IT has been long understood that certain animals have an uncanny ability to predict the weather, and none more so than cats. In his column from April 4, 1981 my dad mentions overhearing a lady discussing the behaviour of her feline. It had been sitting in front of the fireplace with its back to the flames and she said that meant that a storm was coming. Dad confirms she was right because not long afterwards, gales, snow and heavy rain swept the country. For many centuries, sailors have had a reputation for being superstitious and in the days when you could not foresee how the weather would behave on your perilous journey ahead, then you would use whatever means were available to try to predict it. Cats’ sensitivity to weather changes was one of the reasons that they were chosen to travel aboard these ancient vessels.