Can dogs and cats see ghosts?

MINNETONKA, Minn. — Are you a believer in ghosts? 

According to Statista, nearly 40% of people think spirits walk among us, and if you have a pet, you may wonder if they have an enhanced ability to sense those spirits. 

I mean, what are they staring at over there anyway?

Joe Leamanczyk lives in a nearly 140-year-old home in the suburbs of Chicago. He said he’s among the aforementioned 40% and has at least a half-dozen ghosts hanging around.

“For me, it would be sad if this house was 140 years old and no one wanted to stick around — like, I plan on haunting it,” he joked.

But all jokes aside, Joe believes his former dog, Winston, and current dog, Charlie, have picked up the same vibes.

“When we first moved in, he would sit on the couch and you would see him looking into the next room, and his eyes would be following something and he'd be growling at it,” said Joe.

“Eventually, he got used to it. His eyes would follow it and he would chase after it but he didn't see it like a stranger anymore,” he said. 

Erin Darsow's cat, Kimchee, has exhibited some ghostly behavior, too. She showed us a video of the cat staring at something in her room. At first glance, it looks like the cat is following the blades of the ceiling fan — except the fan isn’t on.

“The cat I had before her right before she passed, she spent a lot of time in my room in that corner so, I think she saw her,” said Erin.

But is that true? Can our pets see ghosts?

“I think they can sense an old presence or a lingering presence,” Erin said.

Erin may not be that far off. 

While there is no proof that ghosts exist, when it comes to senses, dogs and cats have us beat. Drs. Deborah Bryant and Robyn Hayes at Veterinary Behavior Specialties of Minnesota said we may be in charge, but our pets are far superior when it comes to the senses, like hearing.

”If your dog would suddenly go to a corner of the house and start barking, seemingly at nothing, it may be that they are hearing bugs in the wall, or rodents in the wall and we can't see or hear them,” said Dr. Bryant.

Cats and dogs can hear sounds above and below frequencies that we can hear; their ears are just designed better. They can move them around to orient to sound. 

Cats, for example, can turn their ears 180 degrees. They have 32 muscles in their ears, compared to humans with six. When it comes to sight, neither animal can see colors well, but they can see much better in dim light, a sense developed to help them hunt. 

And when it comes to smell, we're not even on the same chart. According to the American Kennel Club, dog’s noses are up to 100,000 times more sensitive than ours.

“The ability to smell things is definitely beyond our capacity,” said Dr. Hayes. “They will be able to tell how long ago that animal passed by.”

Think about it: We train dogs to smell the smallest particles of scent. They have anatomical features that are much more developed than humans, allowing them to detect explosives, drugs and even illnesses. How many stories have you heard about dogs alerting people to a fire?

Cats are no slouch when it comes to smell, either.

We also know both of these animals are creatures of habit — they can sense when routines are different or if we are off. 

So, when a person or another pet dies, can they sense them after they are gone? Kind of. 

Dr. Bryant said it works like this:

“If there is a person who is no longer in the home that was significant to them, and are they still picking up some of those molecules of scent that tell them that there is still a presence of that person still around — or the other pet that is no longer there.”

So, science can explain away some of the behaviors that our pets exhibit, but sometimes, it's just nicer to think they're seeing and sensing something we don't.

“It was a lot more comforting to think that my old cat was hanging around and my new cat was talking to her than just thinking it was probably a spider,” said Erin.