We had a Carin Terrier. When she was sick my mom would ask her if she wanted to go to the vet? She'd head for the door, get in and out of the car, and walk into the vet's office off the leash.
I had a favorite cat who developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She and I were very close. She stayed alive for a long time, treated with chemotherapy. The night she died, my wife and I were away for several hours. We returned just before she died. I am convinced that she held on until we could get back.
When she was a small kitten, she fell from an upstairs porch and then disappeared. We lived in a city, surrounded by heavy traffic. We put up fliers around the neighborhood; however, after two weeks, one Saturday morning I told my wife to give up hope of finding her, that after two weeks in that neighborhood, she would not come back. My wife said, "No, I think she's going to come back today." Less than 30 minutes later, the telephone rang. It was a neighbor. The kitten was in her front yard.
She gradually became my favorite cat of all time. We had a mystical connection. We still do.