# I think my cat knew abt the earthquake



## Modra (Jan 17, 2011)

In the day of the Christchurch quake, Modra behaved really weird. It all started in the morning when she was very aggitated and jumping all over the place. We had some table napkins on the counter in the kitchen, she tore them off, litteraly to shreds. Then she was meowing and in a state of playfulness mixed with fear for the rest of the day. The thing is we live quite far from Christchurch (375 Km) and the quake took place @ 1 o'clock during day time, but she was already crazed in the morning. Some 6th sense!


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## suwanee (Jan 22, 2011)

Wow. Glad you and Modra are okay! I thought that with the last big earthquake we had too, and I've heard this many times before. Animals are so cool.

The other night I was watching a movie on our big flat screen TV, and there was a scene where there was a huge wave that crashed through the scene. Very noisy and the whole screen was filled with this huge wave moving quickly. My cat lept up from being sound asleep next to me on the couch and fled from the room and was up on top of the bed.

I thought she was just being weird. Then I started to wonder if (like the tsunami) she feared the water and instinctively tried to escape it?


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I've often thought that if animals could talk, they could hold jobs as weathermen (weatherwomen?) and they would do a much more reliable job of predicting the weather.


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## Lenkolas (Jan 18, 2011)

My cat Gatito definitely knew about the earthquake. About 5 minutes before it started (at 3:34 am, a day like today a year ago here in Chile, magnitude 8.8) he jumped off the bed and ran away. I just thought he heard or saw something interesting like a moth or sht, and I went back to sleep. Then the earthquake hit us...when it stopped after those horror minutes he was nowhere to be found, and like 30 minutes after I realized he was hiding inside the closet the whole time. I'm glad 'cause he didn't see the light bulbs exploding -and electricity transformers outside exploding too, that made the city look as if it was the end of the world -tho I'm sure he heard the neighbors screaming and old ladies from my building screaming and crying...

I wonder if he remembers and if that left him a little bit traumatized or something...poor baby... what do you think?


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

Lenkolas said:


> I wonder if he remembers and if that left him a little bit traumatized or something...poor baby... what do you think?


Has he been acting differently since the earthquake?


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

I have no doubt animals can sense things like this. I remember stories on the news about zoo animals flipping out before the big Tsunami in 2004. 

I've also heard of pastured horses moving to higher ground long before flash floods/flooding occurs.


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## jbishop928 (Feb 26, 2011)

I was watching Must Love Cats on Animal Planet yesterday and there was a cat that lived at the news station in Nebraska I think? I don't remember what state, but they said he'd act different when the weather was about to change. I know my dogs act crazy before a storm. They were nuts the other day and I was thinking "What is their problem?!" A little while later it started thundering.


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## Modra (Jan 17, 2011)

Ty guys . Yeah, animals feel weather change, earthquakes and other natural disasters long before they actually take place. I wonder how they do it, it might help us, mankind, a lot to figure out such thing. 
Anyway, Modra is fine ever since, in her normal mood, respecting her normal schedule, but I'm keeping a close eye on her behaviour, if I see any change I can think another one is coming. So far there were a heaps load of aftershocks but she didn't seem bothered, maybe they were too small to be felt down here in Dunedin. I was surprised that she felt what was about to take place from such a huge distance.
Lenkolas, so glad that both you and your kitty are well, the Chilean earthquake was HUGE! I remember a group of students from Chile came to Christchurch having already experienced the big earthquake in their country and not long before arrival in NZ, they experienced the first earthquake in Christchurch (7.3 if I recall correctly, this recent one was only 6.2, but made more damage). That's what I call bad luck! Sometimes I reckon one should only travel accompanied by a good, sensitive dog or cat (even if it hits you, at least you are a bit more prepared, mentally at least).


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## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

years back my sisters very old siamese(slept all the time, never moved but to eat) woke her on stormy night(upset and agitated) she grabbed her and the other cat and went to the basement, five minutes later the sirens blew(two minutes after the tornado had done its damage about 1/2 mile away) the morning before one our hurricanes, I found my chameleon on the lowest biggest limb in his enclosure, all legs and tail wrapped around the limb, we couldn't feel it yet bet he knew trouble was coming!!


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## Lenkolas (Jan 18, 2011)

Modra said:


> Lenkolas, so glad that both you and your kitty are well, the Chilean earthquake was HUGE!


Thank you Modra! yes it was huge... I remember I went into "survival mode". I jumped up, grabbed our emergency flashlight, and holding my bf's hand I tried to escape outside the apartment without really thinking about anything. It was just survival mode. There was one point, probably during 5 or 10 seconds, when walking was impossible so we were crawling with darkness all around us and I could hear the earth growling under me and exploding transformers outside and people screaming, that the thought of _"this is it, we're not gonna make it"_ crossed my mind. But then, it was over.

Then it took me 20 minutes to find shoes, find my cat, find the carrier, put him inside -'cause despite common sense and all the warnings I received from my neighbors, I went inside the apartment to get him- find my wallet and we just stood outside with our hearts racing without knowing what to do. 

It is always a good idea to have a safety plan in case something like that happens to you. Having a cat carrier ready to be used is an excellent idea. "Emergency" flashlights that are always in the same place too. Without that, I couldn't have been able to find Gatito.

Knowing how would you and your family will react (or at least having an idea) is a good idea too. Some people just freeze and refuse to move. Some others react hysterically. Having someone that despite what's going on is able to focus and react, could mean the difference between life or death.

I don't think my kitty is traumatized. We went through 2 months of aftershocks and he seemed fine. Maybe he got used to it, maybe he thinks it's a normal thing...


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