@win231 I could probably be reading more into this than was there, but I would swear my rats knew how sad I was when Rick was ill and after he died. Especially the day he died, I went and sat by the cage and opened the door. They both came out and snuggled right into my neck, and licked my hands.
I was reminded of my ex-wife's Siamese cat. Animals know who can take them or leave them, who "sorta" likes them, & who loves them. And, you know how some people think they can "read people like a book?" They can't, but animals can.
My ex was married for 10 years before her first husband died at 31. They had the cat for 5 years. As soon as we started dating, her cat immediately followed me everywhere - & my ex was surprised; she'd always say, "Sammy" (the cat) never was that affectionate with "Rick" (her first husband).
When we went out, Sammy would be sleeping on whatever clothes of mine were on the bed or on the floor. As a joke, I'd leave my jeans on top of the refrigerator & when we got home, Sammy would be curled up on top of the fridge. Really surprised us because Sammy never went near the fridge; she was afraid of the noise it made.
After we divorced, Sammy started acting strange - howling most of the night. My ex called me one day to tell me Sammy completely destroyed an expensive sofa we bought the year before - tore it to shreds.
Years ago, I had a Collie. He liked some people but not everyone. He didn't like my mother. My mother was an angry, abusive person but she never mistreated the dog; he just sensed her personality. He never bit her but he'd stare at her & growl. When she tried to pet him, he would just walk away. Once I was chauffeuring my mom around & when we got to her house, the Collie was standing at the front door. My mom walked up to the door & the dog started growling. She told the dog "Shut up." The dog walked past her, peeing in a zig/zag pattern & I never laughed that hard.
