A scientist in San Francisco did some research that showed that the numbers of dogs in city pounds increase in the couple of days BEFORE an earthquake. His conclusion is that dogs pick up some subtle early signs & get spooked and are likely to run off in a panic.

We had a cat called Jeremy who was better than the weather bureau at forecasting if rain would be 'set in'...that is, continue for days. We live in a subtropical area where rain can turn into days of continuous, heavy downpour. Once it started to rain, if Jeremy got himself up high on a tall cupboard we would know that the rain would be set in for days. If he didn't, it would be over that day. Our friends who take their boats out in the bay used to phone & ask us where Jeremy was once rain started. They knew that Jeremy's forecast would always be accurate.