Can cats sense spirits?

First off, I apologize if this post is all over the place. I have two pictures of my husband's papa on my living room walls. One of them is almost right above our recliner but off to the side a little bit. A little side note: I have always been a sensitive person to the paranormal. I can most definitely sense ghosts, have seen a couple, and one time I could hear them. When we moved into this house I could sense that it had 2 different spirits. So I asked my dad if he thought my house is haunted (because he's way more in tune with the paranormal). And he actually said, "Yes, two of them in the dog's room". I was definitely scared because even though I'm in tune with them it still scares the absolute shit out of me...and he just confirmed it. And for people who don't believe me, I couldn't give two shits about your skepticism..that's not why I made this post. But anyways, sometimes the closet door and back door would open up on their own and it would scare the fuck out of me. And I don't mean just crack open.. they would swing completely open. So a couple months after moving in, my mother in law gave me pictures of my husband's papa to hang up on the wall. My husband was so incredibly close to him and when he died he went into severe depression and every year around that time he goes into it again for months. So moving on with the story, I swear AS SOON as I put those pictures of his Papa up, I no longer can feel the 2 spirits in my house. The doors also don't ever open on their own anymore. But now both of my cats will stare at that picture above my recliner. They will sit and stare for an hour at a time every single day and I have no idea why. It doesn't bother me or anything it just makes me wonder if his Papa is here with us. I can't feel him around but I have a gut feeling that he's here protecting my husband and I. I'm not sure why but I've never been able to feel the spirits of family members. Do you think cats are able to sense this kind of thing? Do you think they've seen his spirit in the house and that's why they both state at the picture? Also I know this topic is very controversial so if you have something negative to say then keep it to yourself because I really don't care to read it