Psychic Pets: True Accounts of Animal Paranormal Powers

by Michael Streeter

Some of this unusual volume's accounts are ghostly, others are heartwarming, and all are about animals that possess mysterious, unexplained powers. Told here are moving stories of animals whose timely premonitions saved their owners' lives, as well as tales of un-breakable bonds between animals and humans that transcend distance and time. Many pet owners marvel at how their dog or cat seems to anticipate its master's arrival home, or know precisely when it's time for a meal or a walk. Describing more unusual examples, the author tells, for instance, how a cat sent her owner a telepathic message to rescue her from a garbage dump. Here too is the story of how a barking retriever aroused a diplo-matic staff in China, coaxing them to safety only moments before a devastating earth-quake leveled their building. Other fascinating stories tell of the U.S. Army's attempts to train psychic dogs, fish that rained down from a cloudless sky, and a "mind-reading" pig that astonished Victorian England. The author narrates these and dozens more amazing, true, animal-related stories that modern science is at a loss explain. More than 200 color illustrations.

Genres: Paranormal, Animals, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Sharon Ouderkirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think anybody who has pets knows that there are more to animals than is known by humans. We have all had experiences where our dogs or cats have understood and mourned a death, or intuited and communicated danger, not to mention the ways that they outsmart you because you made the mistake of underestimating their wiliness. This book chronicles examples of (mostly) dogs who travel long distances over unknown terrain to be reunited with a loved one, or who appear as warnings to their owners after their death. Not every story speaks to the soulfulness of the animal - a cat who randomly picked lottery numbers that won comes to mind as a clear coincidence- but there is enough in this book to make a person wonder. Examples of animals appearing as warnings after they died could probably be explained as a psychological manifestation by the human - in the fear of the moment, the mind conjures images of love and safety, and makes you think you saw your dog. But the stories of animals who travelled long distances to come home, or to follow their master onto the battlefield are both moving and compelling. Loyal animals like Greyfriar's Bobby who stayed at his master's grave for many years are not rare. The author writes of other dogs, cats and birds who show their loyalty in many ways. (Composer Paderewski's parrot demanded entrance to the room where Paderewski practiced, and even passed judgement on the performance!)
I don't know that I would use the word 'psychic' to describe these stories of loyalty and love and efforts at protection. One does wonder how the animals knew to travel long distances, but even that doesn't speak to a psychic ability; perhaps extra-sensory perception in ways that we mere humans have not identified. Overall, the stories were absorbing, although I did find that the flattened out 'professional' writing style made it less so in the later stories. Well worth the read if you are a fan of the furry and feathered critters.

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly, I've read every story (almost!) in this book before, but that didn't dim my appreciation. I liked the accompanying pictures, set up like a collage on every page. The stories aren't long, but they give a basic overview and let you decide for yourself if something really happened. The animals often do extraordinary things, much to the disbelief of the humans around them. I never doubt the ability animals have and the bond they can have with their human. Only yesterday a cat frantically jumped on their owner, waking him because there was a fire in his home.

A great short book to introduce psychic pets. Five stars.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Inside are amazing and true stories about animals, some about lost animals finding there way home, others about animals predicting certain events, deceased pets communicating with the living, and others about bonds that will never be broken. Amazing book, I would suggest every animal lover read it!

[Hannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het boek bevat bijzondere verhalen. Toch raakte dit boek mij niet zoals de eerste keer dat ik het las. Toen las ik het in een ruk uit. Nu ben ik over bepaalde verhalen toch wat sceptisch, omdat ik ze wat ongeloofwaardig vind. Toch denk ik dat dierenliefhebbers wel van dit boek zullen genieten.

[Merilin (the_bookshelf_of_merilin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely one of my favourite books that I read when I was in primary school. It has cats in it!! Oh, and other animals also.

[☮ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read it three times it's comforting and interesting

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it looked promising at the library, really. But then, I'm all for trying to raise the consciousness of my pets (and hey, if it raises mine, too, bonus!). It wasn't that type of book.

The book is short, with engaging photomanip pictures on every page. There are five sections to the book; one for pets who travel extraordinary distances to return to their owners, another for animals mourning or recognizing the time of their owner's death, a third on animals who provided aid to people, a fourth on deceased animals returning and finally a section on precognative animals.

The subtitle of True Accounts of Animal Paranormal Powers might not have been so bad if there had been any type of proof attached to the stories. Many of the stories could just as easily be hearsay, as there are no records of the research Mr. Streeter did in regards to any of the tales.

Some of them are fascinating, I'll give you that - the bull terrier who traveled across India by train, searching for his master; the Dalmatian who not only stayed by her two-year-old ward's side on a very cold night but also enlisted the help of two other dogs to keep the child warm; the dogs who somehow managed to find their way across oceans to join their masters on battlefronts; the parakeet who flew from its owner's house in a blizzard to knock on the window of a neighbor to beg for help; the bees that hovered over their beekeeper's grave on the day of his funeral.

I would have enjoyed expansion on most of the stories (except the one about Greyfriar's Bobby but then, I've not only read that book but seen the movie!), which might give the book a little more substance than what it has.

As a quick read, I'd give it a thumb's up. As for a well-researched, well-written piece, well, as I wrote earlier, this is not the book I thought it would be.

[Elfe · Rating 2 out of 5]

In diesem Buch findet man wahre Geschichten über Tiere, deren Verhalten an das Paranormale grenzt. So wird von Tieren berichtet, die trotz unbekannter Umgebung ihren Weg nach Hause finden, die unglaubliche Sachen tun, um ihre Besitzer zu finden oder sogar aus Lebensgefahr zu retten, und selbst über den Tod hinaus die Treue erhalten. Die Geschichten sind herzerwärmend, rührend und bestätigen das, was Tierliebhaber schon lange wissen: Tiere sind schlauer und intelligenter, als wir Menschen ihnen zugestehen (wollen).

Die Übersetzung ist es,woran dieses Buch meiner Meinung nach scheitert. Die Geschichten selber sind sehr unterhaltsam, aber der Stil, in dem sie übersetzt und geschrieben wurden, macht dieses Buch, für mich jedenfalls, sehr schwer zu lesen.. Es fließt nicht so, wie in der Englischen Version. Das kann natürlich daran liegen, daß ich seit 20 Jahren in einem Englisch-sprechendem Land lebe und somit ganz einfach erkennen kann, wie der Originaltext geschrieben war. Leider hat das den Lesespaß für mich so gedrückt, daß ich diesem Buch nur 2 Sterne geben kann. Dem Buch im Original hätte ich 3-4 Sterne gegeben.