Saturday, January 21, 2012

What time is it?

Have you ever wondered how your animal friend knows what time it is? 
How do they do that?

Our 18-year old kitty, Katy, somehow always knows when it is between 11:30am and noon. Everyday like clockwork she will appear out of the silence and stare at one of us.

Today I looked down from washing the dishes and saw her near my feet patiently waiting and looking up at me. I gave her what we call her "magic water" which is actually a homeopathic remedy that she receives several times during each day. She happily drank from the syringe and then continued to stare up at me letting me clearly know that I was forgetting something. I looked up at the clock that hangs directly above the kitchen sink and saw that it was exactly 11:30am. "Seriously?", I thought to myself. "How does she know what time it is every day?"

Almost every day between 11:30am and noon Katy gets a special treat of either sardines or mackerel. If either of us forgets to bring it to her she will come find us. Each time I look at the clock and am floored at the time. How does she do that? Well the only way to have a question answered is to go directly to the source. I asked her!

She looked at me, as she often does, with patience and impatience at the same time. We humans are so puzzling to our animal friends at times. She explained that she just knows. There is no doubt in her mind about the time. It is time for her snack. NOW. She feels this in her mind and in her physical body. Sometimes she will get a hunger pain and other times she just drools. She wonders where her treat is and why we are not serving her. She knows not to wait as she might be there for a long time, so she will come find one of us.

I have asked Katy about the topic of time before. She has shared with me that the animals, especially the felines, have an understanding of what time is on a deeper level than what we humans have. That topic I will share at a later date. Continuing with the question, have you ever wondered how your animal friend knows what time it is, I would like to add another situation.

My friend Chris shared with us on the day of a daylight savings time change, that the horses of Traveller's Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary in Spotsylvania, VA didn't care that we silly humans had changed the time. They KNEW what time it was and they wanted to know where their dinner was and why it was late!

I would love to hear your stories and experiences with animals and the topic of time.