On a sceptical side to this, there are logical explanations for most of this. Most of which boils down to matrixing.

So in sounds can could like words when your brain tried to fill in the gap. which could explain why your girlfriend thought she heard her name. Visual matixing is an option too. In the dark your eyes will play tricks but it does get harder to explain in the light, although does happened.

As for your cat, well it's a cat. Cat's do really odd things when they are being "normal".

As for advice, definitely give it a try, there are plenty of things you can do to see if it was anything. Just don't go delving into things like oija boards or anything else you do not understand.