If you ever visit the towns and villages climbing the slopes of Vesuvius on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Naples, you will see that most of the families living there keep cats. Of course, this is partly due to the townspeople's love for these wonderful pets, but there is another reason that makes cats especially popular among residents whose homes are built on the slopes of an active volcano.

A cat's sixth sense
Cats are also skilled at predicting earthquakes; in these cases, their sixth sense can be much more reliable than expensive electronic devices.

Over the centuries, life has taught them a simple truth: when it comes to predicting eruptions, you can rely on your furry friends.

Immediately before a volcano erupts, cats and some other animals begin to behave very strangely — darting from corner to corner, crying loudly, begging to be let out of the house, and, once given the opportunity, darting as far away as possible from the area threatened by the flow of molten lava.

Cats are also skilled at predicting earthquakes; in these cases, their sixth sense can be much more reliable than expensive electronic devices.

Thus, in August 1979, more than two hundred such technological marvels, installed in Calaveras Falls (California) to record the first signs of an earthquake, peacefully indicated that “everything was calm.” And they were unable to predict an earthquake so powerful that it shook buildings in San Francisco, 130 miles from the epicenter. As a result, local residents were unprepared, and many were seriously injured.

Cats' ability to predict earthquakes so effectively is due to their ability to detect positively charged atoms and ions in the atmosphere around them. Immediately before an earthquake, these particles are released in huge quantities, making the surrounding air practically “alive,” boiling with electrostatic activity. The ancient Greeks and Romans occasionally noted strange omens before powerful earthquakes: smoky clouds, dark lights in the sky, and such phenomena are associated precisely with what our cats detect.

 

By the way

Cats' predictions have always been so accurate and so often noted in all kinds of reports made over the last 100 years that scientists around the world are now studying this phenomenon in the hope of utilizing the unique abilities of these animals. Researchers in the US, Russia, China, and Germany are tasked with figuring out what exactly it is in cats and other animals that makes them so sensitive. Once this problem is solved, they hope to construct mechanical devices that are just as effective for early warning of cataclysms, although this will certainly cost more than the most expensive cat in the world.

 

Since we humans are insensitive to the presence of charges in the atmosphere, even a significant increase in the number of positive ions has no effect on us, except perhaps for a slight headache or increased irritability. But cats, being extremely sensitive, experience real mood and behavioral disorders, as the surrounding air causes changes in the chemical processes in their brain and nervous system. One such change may be an increase in the production of serotonin, a chemical “messenger” that affects emotional state.

But there is another explanation. Cats can sense (and are depressed by) the very slight tremors in the ground that precede an earthquake. They may also sense magnetic phenomena that humans are not sensitive to. Changes in the surrounding magnetic field may be one of the early signs of a strong earthquake.

And yet much remains unclear. How can they sense other types of accidents and disasters?

Two explanations seem plausible. First, many events may be associated with sounds that are beyond the range of human hearing.

Secondly, it is possible that cats perceive signals whose frequency is too low for the human ear. Our maximum sensitivity lies in the range from 1500 to 4000 Hz. Animals have more sensitive hearing. This ability is combined with their ability to hear very quiet sounds and distinguish them from other background noises.

Jacobson's organ

Cats have at least one other unique sensory organ. It is, in essence, a sixth sense. Called the vomeronasal organ, or Jacobson's organ, it consists of a cartilaginous tube about a centimeter long, located at the base of the mouth and connected to the environment by a small opening just behind the front teeth. Rudimentary traces of Jacobson's organ, named after a 19th-century Danish anatomist, are also present in humans, but no longer have any functional value.

In cats, this organ forms part of the odor perception system and contains nerves that transmit impulses directly to the olfactory areas of the brain. It allows cats to identify different types of molecules in the atmosphere. In this sense, the organ is similar to the perception of taste and smell, but since these senses are already well developed in cats and considering that everything created by nature has its own meaning, Jacobson's organ probably performs a very important additional function.

 

Observe your cat and see how it uses this organ. The cat suddenly stops dead in her tracks, half-opening her mouth and pulling in her lips, thus allowing as much air as possible to enter the opening. The expression on her face at this moment can be compared to a smirk or a grimace. This usually happens during a leisurely walk around her territory and may be accompanied by a raised front paw with a hanging paw pad or other signs of interest and alertness.

We still do not know exactly what information a cat receives through the Jacobson's organ, although it has been found that it plays a role in determining the sexual characteristics of other cats. It is also possible that this sixth sense, at least in part, is the very device responsible for predictions. However, most owners are convinced that cats' fantastic abilities can only be explained by a certain form of extrasensory perception. 

Cat Fun Facts