FT257

We’ve experienced a couple of 'cat conventions' in our own suburban back yard. As far as I can recall, this occurred in the summer of 2006 when our two female cats were about a year old. We like having our cats in at night and as the twilight was deepening and they were still out, I went out to look for them, figuring they would be hanging out in our yard. I discovered not only our two cats, Shadow and Dusty, but every cat at our end of the block: Prescott, Charlie (British shorthairs), and Mouse (American tortie) who belong to a British family across the street, and Pizza (calico barn cat) who lives on the street behind. These cats rarely get along under normal circumstances and it was unprecedented to find them all in the backyard grouped in a loose circle. It looked for all the world as if they were having a meeting, although I didn’t notice any cat particularly ‘in charge’. They were all relaxed – there was none of that body tension that is so apparent when cats are irrit­ated by other cats. When I came suddenly into their presence, it seemed to break a spell and they started wandering off in different directions as I collected Shadow and Dusty. There was still no runn­ing or slinking or other startled cat behaviour. It was really weird. There were other evenings that summer when I would look out and see them all in the backyard, but I tried to leave them to get on with it.

Tracey Serle
Alexandria, Virginia




I was walking home about 10.30 one dark night three years ago when I saw a gathering of about 15 cats sitting close together in a circle around a wild rabbit, about 100 yards from my house in Bridgend, South Wales. I stopped and watched them, and after a few minutes they slowly dispersed.

Ron Brain
Bridgend, South Wales




My half-Siamese cat fetched me from the house and took me down to shrubbery at the bottom of the garden. There I found five other cats in a rough semicircle. She took position facing the other cats and after a period of ‘cat talk’, where it was obvious I was being introduced, each cat took it in turn to caterwaul and receive response from each in turn. The vocal session lasted at least four or five minutes, after which the visiting cats dispersed and I was taken back to the house. It was obviously some kind of ritual and I was a privileged observer. I have discussed this event many times over the years, but never got any meaningful information.

Don Parish
Brendon, North Devon




Editor’s note: For other accounts of cat conventions and bird courts, see FT’s It Happened To Me! (vol.2), pp27–3

Head over to 'It Happened To Me' on the FT message boards for more first-hand accounts of high strangeness and to share your own weird experiences.