and she loves me too. I miss her so much..
My cat is very dog-like and he hates people being upset. He'll comfort you when you cry (and is super pushy about it) and even gets upset when he hears my friend's toddler crying over the phone. The smartest animal I ever had was my kelpie/border collie. He got really mad at me when I started cracking down on training. He pulled 101 Ways To Train Your Dog off of a bookshelf (I easily have over 1000 books, so it was one of many), ripped up the cover only then left it in the middle of the floor. He also would try to pee on me during walks for two years straight before he forgave me. Was peed on often.
I rescued a young Pitbull, once I wanted to take him for a walk. He is very strong and vigorous; so we were walking down the stair of my building, when he pulled me so hard, he tossed me three steps to the floor and ran away. I thought he had fled again, but he came back running to lay by my side and kiss me until a neighbor came to help me up. He new he shouldn't had pulled so hard on me, a not young nor strong woman.
My cat, Havoc, would get annoyed when I shut him out of the bathroom. He tends to get to close to falling into the tub when I'm taking a bath and I certainly don't want to be in the tub if and when that happens! He started jumping up and swiping at the doorknob (lever type) until he figured out how to jump, grab hold, and push the door open. Have to lock it now to keep him out. He hasn't figured the lock out yet! : )
My cat Idle would watch me play dead by daylight. He'd watch the cursor during the load screen. He eventually began to learn when the game was on based by the sounds. He also got used to stealing my seat so I took to placing a second chair for him.
My cat Mufasa (my mom's a lion king fan), is clever and as nuts as me. Anyways, a couple of days ago, as I write this comment, he jumped to the only window that is sealed shut, because of its hinge is broken, meowing like a damn maniac. My parents weren't at home, I was because I'm on holiday and he watched across one of our neighbours houses with his eyes wide open and meowing the living daylights out of me. So I rush into the room and see smoke coming out of the roof where it shouldn't. I called 112 (our equivalent of 911) and three minutes later they arrived, just in time to prevent worse. Roof fires can get really nasty.
My dog is the love of my life (no offense hubby), she's always by my side no matter what and has saved my life. A few months ago I was having a very bad depression episode and was just looking for one sign that there was a reason I was in pain. She came and crawled on my lap and looked into my eyes and I realized why. She's a bit of a special needs dog, she doesn't like people at all except for me and my husband, but I'm the one who cares for her. He loves her and walks her, but I'm the one always there, making sure she has what she needs. If I was gone, she wouldn't be taken care of the way she deserves. I'm still here to be an emotional support human. To love her. That's good enough for me.
I had a cat a few years ago who was too smart for my own good. He knew how to open doors AND unlock them. The front door to my apartment at the time was too heavy to open on his own and he knew that, so he tried to undo the hinge at the top of the door. He figured out where his treats were and how to get them. He tormented neighborhood dogs by taunting them out of reach. But my favourite moment? He would be napping in a completely different room and if light reflected off my phone onto a wall, he was there in a blink to chase it. Damn cat could hear light!
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It's not just cats and dogs. I once walked into a big public aquarium and there was a big glass case full of seawater with a live octopus inside, clinging to the glass. It was looking at me, and I felt quite clearly that it was incandescent with rage at being locked up in the aquarium. The feeling was so strong it nearly knocked me sideways. Such a surprise!
Octopuses (octopi?) are extremely intelligent and beautiful creatures.
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I had a dog that was pretty big, Australian and German shepherd mix, that would get a bit too rousy. She would nibble us as if to be cleaning and sometimes nibble too much and bite us a bit. When she did she'd stop, lick it a few times, and move to a different spot (on arm). She'd do this to ever one EXCEPT my little toddler sister. She would protect her, yes be a bit crazy, but other than that, she was a safe dog. My older sister though...we were at a dog park and playing catch with a football and while my older sister was running, my dog ran up to her and run under her legs as if to be playing actual football. My sister fell pretty hard, rolled a bit, and started to laugh, as well as me and my dad. Good times. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. We had to get rid of her because my dad is allergic to fur, so he was sniffling a lot and couldnt take any more, so we gave her to a coworker, who also had to get rid of her, I dont know why though. But yeah thats my story
My cat Garretson repeatedly peed in my suitcase after I got home from trips.
I once told my late cat Vanessa "don't step there, I just mopped" and she stopped, turned around, and left. I still wonder if she understood me or it was just a coincidence...
One of my cats has somehow figured out how to open the door and go outside if the door isn't locked.
I have 2 cats Shadow Catmonger and Shuri Storm (we love Marvel). I deal with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and when I have my beyond terrible flares, they both lay by my legs and purr in their sleep all night. It reminds me so much of my late dog Zasha who would stay in the bed with all day as long as my flare lasted. My mom would have to physically pick her up and carry her to eat/drink and go outside to use the bathroom. So grateful to have/had all of my fur babies.
I always walked my dog before work and one day he just didn't poo for some reason. I waited as long as I could but had to leave to go to work. As I left I put a paper bag on the ground and said "If you have to poo, poo on the bag." I didn't really think it work and fully expected to come home to a mess to clean, but he had actually used the bag!
Animals are way smarter than people give them credit for. Seriously... my dogs can literally hold non-verbal conversations. For instance, my dogs once got all riled up over a toy, so I took it away and put it up out of reach. One of them literally stood below the toy's location, WAITED for me to look at him and then very pointedly looked up toward the toy, looked at the floor, and then looked back to me... then repeated this set of motions THREE MORE TIMES to ensure I got the message. I told him "nope, not right now." He sighed, walked across the room, plopped down on the sofa, and then sighed again. This is only one of countless "discussions" I've had with my three dogs ... it's a lot like arguing with smart toddlers 😆
I was crying in My bed having a panic attack and my emotional support dog (cane corso named rosita) came over holding a towel, I think she was giving me something to wipe my tears with and afterwards she just started locking my face and snuggling me
My family had a poddle and when my mom was sick, she would refuse to eat when mom was at the hospital. She wouldn't touch her food until mom was back. She also didn't like being on anyone laps, but one day she laid on Mine and didn't move for the longest time. Half a hour later we were informed my mom had passed away
I have autoimmune disease and when I'm in a flare, my pain is immense. When it happens, my dogs would both lay on the couch snuggling up to warm me up. Sometimes only one would leave to bark at something, but immediately return to their spot next to me. The other dog would stay put the whole time. They never let me be alone. My husband called them "pain sniffing" dogs. My female is still with us. She licks my tears when I cry.
My dog is utterly useless when I am sad or hurt. she is very insecure and when I collapse, it must feel to her like the world is about to end. I actually need to soothe and reassure HER -_- But I love her to pieces, anyway. She's the light of my life.
Had a dog once dug a trench at different depths with run offs around his dog house to keep the water from getting into the vents that were on the bottom sides. I saw it one day when I was changing out his blankets and just stared at him. He was insanely intelligent. Eli used to be a service dog - he's a chihuahua and no I don't mean an emotional support dog, actual service dog. He was used for a few functions but his primary function was alerting me to panic attacks, falls, or if one of the two he cared for was in distress in any way. One of my nephews was over after my grandpa died and he knew Eli used to be a service dog, but he got a first hand experience in it when he went and alerted him that I was in distress. He had no clue what was going on but followed Eli to my room where I was in the middle of having a breakdown. About the only thing Eli can't handle is tears, I was crying once and no one was there so he went and alerted my cat, brought her to me.
Eli sounds so smart! And I think it's adorable that he alerted the cat. Made me smile. Animals truly are amazing.
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I was in a bad hit and run a few years ago, and after several months in the hospital, 3 surgeries, etc, came home a different person. My rescue, Lola, was excited to see me, but could tell something was wrong. From that day on, she only sat on my left leg, never my right (injured) leg, walks me up and down the stairs one by one, checks on me every morning and walks me down the stairs, and sits next to my right leg and purrs, loud. She's just amazing, rescuing her was my best decision ever
I had handsome male cat named Nova. He would go down the street to a local pizza place and sit with the workers on their smoke breaks. They actually came to my house to tell me he was their therapy cat.
Once a horse I was riding came up lame under saddle (which means he was in pain and we only realized it once I got on him). They have a veterinarian on staff so the teacher asked her to take a look at him. When the vet was watching, the horse trotted normally, but he started limping again as soon as she left. Another time, a horse pulled away from me when I was putting him back in his field, and took the lead line with him. You can’t leave a horse with a lead dangling because it can cause serious injuries if it wraps around their legs. When I tried to catch the horse again he used his herd mate as a barrier between us and even herded her around when he wanted to move. I had to get help from management.
My parents had a pure bred shi tzu that they adopted after she was retired from being a show dog, and she was a Daddy's Girl. One day my Dad slipped on the icy wooden deck in the rain in December, and fell, tearing his ACL. Now my Dad's about 6'6", 350 lbs, and my Mom is about 5'3, 190 lbs, and they were in their mid 60's at the time. After.calling the ambulance, Mom tried to pull Dad inside by the underarms to get him out of the rain. She couldn't really do it, and instead, their shi tzu, named Jazmin, went outside and laid on top of my Dad to keep him warm and dry. When the EMT's got there, she went into protective mode, growling and barking and trying to bite anyone who went near my Dad. She was determined to protect her Daddy, lol
I have really bad nightmares and once as a bad dream was starting to get really bad my dog woke me up as he jumped on the bed to lay his head on mine. It wasn't comfortable because he's a huge dog but he somehow knew the thing hurting me was in my head.
when i got my first cat she reached out through the bars of the shelter cage (adopt, don't buy!) and booped my sister. claws out, but still.
Last year, i was really poorly, i had kidney problems and my dog who sleeps at the bottom of the bed normally, spent the entire time glued to my side with her head on my stomach, she would only leave me to eat and go to the toilet and then would come straight back, she really looked after me
I don't think someone (the article writer) understood the topic they made. #30 doesn't have anything to do with a pets intelligence, just owner ignorance. Most of these are just about consoling owners by laying next to them, very common. The bird, and the dog eat the abuser photo, yes. The rest of the consoling posts, no. Even 26 isn't intelligence, it's cute, but not intelligent.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10225370081902909&set=a.1759681355724&type=3
I was trimming the nails of my rabbit, Gadget, and accidentally trimmed one too short. Gadget squeaked, jumped off my lap, and ran behind me where my other rabbit, Gizmo was. They conferred for a moment, and then Gizmo came around in front of me and nipped my hand. Only time he ever bit me. Fair enough, I thought. He's gotta take care of his friend.
One of my cats can open YouTube on my tablet. I sometimes put on videos for the cats to watch and he has memorized the location of the YouTube app. This cat is also the reason I've had to disable 1 click purchasing on my devices, as he has purchased items before.
My dog is incredibly dumb (but crazy sweet, honestly I love you). One night she started bark at a window that pointed to the back yard. It freaked me out so I grabbed my gun expecting a wild boar. I live in the country so I see they semi frequently. For those that don't know, wild boar is incredibly dangerous. They will ram and kill just about anything including small children and dogs. I've even seen them, as a pack, attack a car, taking out the tires and tearing apart the rubber. It's crazy. I wasn't about to let wild boar think that they could claim my yard when I had toddler nieces and nephew visiting a lot at the time. Nothing was out there. My dog was scared of the Groot popcorn bowl I got at the theater that was sitting on the table between the window and her.
Lol my dog gets completely freaked out by indoor furniture being outside. He ferociously growls and barks then sideways retreats and proceeds to have a panic attack where I have to pick him up and cuddle him while he's shaking. He is a 65lb german shepherd. I have no idea why he does this and I've had him since he was born (he's the son of my other shepherd) so I know there's no trauma involved. He is stunted and has some brain damage from being stillborn I usually attribute his quirks to that. Too funny it was a popcorn bowl for your doggo!!
Load More Replies... This was the beautiful and opinionated Ebony, who woke me up years ago in time to call 112 to save my mum. Sometimes I feel like she gave one of her lives to her that night. Zd0lPVt-61...c46532.jpg
Aww, sweet thing reminds me of my Jiji, she constantly had her tongue out just a tiny bit. 💕
Load More Replies... my late boxer, evie, was my buddy that went everywhere with me. she loved the water. the family had a large pontoon boat & it was kind of the 'normal' thing for only the men of the family to take it out. well, i love to fish & i don't need a man to operate a boat. so evie & i would regularly go out. she usually jumped on first while i unmoored it but this time she refused to get on. i got it in the water & onboard but she still refused, running back up the dock to the woods. i followed her up to find her; she would not come w/me. then, a huge storm came in literally minutes w/lightening hitting the water & dock which was metal. we took refuge in the car until it passed then hooked up the boat & went home. she knew that storm was on the way even though the sky had been beautiful & no wind.
She probably felt the pressure drop before the storm.
Load More Replies... I'm never shocked by the intelligence shown by non-human animals. Once you've seen a pig unlatch its gate no matter what you do short of lock and chain? (True story, I was 8.) You figure the idea of intelligence and sentience is spread across the whole animal kingdom, even if it's not building pyramids. (Or is it? Hmm. Wouldn't put that one past the cats, jk.)
Cats are intelligent enough not to build pyramids. When they want pyramids built, they can purrsuade humans to do it for them.
Load More Replies... My ex and my cat never got along. One day after we had split up, I was sitting in the living room with my cat and he suddenly jumped up, hissed at nothing in particular, and ran out of the room. Just then, the doorbell rang. You guessed it. It was my ex!
My older sister sleeps with the cat in her room, and one time our cat was pawing her face and meowing like crazy in the middle of the night. My sister got up (confused and tired) to see the cat jump off the bed and prancing around the plug in light at the bottom of the floor. The room had a small hint of smoke and my sister luckily figured out that the light had malfunctioned and was slowly burning up and had started to singe the carpet. She safely unplugged it. Who knows what would have happened if she didn’t wake up that night. Who ever knows…
Our little dog Pepper was my Dad's best buddy after he had a stroke. He was emotionally labile, which sometimes happens. She would climb up on his lap to give him kisses. She was so close to him. In the winter months he would go to play darts at the Legion about a 20 minute drive from home. Driving at night on country roads. Later she would go to the door to wait for him & sure enough 20 minutes later he would be home. He never left at the same time because he might be socializing, but she was never wrong on the time. One night she went to the door but sat only a few minutes then went back to her bed. About 10 minutes later she went back to the door & he was home in 20. Turns out he was walking towards his car & stopped to talk to someone for about 10 minutes, then left. She knew. After he died we thought she would too. Mom put her on her lap & explained Daddy was all gone & was not coming back. She seemed to listen. She was fine. Crossed the Rainbow Bridge to him 6 years later.
TW suicide attempt One time I got into a fight with my parents, and that night I took a bunch of pills. My dog barked and barked until my parents came in, and she cuddled with me while the ambulance came and licked my tears away. Whenever I have a panic/anxiety attack or I get an episode she comes and cuddles with me and even growls sometimes. I just got covid, (it wasn't my fault tbh i was masked and vaxxed my friend was exposed to someone who didnt tell her that she had covid til after we met) and I got so sad bc I live in the midwest where we get seasonal depression and our trip to florida got cancled. I was laying in my bed on my side, and she layed down right there (almost as if we were spooning o.o ) and we just stayed like that for a long time
It probably has to do with the nature of intelligence. They intelligence is aimed at their natural behavior, but sometimes it becomes eerily human. Small example from one of my cats here; the cat is unable to figure out why she cats lift the piece of cardboard she is standing on, yet has figured out how to cup her paws, so she can open drawers with round handles.
Load More Replies... I had a large husky when I was young, he would greet me at the bus to walk me home or meet me when I would get dropped off. One day I was dropped off when my mom wasn't home in the evening, he didn't come to greet me. All the lights were on in our house and the doors were wide open (we lived out in the middle of nowhere so wasn't much for me to do and before cellphones) As I'm going to the door to try to peek in out comes my dog growling and acting almost vicious at me. I backed up, he went back in and a few moments later came back all friendly and licking me. The place was a mess, but no one was still there, not much ended up being stolen once we took inventory.
I was reading on my tablet and set it down beside me for a second. Jokingly I told my cat Leonard "don't swipe across that, it'll lose my page". He looked at me, looked at the tablet, and started swiping his paws across it. He had never touched it before that. I could hear the Thug Life music playing in my head.
😅 Duuuude, cats live in the reverse psychology life.
Load More Replies... My dog and I have conversations w the talking dog buttons. He tells me he loves me, he wants outside, where's dad, treat, I'm a good girl, he's family, play, he learned the mad and ouch button after a vet visit and recently he said paw ouch and I looked in between his toes and there was a small briar. He learns new ways to talk to me all the time. We add buttons frequently.
I had just gotten into the tub when I realized I forgot to put my hair up. I had put a hair tie around the ears of my puppy’s toy bunny a few days ago so I told her to go get her “Bun bun”, I need a hair tie. I didn’t actually expect her to go get it. A few minutes later she’s in the doorway of the bathroom swinging her bunny by the ears. I tried getting her to bring me the bunny but she paid no attention to me. A few minutes later, she walked in & dropped a hair tie about 2 feet from the tub. I was shocked. I told her what a good girl she was & reached for the hair tie. Of course she snatched it up & ran out of the bathroom with it. I was pretty impressed though.
I used to have a cat named Lily. She was afraid of the next door dog. Every time she wanted to go outside he would come through a hole on our fence and just bark and bark and he wouldn't let her go out. One day as she sat by the door just looking at him I looked at him too. Then I said Lilly. She looked up at me (and staring at me the whole time) I pointed to the dog and did like a mad fierce cat. I pointed to him again. I opened the door. She looked at him, barking and barking. She took a couple of steps out and then she hissed and just flew on to him with claws and all. From that day on she walked out with her head held high and he never bothered her again.
My first and smartest cat was a little silver tabby and white longhair that one of my brothers found rummaging in his garbage as a kitten. When I had her, I lived in a condo apartment complex that had ornamental gas flares in a central courtyard. One dry autumn day when there were dead leaves everywhere, she came into the room I was in, crying frantically and running around my feet, then out the door, then back to me... When I followed her out to the living room and to the patio window, I saw a bunch of bored kids starting fires at the base of the gas flares. She somehow knew that this was fire that was not supposed to be there, unlike the flares. We could have had a really bad fire if she hadn't alerted me. It wasn't the only scary-smart thing she ever did, but it was the most impressive.
After my 15th surgery, second Cervical Fusion. Our dog Bear Met me at the door as I came home, plastered himself against me and walked me the the living room to sit down. Sat in front of me like a sentinel, looked at my husband as to say " Mom's home, I'm taking care of her now." He didn't leave my side for 2 weeks. I miss my Dr. Doggy so much.
My old dog and my old cat weren't that close. They didn't fight that much but didn't seem to like each other very much. One day my cut was walking in my garden when a bunch of dogs started burking at him. He started running and they followed him. My dog heard all of that and came running to the garden. While my cat climbed a tree, my dog stood infront of the tree barking at the dogs and protecting my cat. I love them and miss both of them so much
My cat Zane, whenever I got a back spasm, would curl up right where it hurt most. He's been gone for years now, and I've had two cats since. Both get/got extra lovey-dovey when I'm sick or hurt, but neither has gotten the find-the-hurting-spot trick. (I refer to cuddling with the cat 😸 when I'm unwell routine as "feline therapy."
My dog is a beagle basset mix. I had no idea how accurate that Elvis song that says hound dogs cry all the time was until I got her. She's SO VOCAL. When someone comes to the door that she knows she absolutely screams. She sounds like she's being tortured. When someone she doesn't know comes to the door (delivery etc), she howls and barks and whines. But somehow that dog knows if I'm in a zoom meeting or on the phone and doesn't make a sound. Not. A. Sound. My office is right in the front room and she has a bed right beside my desk, right by a big window that gives her a full view of the front porch. I didn't teach her this, but if I'm in a call or meeting she will lay there staring, absolutely quivering as someone comes to the door and doesn't make a sound. I think she's amazing!
My 3 month old kitten came to me when I was passing a kidney stone a couple days ago. Up until now she never got on my side of the bed because she's terrified of my black silk blanket and she never cuddled unless she was sleeping on top of me. But I assume she saw me shaking and groaning? Because this was the first time she made her way across the blanket and cuddled with me all night without wanting to sleep on my chest/stomach. She's been getting very close to me ever since, like finding an open spot next to my face that it's almost weird? I'm not used to so much affection even with dogs I had in the past. Such a sweet girl.
Out of the blue, my previously well-adjusted cat started peeing in new places. We found out later he was sick with cancer and learned to work around the issue. But still, there was a day when I had had enough. I found the new pee spot, then found the cat, then carried (gently) him to the litter room which was literally carpeted with pee pads around a litter box that's cleaned twice a day. I looked him in the eye and said, "Dude - this can't go on. Pee outside the box if you have to. But do it on a pee pad, OK?" Cat looks me dead in the eye, and, holding eye contact, lifts his butt half an inch and pees right in front of me (on a pee pad). Lord I miss that little sh*t. ♥
My friend had three cats, and one of them died of old age. A few weeks after her cat died, she heard one of her other cats mewing sadly from her bedroom. She called out to the cat, asked it what was wrong and told it to come to her. It came to her with the dead cats collar in its mouth which it had grabbed off her night stand. Then the friend and the cat cried together.
When I was a baby, my 10 year old brother died and my mom was incredibly depressed. Our dog (technically a stray that never left) was strictly an outdoors dog that never came inside. He would sleep under her window every night. What's more impressive, she moved bedrooms, and he moved windows. When she fell asleep on the couch or camped out in a kids room(like if they were sick and might need her in the middle of the night), he slept under those windows. Wherever she slept at night, he would sleep under that window.
My last dog Diesel, was in his final stages of his life with bone cancer. Diesel was a Shepard / Rotty mix and weighed in at 110 pounds. Also sharing the house was my mom's black and white cat, who hateded me, and whom I inherited after my mom past. Although that cat, Royal hated me, and never came out of hiding. When Diesel out of confusion due to pain meds, mistook me for an intruder, growled backed me into a corner, and was ready to attack me, Royal some how, sensed the inpending danger, and came running out of nowhere, got between me and Diesel, and backed the dog away from me. That cat may have truly saved my life that day.
I was diagnosed with lupus in 2008. I stayed with friends for a couple months, until I was cleared to live alone again. I had rescued a kitten from my friend's backyard that was born around the same time I was diagnosed. Mr Rhett trained himself to recognize my panic attacks, but he was also smart enough that one of the nights I was having severe chest pains because of my lupus, he went and got my roommate to come check on me. He also figured out that if he held his paw down on one of the buttons on my phone, it'd call my mom. (This was pre-iPhone times, I had a ROKR, and then a N95) He always knew when I was really sick, and he'd snuggle up with me, but his favorite thing to do was hold hands. He'd put his paw in my hand, and that's how we'd sleep when I was sick.
Both my dog and cat would come comfort me as a child anytime I cried. They'd just let me hold them and cry. When I was a teen, I had undiagnosed endometriosis. I had cramps so horrific, I'd cry in a fetal position in bed. My cat, Cassidy, would come up and comfort me. He was a very large cat, well over 15lbs. I'd put him on my abdomen, under my pants (over underwear, nothing freaky) and while he was heavy, he was a warm heating pad that gave me comfort and wasn't a lifeless electronic. He helped my sadness over unexplained pain and kept me sane during those horrible weeks. -- One of my current cats, Zoe (in my avatar) she knows when I'm sad or when I need her. I don't cry or make noises but she still senses it. If it's a bad day or I have watched/read something particularly upsetting, before I know it, she's on my bed and walking up me to lay over my chest/neck and just give purrs and love. She's only 6lbs so she can get all squishy-ed up next to me without being too heavy.
My dog Levi can be frustratingly smart. We keep having to come up with new euphemisms for "have you fed the dogs" because he figures them out. Their catchphrase for suppertime is "What time is it?" and we can't even spell out the word Time because he knows that one too. We've progressed (or regressed?) to "Is it the point on the clock in which the animals residing here are given sustenance?" But I'm expecting him to learn that one too pretty soon. An amazing thing he does is let us know when another pet is sick. The first time he did it was with a new roommate's older Persian. Levi loves cats. He's gentle with them and just wriggles with joy when one lets him cuddle with it. Koko wasn't into dogs, so she thought Levi was being too pushy when he followed Koko everywhere and licking her head. She (the roommate) was getting angry at him. I told her he wasn't usually pushy, and went to check the cat over. She had a massive abscess behind her ear exactly where he'd been licking!
It was my neighbor’s dog that did the eerily smart thing. I was heartbroken after my dog dying suddenly from an aggressive tumor. I couldn’t stand the thought of coming home from work and not being greeted by a dog. When I finally forced myself to go home, when I got out of my car, my neighbor Alex’s dog, Fillmore, jumped into my car and greeted me. He’s never done anything like that before or since.
Our dog is generally very affectionate, but if either of us cries she’ll leave the room looking annoyed. Thing is, it’s so melodramatic that it usually cracks us up a bit, and we’ll joke, “Well, f*** you, too, dog!”
I was having a panic attack and finally decided to get my rat boy Brillo out for distraction..he pushed himself against my body and cuddled me for idk how long but long enough that I was able to pull out of it. He's not typically very cuddly but it seemed obvious he knew what was needed. It was a special moment for sure!
Our house was built with a small foyer at ground level with 6 stairs up to the main living level and 6 down to the basement. At the side of the living room facing the foyer was a wrought iron railing, so you could reach thru from the foyer and touch the floor of the living room. Our dog would always wait for my dad to get home from work in the corner of the living room next to the front door, and also the rest of us when anyone went anywhere. Dad came home at pretty much precisely 4:30 every day from work; he'd pet her and scratch her ears. This went on from pretty much when we got her as a puppy to when Dad passed, about 9 years or so later. Re4latives were there for about a week and everyone went home over the next weekend and were all gone by Monday. that afternoon, sure enough, Lady came out of her corner at about 4:25 and walked over to "Dad's corner" and sat down. About quarter till 5, she got up and walked, tail between her legs and head down, back to her corner. From
that day on, she would never wait for anyone in "Dad's corner" but at the top of the stairs to the main level. I like to think it was her tribute to my father.
Load More Replies... My yellow lab mix, Homer, always stayed by me whenever I had surgery or a minor procedure. Didn't want to go for a walk with our other dogs, wanted to stay and cuddle and guard me. He would always push himself past me when we went outside so he could check the yard out first to make sure it was safe for me. He'd rush out, all puffed up and tough looking until he was sure it was safe for us. He was always so in tune with me, he loved us so much and we miss him beyond belief. He was the best! Another dog we had, Spud, was a basset mix. He figured out how to get into the treat bucket. He would flip open the lid, grab a few biscuits, shut the lid, then hide behind the couch and very quietly eat his snack. He didn't want us or the other dogs to find out, he didn't want to share and he didn't want to get caught! I figured it out one day when I saw wet nose prints on the lid and followed him. He was the funniest dog we've ever had!
I had a Great Pyrenees Australian Shepherd mix. Her name was Raven. I remember when she got really sick ( she ate a whole bush of Pokeweed, which is how she passed.) I remember when she was really sick days before her passing. I was sitting in my room on my floor crying to my sister about Raven not making it and that I know she will be leaving soon. Raven came in to my room, and stared into my eyes. And pushed he ways in to my arms, like she was hugging me. I could do nothing but cry. I looked at her and told her I loved her and she nodded her head and pressed her nose against my check as if saying she knows and she loves me too. I miss her so much..
My cat is very dog-like and he hates people being upset. He'll comfort you when you cry (and is super pushy about it) and even gets upset when he hears my friend's toddler crying over the phone. The smartest animal I ever had was my kelpie/border collie. He got really mad at me when I started cracking down on training. He pulled 101 Ways To Train Your Dog off of a bookshelf (I easily have over 1000 books, so it was one of many), ripped up the cover only then left it in the middle of the floor. He also would try to pee on me during walks for two years straight before he forgave me. Was peed on often.
I rescued a young Pitbull, once I wanted to take him for a walk. He is very strong and vigorous; so we were walking down the stair of my building, when he pulled me so hard, he tossed me three steps to the floor and ran away. I thought he had fled again, but he came back running to lay by my side and kiss me until a neighbor came to help me up. He new he shouldn't had pulled so hard on me, a not young nor strong woman.
My cat, Havoc, would get annoyed when I shut him out of the bathroom. He tends to get to close to falling into the tub when I'm taking a bath and I certainly don't want to be in the tub if and when that happens! He started jumping up and swiping at the doorknob (lever type) until he figured out how to jump, grab hold, and push the door open. Have to lock it now to keep him out. He hasn't figured the lock out yet! : )
My cat Idle would watch me play dead by daylight. He'd watch the cursor during the load screen. He eventually began to learn when the game was on based by the sounds. He also got used to stealing my seat so I took to placing a second chair for him.
My cat Mufasa (my mom's a lion king fan), is clever and as nuts as me. Anyways, a couple of days ago, as I write this comment, he jumped to the only window that is sealed shut, because of its hinge is broken, meowing like a damn maniac. My parents weren't at home, I was because I'm on holiday and he watched across one of our neighbours houses with his eyes wide open and meowing the living daylights out of me. So I rush into the room and see smoke coming out of the roof where it shouldn't. I called 112 (our equivalent of 911) and three minutes later they arrived, just in time to prevent worse. Roof fires can get really nasty.
My dog is the love of my life (no offense hubby), she's always by my side no matter what and has saved my life. A few months ago I was having a very bad depression episode and was just looking for one sign that there was a reason I was in pain. She came and crawled on my lap and looked into my eyes and I realized why. She's a bit of a special needs dog, she doesn't like people at all except for me and my husband, but I'm the one who cares for her. He loves her and walks her, but I'm the one always there, making sure she has what she needs. If I was gone, she wouldn't be taken care of the way she deserves. I'm still here to be an emotional support human. To love her. That's good enough for me.
I had a cat a few years ago who was too smart for my own good. He knew how to open doors AND unlock them. The front door to my apartment at the time was too heavy to open on his own and he knew that, so he tried to undo the hinge at the top of the door. He figured out where his treats were and how to get them. He tormented neighborhood dogs by taunting them out of reach. But my favourite moment? He would be napping in a completely different room and if light reflected off my phone onto a wall, he was there in a blink to chase it. Damn cat could hear light!
Load More Replies... It's not just cats and dogs. I once walked into a big public aquarium and there was a big glass case full of seawater with a live octopus inside, clinging to the glass. It was looking at me, and I felt quite clearly that it was incandescent with rage at being locked up in the aquarium. The feeling was so strong it nearly knocked me sideways. Such a surprise!
Octopuses (octopi?) are extremely intelligent and beautiful creatures.
Load More Replies... I had a dog that was pretty big, Australian and German shepherd mix, that would get a bit too rousy. She would nibble us as if to be cleaning and sometimes nibble too much and bite us a bit. When she did she'd stop, lick it a few times, and move to a different spot (on arm). She'd do this to ever one EXCEPT my little toddler sister. She would protect her, yes be a bit crazy, but other than that, she was a safe dog. My older sister though...we were at a dog park and playing catch with a football and while my older sister was running, my dog ran up to her and run under her legs as if to be playing actual football. My sister fell pretty hard, rolled a bit, and started to laugh, as well as me and my dad. Good times. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. We had to get rid of her because my dad is allergic to fur, so he was sniffling a lot and couldnt take any more, so we gave her to a coworker, who also had to get rid of her, I dont know why though. But yeah thats my story
My cat Garretson repeatedly peed in my suitcase after I got home from trips.
I once told my late cat Vanessa "don't step there, I just mopped" and she stopped, turned around, and left. I still wonder if she understood me or it was just a coincidence...
One of my cats has somehow figured out how to open the door and go outside if the door isn't locked.
I have 2 cats Shadow Catmonger and Shuri Storm (we love Marvel). I deal with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and when I have my beyond terrible flares, they both lay by my legs and purr in their sleep all night. It reminds me so much of my late dog Zasha who would stay in the bed with all day as long as my flare lasted. My mom would have to physically pick her up and carry her to eat/drink and go outside to use the bathroom. So grateful to have/had all of my fur babies.
I always walked my dog before work and one day he just didn't poo for some reason. I waited as long as I could but had to leave to go to work. As I left I put a paper bag on the ground and said "If you have to poo, poo on the bag." I didn't really think it work and fully expected to come home to a mess to clean, but he had actually used the bag!
Animals are way smarter than people give them credit for. Seriously... my dogs can literally hold non-verbal conversations. For instance, my dogs once got all riled up over a toy, so I took it away and put it up out of reach. One of them literally stood below the toy's location, WAITED for me to look at him and then very pointedly looked up toward the toy, looked at the floor, and then looked back to me... then repeated this set of motions THREE MORE TIMES to ensure I got the message. I told him "nope, not right now." He sighed, walked across the room, plopped down on the sofa, and then sighed again. This is only one of countless "discussions" I've had with my three dogs ... it's a lot like arguing with smart toddlers 😆
I was crying in My bed having a panic attack and my emotional support dog (cane corso named rosita) came over holding a towel, I think she was giving me something to wipe my tears with and afterwards she just started locking my face and snuggling me
My family had a poddle and when my mom was sick, she would refuse to eat when mom was at the hospital. She wouldn't touch her food until mom was back. She also didn't like being on anyone laps, but one day she laid on Mine and didn't move for the longest time. Half a hour later we were informed my mom had passed away
I have autoimmune disease and when I'm in a flare, my pain is immense. When it happens, my dogs would both lay on the couch snuggling up to warm me up. Sometimes only one would leave to bark at something, but immediately return to their spot next to me. The other dog would stay put the whole time. They never let me be alone. My husband called them "pain sniffing" dogs. My female is still with us. She licks my tears when I cry.
My dog is utterly useless when I am sad or hurt. she is very insecure and when I collapse, it must feel to her like the world is about to end. I actually need to soothe and reassure HER -_- But I love her to pieces, anyway. She's the light of my life.
Had a dog once dug a trench at different depths with run offs around his dog house to keep the water from getting into the vents that were on the bottom sides. I saw it one day when I was changing out his blankets and just stared at him. He was insanely intelligent. Eli used to be a service dog - he's a chihuahua and no I don't mean an emotional support dog, actual service dog. He was used for a few functions but his primary function was alerting me to panic attacks, falls, or if one of the two he cared for was in distress in any way. One of my nephews was over after my grandpa died and he knew Eli used to be a service dog, but he got a first hand experience in it when he went and alerted him that I was in distress. He had no clue what was going on but followed Eli to my room where I was in the middle of having a breakdown. About the only thing Eli can't handle is tears, I was crying once and no one was there so he went and alerted my cat, brought her to me.
Eli sounds so smart! And I think it's adorable that he alerted the cat. Made me smile. Animals truly are amazing.
Load More Replies... I was in a bad hit and run a few years ago, and after several months in the hospital, 3 surgeries, etc, came home a different person. My rescue, Lola, was excited to see me, but could tell something was wrong. From that day on, she only sat on my left leg, never my right (injured) leg, walks me up and down the stairs one by one, checks on me every morning and walks me down the stairs, and sits next to my right leg and purrs, loud. She's just amazing, rescuing her was my best decision ever
I had handsome male cat named Nova. He would go down the street to a local pizza place and sit with the workers on their smoke breaks. They actually came to my house to tell me he was their therapy cat.
Once a horse I was riding came up lame under saddle (which means he was in pain and we only realized it once I got on him). They have a veterinarian on staff so the teacher asked her to take a look at him. When the vet was watching, the horse trotted normally, but he started limping again as soon as she left. Another time, a horse pulled away from me when I was putting him back in his field, and took the lead line with him. You can’t leave a horse with a lead dangling because it can cause serious injuries if it wraps around their legs. When I tried to catch the horse again he used his herd mate as a barrier between us and even herded her around when he wanted to move. I had to get help from management.
My parents had a pure bred shi tzu that they adopted after she was retired from being a show dog, and she was a Daddy's Girl. One day my Dad slipped on the icy wooden deck in the rain in December, and fell, tearing his ACL. Now my Dad's about 6'6", 350 lbs, and my Mom is about 5'3, 190 lbs, and they were in their mid 60's at the time. After.calling the ambulance, Mom tried to pull Dad inside by the underarms to get him out of the rain. She couldn't really do it, and instead, their shi tzu, named Jazmin, went outside and laid on top of my Dad to keep him warm and dry. When the EMT's got there, she went into protective mode, growling and barking and trying to bite anyone who went near my Dad. She was determined to protect her Daddy, lol
I have really bad nightmares and once as a bad dream was starting to get really bad my dog woke me up as he jumped on the bed to lay his head on mine. It wasn't comfortable because he's a huge dog but he somehow knew the thing hurting me was in my head.
when i got my first cat she reached out through the bars of the shelter cage (adopt, don't buy!) and booped my sister. claws out, but still.
Last year, i was really poorly, i had kidney problems and my dog who sleeps at the bottom of the bed normally, spent the entire time glued to my side with her head on my stomach, she would only leave me to eat and go to the toilet and then would come straight back, she really looked after me
I don't think someone (the article writer) understood the topic they made. #30 doesn't have anything to do with a pets intelligence, just owner ignorance. Most of these are just about consoling owners by laying next to them, very common. The bird, and the dog eat the abuser photo, yes. The rest of the consoling posts, no. Even 26 isn't intelligence, it's cute, but not intelligent.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10225370081902909&set=a.1759681355724&type=3
