The Fourth Kitty

Witness: Suzy
Location: Jasper, Tennessee
Date of Encounter: 1997 – 1998

I had a large, gray cat that was a stray for many, many years. Kitty was with me through some difficult times. In her previous life as a stray, she had been abused and as a result of this, neither of her front legs was straight. She had a hard time jumping and ran in a very unique manner. After she died, I found out that I was pregnant with my son, who is now seven. The longer my pregnancy went on, the more complications I seemed to develop. One night when my husband and I were in bed, I felt her jump on the foot of our bed. (Kitty always landed very “heavy” due to the old injury to her front legs.) I actually felt her lying against my legs (like she always did before she died). A few days later, my husband mentioned to me that he thought he felt her jump on the bed one night. We both felt her jump on the bed!

After my son came home from the hospital, he slept in a bassinette in our bedroom. Many nights I would go in there to check on him and would see Kitty lying on the floor underneath his bed. A few times, there was even an imprint of her body on our bed, like she was standing guard over the baby to make sure that he was safe.

When my son was about a year old, we all moved into the house I grew up in. Many, many times all of us would catch a glimpse of Kitty running up the stairs in her unique “Kitty” way. As my son learned to talk, he described playing with four cats — three that could run and play, and one that couldn’t. We had gotten three cats from my mom and dad when we moved — not four. Kitty stayed with us until both of her kittens died of old age.

If anyone has had similar experiences with a pet staying by your side after death, please contact me. I would love to hear about it.