Pets

[imaginedlight.livejournal.com]

Has anyone else here had strange experiences with pets?

We spent last weekend with our SO. Rivvi was fronted most of the time, but at one point, Kami was fronted. When Kami went downstairs, the family's new dog started barking and growling at him for no reason. The dog didn't have any problem with Rivvi, in fact, dogs love her, even though she's not a dog person at all. So Kami went out with someone and they got food. They were only gone for about twenty minutes. When they got back, Rivvi took over the front again before they went inside, and there weren't anymore problems with the dog. (Kami's reaction to the situation was funny. He was amused and in disbelief, thinking soemthing like, "Can you believe that dog is daring to bark at me? He must not know I'm a god." Then he started to tell the dog to stop barking in this big, commanding voice... Kami is always so amusing. :) It sure would be boring around here without him!)

Our SO has a cat who loves her and follows her around, meowing for attention. But when someone else started fronting a lot, she was scared of him. There didn't seem to be any reason for it. She never seemed to care much about anyone else fronting, even people who hate cats. She's okay with him now, I think, but for a while she was scared of him and only him.

Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this? Are there any known reasons for it? Animals are supposed to be sensitive to things going on in the human brain. For example, some dogs can be trained to tell when its owner is going to have a seizure before even the owner knows and protect him or her through it. I think it might be somehow related to that. That they can just sense something is off and it freaks them out.

Comments

[redrainstorm.livejournal.com]

Our aunt has a cat, who is very in touch with how people are feeling. Lisa, the "host", HATES and FEARS cats. She's never done anything to it, but when she fronts, the cat hisses, almost feeling the emotions Lisa feels towards it. He (the cat) is also fearful of the littles, so he'll hide away. If Riley or Kaden came out, he would be ok with it. They can just *feel* the difference in the person before them, and react how they see fit for one reason or another.
Kacy

[ranuial.livejournal.com]

My parents had a dog before that would react when a particular person was fronting, by barking and growling at him when the dog didn't seem to mind anyone else.

[etana.livejournal.com]

oh i have similar experiences. in fact there's one of us who can command animals to "get goin" or "piss off" and they do it - especially cats, which the body (not jsut one of us) is horribly allergic to. So while the rest of us are just good with animals (for hte most part) this one seems to be able to command or control them.
But yeah we've had certain pets (dogs, ferrets) notice us switching and hiss/react to those of us they don't agree with. strange.

[eternalism.livejournal.com]

I can't say that any of us have had experiences of animals being afraid when anyone else is fronting, but rather the opposite. Cats, for some reason, seem to be able to tell when Brooke is awake. Our cats will sleep on her (or me, if I'm still fronting), and stray cats will follow us wherever we go.

Soon enough, my roommate and I are going to be moving into a place that also has a dog. I guess we'll see then how the dog reacts to anyone.

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

It's been suggested that animals may have an ability to sense abnormalities in brain waves. As far as I know that idea hasn't been investigated. Alpha waves (reference one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy)/two (http://www.answers.com/topic/electroencephalograph)) represent the background functioning of the brain. Brain waves are known to change when an epileptic fit is approaching, and some people think that's what epilepsy service dogs detect. If a multiple bod's alpha waves change depending on the front, that could explain it.

But it may be more straightforward. Animals are necessarily good at picking up the minutiae of behaviour and mood. Cats are attracted to people who dislike them, dogs don't tend to like it.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence about people being able to exchange psychic messages with animals, calm them down etc. I'm sceptical about this myself.

[judiff]

most cats sem to know if it's a kid or an adult that's out (and let the little kids get away with stuff like fluffing their tummys which they would like sractch/bite an adult or bigger kid for)

[ricktboy.livejournal.com]

*nodding* oh yeah. Our cat, Garfield, is like that. He loves Rick, and tolerates me(I'm a panther totem), but absolutely hates Tara, who's not really all that big of a cat lover. He ignores Liz completely, and acts strangely around Wolf, too. he's not met cubbie yet.

Faith
Pack Collective

[nynomi.livejournal.com]

We are usually more or less co-conscious, but something like this would explain the dog thing.

I think - Luna here - dogs don't like me. If I'm the main frontrunner, the dogs will set to barking when I come near because I'm sort of part cat, sort of vampiric, whatever it is about me, they don't like it.

Too bad, because I do like some dogs. Afraid of dogs, however, within the system, let's see... Luned, Lyneth, Luna Beth, and to some extent Nynomi.

Nerys loves dogs.

Nerys butting in - What, all dogs? No, I love some dogs. Anyway I (Nerys) have a good sense of the protocols of how to behave around dogs. I'm not sure what Luna means about being part cat and that being a problem. I think of myself as a cat person, but it doesn't keep dogs from liking me. *shrug*

[shatterstorm.livejournal.com]

Dogs adore most of us. Spooky strays will come right up and let us pet their tummies sometimes. Cats like some of us, and one of us seems to fascinate them. If she comes close to the front, they turn around and stare intently at us. It is a bit creepy.

As a kid, some of the adults around us were multiples. We knew when someone else was using the same body long before we understood what multiple was - some persons just have a very strong "feel" and that includes some persons in a multiple group. Animals might be picking up the same stuff?

[divine-sinners.livejournal.com]

Loki, my dog, loves me. She'll run around and hold up her toys and beg me to play with her. But when Afiel is fronting, she'll get kinda... submissive, like she KNOWS Afiel won't tolerate her jumping on the couch and stuff. Maybe it's because Afiel is an angel and demands respect in that sense...? But I don't know anything about angels so I don't know ^_^ Heh.

Niz

[shadowechoes.livejournal.com]

We've never had any problems with it, but We have noticed that the cats treat the kids different. Kittie especially - she really doesn't like being held, but when the kids are out she's very patient and has let them carry her around like a rag doll without freaking out. Cirrus sometimes gets playful and will bat at Us with is paws and play nip, but when the kids are fronting he is very gentle.

Now that I think about it, Our horse behaves best for me. When others are fronting, she can be naughty - like, trying to pull little tricks (nothing bad, mostly just sneaking a bite of grass or puffing out her belly when they try to tighten the girth) because she can sense that the rest of the members of the system are not as experienced around horses as I am.

~Jordan

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

Her Royal Majesty TEH CAT seems to be completely indifferent to who is up in either our or sethrenn systems, as long as they make much of her and scritchie her a lot.

And yes, we're back.