Pets 'know exactly when they're going to die' and perform 'heartbreaking final act' for owner

Scientific expert Dr Rupert Sheldrake believes pets possess psychic abilities to detect their impending deaths . He insists these pets bid emotional farewells to their owners before they pass on .

For almost a quarter-century, the scientist has accumulated vast evidence that pets offer a "last rally" to provide comfort to their owners before their demise .

This phenomenon is known in Spanish as "mejoria de la Muerte" or the "improvement of death".

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Dr Sheldrake quoted: "My German colleague Michael Nahm, the world's leading authority on 'terminal lucidity' in humans, has helped me to recognise the importance of similar end-of-life experiences in pets.", reports the Daily Star .

He says 'terminal lucidity' -- a surge of mental and physical vitality, commonly accompanied by exceptional clarity, shortly before death -- is well recorded in care homes and hospices but rarely investigated, and seems just as common in animals.

The scholar claims numerous accounts describe pets showing sudden acts of affection towards their owners only to retreat into corners to die alone, thus sparing them the distress of witnessing their departure.

Loss of a loved pet can be as heartrending as losing a cherished friend or family member, according to Dr Sheldrake. He notes: "The grief of losing a beloved pet can be as intense as the loss of any dear friend and the experience of witnessing an animal's death can be deeply painful.".

"My tentative theory is that the last rally has an evolutionary benefit. In the wild, an animal that instinctively knows it is dying can detach itself from the pack and take itself away, to go somewhere its corpse won't spread disease."

He further suggested that this 'last rally' is akin to a phenomenon observed in human Alzheimer's patients, who often experience a sudden burst of clarity just before death, remembering loved ones they had forgotten for months or years and bidding them farewell on their deathbeds.

The first recorded instance of a pet saying goodbye to its owners was documented by writers Vincent and Margaret Gaddis in 1970. They taught their cat, Pussy, to extend a paw for a handshake.

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When the time came for Pussy to be put down, he dragged himself out of his basket, walked over to his grieving owners, and extended his paw to each of them before returning to his "home" to die.

Dr Sheldrake's sombre "database" of pet death stories includes other examples, such as a Staffordshire bulldog named Petie. An hour before his death, Petie visited each member of his family, spending time with them individually.

Another dog, Snowy, was seen coming out of a coma to "smile" at its owners. This phenomenon has even been observed among lab rats, who have been seen grouping together to "mourn" when one of them is about to die.

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