Cats who know exactly when they are going to be taken to the vets. Dogs who sense their owners' whereabouts  -  even if they are miles away. And birds who seem to mourn the deaths of those around them... our pets and other animals have always been intuitive  -  but do they really have a mysterious sixth sense?

A new book by Britain's leading clinical authority on near-death experiences, Dr Peter Fenwick, and his wife Elizabeth, a counsellor, examines the remarkable cases of psychic animals. . .

There is nothing new about the idea that animals can acquire information from an extra sense that we humans have now lost  -  if we ever had it at all. Most pet owners can probably quote some example of a cat or dog behaving like a mind-reader. Dogs often behave as if they know when their owner is setting off for home, though the owner may be many miles away, and may wait by the door for them to arrive. Cats are notorious for being able to sense when a visit to the vet is in the offing.

One academic, Rupert Sheldrake, author of Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, contacted 65 veterinary offices in London and asked if they had any problem with cat owners keeping their appointments.

Not only had 64 noticed such problems, but some were no longer making appointments for cat owners, explaining: 'Cat appointments don't work.'

It isn't simply that the cats notice their owner approaching with a cat basket  -  the animals actually hide as soon as they sense that their owner is beginning to think: 'I'd better start looking for Puss now if we're to make it to the vets on time . . .'

Similarly, an awareness of death is certainly not restricted to us humans. The enormous interest generated by the case of the intuitive American cat, Oscar, indicates the fascination prescient pet behaviour holds.

Oscar lives in a nursing home and has an uncanny ability to sense when a resident is about to die. When a patient is near death, Oscar nearly always appears and hops on the bed.

The staff have come to recognise and respect Oscar's instincts, and send for the relatives of any patient he has chosen to curl up beside.

But they have no explanation for it. Oscar shows no interest in patients who are simply in poor shape, or who still have a few days to live.

One theory says a cat's acute sensitivity to smell might enable it to detect some subtle change in metabolism around the time of death, but no one has been able to explain why any moggy should show an interest in the approach of the Grim Reaper.

Given this, it is perhaps not surprising so many people have told us of deathbed-related cat and dog incidents.

Ann Liddell described the odd behaviour of her Newfoundland dog on the night her mother died.

'At about 4.30am he started to bark  -  not his usual sharp warning bark, but howling. I knew instantly that my mother had died, and soon after we got the call from the hospital to confirm this.'

Michael Finch's mother was dying of cancer. One night Michael left the hospital and returned home to let the dog out.

'I will never forget this as long as I live. At 10.45pm, the dog began to howl like a wolf. It was spine-chilling. I just knew this was because Mum had died.

For five minutes he howled uncontrollably and then took to bed.

'The dog was a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and had never made such a deep, wild and rasping sound. When my father and sister returned later, they confirmed Mum had died at 10.45 pm.'

Susan Burman told how when her husband was on his deathbed, their cat curled up by his feet. As he took his dying breath, the fur on the cat's back stuck out as if by static electricity.

We were told by a carer of a very similar reaction by a resident's cat which normally slept on his bed.

The cat happened to come into the room at the moment the resident died, and a nurse who was present reported: 'It shrieked and sped around the room a couple of times  -  and then shot out of the room as though it didn't want to be there.

The cat sensed the spirits had finally come for the resident.'