Phantom Felines And Other Ghostly Animals - Gerina Dunwich 2006
Solomon
Phantom Felines
by Christy Johnson
In October of 1997, my beloved Siamese cat, Solomon, passed away from kidney disease. At the time, I also shared my home with a young kitten, an elderly dog, and an iguana.
Solomon had chosen me a year before on a visit to the local Humane Society when he forcefully got my attention by grabbing hold of my leg and pulling me up against the bars of the cage he was in. There was little doubt that this animal was coming home with me despite the fact that I had no intention of adopting a pet at that time.
A month after Solomon’s passing, I was preparing to move out of town and was showing the house to prospective renters for the absentee owner. One evening, two young women came to take a look at the house. Inviting them in, I told them to look around while I sat in the kitchen with the dog and kitten. They took their tour of the bedrooms and, upon coming into the kitchen, commented on the “menagerie” of pets I had. Confused by that comment, I told them that the only pets I had were the kitten and dog sitting with me, and the iguana in a large cage.
One of the young women remarked that I must be mistaken because they had seen a Siamese cat curled up, sleeping, on my pillow on the bed. When they had turned on the light in the room, they had both seen the cat clear as day. I told them I only had the one cat and they insisted on going back to the bedroom to show me the Siamese cat they had seen. We went back into the bedroom, turned on the light, and looked around the room but, of course, there was no cat there. Baffled by this and appearing to be slightly embarrassed, they thanked me for my time and left.
Two other times after this incident, Solomon was “seen” sitting in the window. Both times were by people who either did not know that he had passed away or were not even aware that I had a cat fitting the description.
At the time of this writing, I am currently caring for an old dog that, suffering with congestive heart failure, is reaching the end of his days with me. In relating these incidents, I take great comfort in knowing that physical death is not the end of existence and that, even when our beloved animal friends leave this world, they are not far away.