Welp today was the end for my MIL's 19 year old Persian cat. As far as cats go I'm kinda indifferent. I don't hate them(most of the time) but I don't go out of the way to give them any attention either unless they come to me for attention. I don't mind giving them a pet or 2 as long as they don't bother me.
This particular cat is(was) 1 of 3 and was the MIL's favorite. He never left her side when she was home. She began asking me a week ago if I would come look to see if he was still alive. So everyday for the last 8 days I've gone over and turned the light on in the closet where she has been keeping him comfortable(he wasn't able to get around on his own for nearly 10 days now)....Everytime I would go see him I'd reach over and touch his whiskers and he would lift his head and look at me.....On and on this went until today when I came home and she was crying saying he wouldn't eat anymore(she had been hand feeding him for the last week or so).
I put down my keys and phone went into the closet and turned the light on. There he was rolled over on his side(bloated abdomen) with his eyes open and looking right at me....dead. So I called my wife who was just leaving the office and told her what happened and if she would grab a box. Then began the ritual of my 6th cat burial.
Most of the other ones went on the South side of the house under or around a Ligustrum tree. This time the MIL wanted her cat buried outside the bay window in her room. I agreed and after hitting some irrigation lines and heavy tree roots I dug a fine hole and placed the cats coffin in a position where he would be looking into the bay window, cover the box with a little dirt, then somes rocks I had leftover, then some weedguard and finally the rest of the dirt...raked the top level then took a tamp and packed the dirt tight before raking all of the mulch(it was in a mulched plant bed)
When I was done you couldn't tell what I had done in the least bit. I put my shovel, rake, gloves and tamp back in the cottage, grabbed 2 beers and went to get in the pool. When I got to the french doors that lead to the pool from the living room I noticed one of the other cats, standing by the door and acting like she wanted to go out. She is now 11-12 years old and rarely wants to go outside anymore but I opened the door and out she went.(inside the pool enclosure)
She never stopped once to sniff or look around at the sounds of the birds and lizards like she used when she went outside before. Instead she went straight to the screendoor which is no more than about 6-8 feet from where I had just buried the other cat and sat looking directly at the spot where I had just buried him. She never broke her stare for the next 8-10 minutes until she turned, looked at me, meowed and went straight back to the french door...
There is no way she could have seen me bury the other cat as my MIL's bay window had the shades pulled down the entire time. There is also no other viewpoint where she could have seen me doing it.
Crazy I know but she knew...how? I have no idea but she knew.