Pets are Talking

The Pets are Talking! Epic Holiday Gift Certificate Special!

Hey! On the day that I'm writing this, Christmas is 52 days away! Just 52 days! 

So, we're running a Pets are Talking Gift Certificate Special, bringing back the $25 email consult that many know and love for just one month.

Buy them in November, use them all year long! 

Holiday Special! 

For the month of November only, I'm offering a $25 3-question email consultation gift certificate!

The gift certificate will come in pdf form, ready for you to print out or email on. We have certificate styles for cats, horses and dogs.

Each gift certificate code can only be used once.

Buy as many as you want. Use them when you want in the coming year. Buy them for friends. Buy them for you. It's all good.

Just know that when November is over, we're back to the regular rates.

To buy yours, Click HERE.

Ed and I Pass the Peace

My horse Ed and I are at a new place in our relationship, thanks to the help of many healing practitioners including Ming and Candy of Reiki Fur Babies, Fabeku Fatumise of Sankofa Song and Sarah Tymeson of Healing-Horses . 

We are a long way yet from riding down the trail together, but that's okay. 

If you've read about Ed before, you know that he was abused as a younger horse. You'll know that he doesn't much care for humans. 

You will understand that I have torn my hair out and cried and given up and then come back and tried again. 

I've questioned whether I was really helping or was just prolonging his emotional pain by keeping him here. 

So, yesterday I walked up to the gate with treats in hand. He and his friends Oba and Mick came over and ate carrots out of my hand. I wondered if he'd stay and let me pet him over the gate.

 When the treats were gone, he shooed Mick and Oba away. He let me pet his neck. He nibbled on my sweater. He licked my hands like a dog. We stood there for about a half hour together. 

Most people with horses want to "do something" with their horses. 

I was tempted to pull him out of the pasture, and scrape the mud off his back, rub his coat, condition his mane, brush out his tail.  

I knew he didn't want that. He wanted me to pet him on his neck, not as far as his ears and to just be there with him. 

I was impatient, and not sure what to do. I am not good at standing still. 

I said, "Ed, what are we doing?" 

He said, "We're passing the peace." 

We stood like that for quite a while, and then he asked me to sing to him. 

I said "You don't really want to hear me sing." 

Ed said, "Yes, I do."

So I did. I sang some little song and after awhile he said, "Yeah, okay, you were right. You can stop." 

So I stopped and we stood together.  We remembered when we lived on a farm together and how much we liked that. He showed me his teeth. He did this little move that horses do when they want you to know that they are little. He smacked his teeth and stuck his tongue out.  

He asked me to rub the other side of his neck.  He smelled my breath. He breathed on me. He let me touch his soft nose, and pick the guck out of his eyes. 

I took out my phone and took pictures of him and he didn't like that. He wanted to know what i was going to do with this pictures, and whether I was thinking of selling him. We'd tried that route before, twice. 

I said "No, I want people to see what you look like now."  

He didn't like that idea too much. He didn't know who would care about Ed. He questioned my motives, and then he settled into my answer of "You're my horse and I love you and other people care." 

I asked him what he does all day. Does he pass the peace with the horses here?

He said, "Yes, I pass the peace, and I spend time with Oba. She makes me happy." 

Oba is a two-year old strawberry roan who is a little too big for her britches. 

And then it was time to go. I found a forgotten carrot on the ground and gave it to him. I told him I'd be out this week. He asked me to come back, and then he waited at the gate to see if I might change my mind, turn around and pet him some more. 

Most people want to ride their horses, want to train their horses, want to exact a behavior from their horses. I have that urge too.  I'd like to be taking him around an arena. I'd love to see him jump.

But, if he was that kind of horse now, we'd be missing what we did yesterday.

I left feeling at peace. I left not worrying about Ed and whether he was in emotional pain. I left with our tenuous friendship intact and possibly even a little improved. 

I stopped at the house to talk with the barn's owner, Janie. She was excited to tell me that Ed was letting her touch him now. That he was coming up for a few pets at dinner time. Ed has lived here 11 months, and has decided that Janie is okay. 

Some victories are quietly won. 

Horseshoe Helps Out...Again

You may have read about Horseshoe here before. He's the easy-going yellow lab on the other side who is always busy.  He helps me with my class (next one starts January 4th, 2010), too, talking with my students about many interesting subjects. 

Horseshoe is pictured here with his friend Casey, who is, apparently, partial to blue hats. 

 His friend, Sarah asked me to check in on Horseshoe today. 

I spend a lot of time on the other side, talking with animals who have passed away, and I rarely cry. The other side is a happy place, a peaceful place, a place of joy. 

Today, I cried. 

I said, "Hey Horseshoe..."

and he said, "Hey! I'm kind of busy."

I said, "What are you up to?"

and he showed me what looked like an airport gate. He showed dogs walking out of a door and into the bright light of the room. There were all kinds. 

He said "These are the dogs that died without having anyone to grieve for them. I welcome them back."

When animals reach the other side, they are whole again. I didn't understand the expressions on some of the dogs' faces. Some of these dogs looked ticked off. There was a black and tan dachshund with a cranky expression. 

I said, "Why does that dog look so crabby?"

He said, "Many dogs feel bad that they didn't have a human relationship. And they don't remember why they were sent to earth in the first place. I'm here to remind them of their work." 

I asked, "What's that?"

He said, "Their job is to teach compassion and love."

I felt so many things when he said this. I had been talking with God the other day and he said that our job here was to learn compassion and love, and now to hear Horseshoe say it too, it just struck me. 

And also, I felt guilty and angry at how many animals suffer while we try to learn these lessons. 

And also, hopeful, thinking of all of the animals and people I know who have deep love for each other. 

And of course, happy that Horseshoe is there to greet them.

Every New Beginning is Some Other Beginning's End

Nancy contacted me to talk with her 13 year old cat, Clovis.

Initially, it was going to be a conversation about how he was feeling physically. However, by the time his appointment came around, there was no question that Clovis was dying of intestinal cancer. 

Please don't stop reading this. 

When I first tuned into Clovis, he said, "Tell my mom that I love her and I'm sorry and I thought we'd have more time."

I called Nancy to see how his diagnosis was. He had been on steroids for two weeks, and his appetite was initially better, but had now fallen off again, and the normally fastidious cat was having accidents around the house.

This cat had only been sick for a few weeks. Clovis told me he was in a lot of pain, but was he ready to go?

I asked him, and he said, "I'm not ready to go. What will my mom do without me? She needs me. I can't go."

I told Nancy this, and she said, "It'd be selfish to make him stay since he's suffering so badly. You tell him that I'll miss him but I'll be okay."

I told Clovis this, and also that he was going to the other side where he wouldn't be in pain, and also that perhaps he could come back and of course, he'd be able to see and help Nancy after he passed away. 

I felt Clovis get peaceful. "Okay." he said. "As long as she's going to be okay."

I started crying at this point, because this sweet cat wasn't thinking about his pain at all.

Clovis and his mom had a few more hours together to say their goodbyes. She called me back to have me tell him that he'd be going to the vet to be put to sleep.  While we were on the phone, she said that whenever I was talking with him, his ears perked up like he was listening.  Then, as she and I talked, Clovis walked over to the cat carrier and stepped into it. 

Normally he hates the cat carrier. You can't get him near it. 

Later this afternoon, I received an email from Nancy. Here's a piece of it...

I wanted to tell you that Robin, (the pet sitter that took Clovis to the vet) said she has never ever seen an animal go so peacefully.  Clovis hates the car and the vet office, being in his carrier, you name it, he gets stressed very easy.  Today he never made a sound in the car or the vet's office, Robin said he just purred and rubbed on her as if to let her know he was ready.  She said that Clovis never flinched or fought and he passed away before the shot was even finished being injected.  He was so ready to let go after our conversation today.

The vast majority of my clients are like Nancy. They put their animals' well-being first. I love that aspect of my job! And even though it's sad to see Clovis go, it's an honor to help a sweet cat peacefully pass. 

I'm talking with Clovis on the other side on Friday.

Bringing Billy Back

From time to time, we intuitive animal communicators trade with each other. When you can get a good read on your friend's pet, and your friend is a communicator too, it's incredibly edifying. 

So, when Janet Roper, an excellent communicator from Minneapolis asked me to talk with her cat, Billy, I was ready to help her out. 

Billy is a sensitive cat who gets frightened a lot. He's afraid to come down to his mom's music studio. He's a sweet, handsome grey tabby with a big heart. Janet asked me if I could facilitate some emotional healing. 

I've been working on a healing modality with my people clients. It resolves issues in the energetic body and creates lasting emotional changes. I thought I'd try it on Billy. 

Animals have chakras just like people. We have experiences and beliefs that impact our energetic system and when we're not feeling energetically whole, we behave in ways that aren't good for us. 

So, I worked through Billy's chakras, facilitating energetic healing. It's a technique that's similar to theta healing, but focused specifically on chakras. 

I also made him a custom floral essence blend with 26 floral essences to support his energetic health. 

Billy was so sweet. When I tuned in with him, he mentioned that he wanted to learn to not be afraid of children. Janet told me later that as a kitten, in a previous home, Billy had been severely abused by a child. Janet was touched that Billy was willing to work on that. Billy also wanted to get over his fear of dogs. A new dog, Max, was going to be joining their family. 

I talked with Billy again a few weeks later. He felt so strong. He had made some major steps in becoming more brave, meeting the new dog, coming downstairs. Janet said that everyday she watched him decide whether he was going to take another step in his courage. Over the time, day by day, he was slowly leaving his demons behind. 

Janet asked me to tell him  that she thought Billy had been extraordinarily brave and intelligent in the way he had gone about meeting the new dog. 

Billy said “I just put it in my head that I was going to get through this. I am keeping my wits about me.“ 

The important thing to understand is that Billy was ready to not be afraid anymore. He did the work. My work with him was supportive, facilitating healing. It was his intentions that drove my work. It was his force that healed him. I'm really happy that I could help. 

I'm looking forward to offering this healing modality on a case-by-case basis to other pets, and to offer custom floral essence blends as well. 

Understanding is a Verb: Binah from the Other Side

Theword "Binah" is Hebrew for understanding. So when my friend, Carolyn, from Wales, asked me to talk with her friend's dog, Binah, I thought, "Interesting. I wonder what this dog will tell me."

It turns out, Binah  is a West Highland White Terrier.   Westies are the little generals of the canine world. They tend to be bossy and forthright and sometimes a little bit rude. 

Binah is none of those things. She is the other kind of Westie, the one that is gracious and funny and excited and kind. 

In fact, she got me to rethink my thoughts on the Westie, and also to give myself a little talking to about lumping a whole breed into one category. Goodness. 

Binah passed away suddenly. Her Mum, Lynne, was quite distraught. 

Her first question asked if Binah was okay. Binah came through loud and clear, "Of course!"

Then she wanted to know who Binah was with.

Binah showed me a big brownish-grey dog. They were in a field, with trees on the sides, birch trees. It looked like a crisp fall day. They were playing. 

I told Binah's owner this, and I just heard a little gasp, and then nothing. And then I heard, "That's Calon!" 

Calon was Lynne's Irish wolfhound that had passed away before. 

Then I started crying. 

Calon is Welsh for "Heart". So "Heart" and "Understanding" were playing in a field.

Binah's Mum wondered if there was anything that they should have done to try to save Binah's life. 

Binah told us that it was her time to go, because she was going to go live with a boy in Sussex, who really needed her. 

Everytime I asked Binah a question, I'd have to call her back from playing.  Her mum said that Binah was like that in real life too. At the park, every other second, Binah was distracted into playing, couldn't keep her attention long at all. 

It turns out Calon had a day off. He has a job in heaven. Many animals do. Calon's job is to greet new arrivals, and show them around. I think it must be lovely to be met in heaven by a big wolfhound named "Heart". 

Anyway, Binah's mum's heart was put to rest that Binah was alive and happy and well and busy on the other side. 

She asked one more question, "Did Binah have anything to say to her?"

Yes. Binah showed me a pastry on a plate, and her mum, Lynn, eating it. 

I described this to Lynne. She didn't get the significance. 

So, I said to Binah, "What does this mean?"

Binah said, "With your next dog, don't be stingy with the treats!"

Lynne laughed.  She said, "Tell Binah we had to keep her trim!" 

Binah laughed too. 

Binah knew what would lighten her Mum's grief. Understanding is a verb. 

Reading of the Week: Meet Jack

 

This is a sweet fellow. I got a black and white picture so I wasn't sure if he was a black dog or a brown dog. I asked him, 

"Are you a black dog or a brown dog?"

He said, "I am not the brown dog. I am the black dog."

I didn't find out what he meant until I showed up at his mom's house, and met Jack's sis, Bella, a beautiful chocolate lab.

Jack loves to sleep. His folks were a little concerned. 

We had the following conversation:

Bridget: Why do you sleep so much? Are you bored? 

Jack: I’m not bored here, but I like to sleep. I like to sleep a lot. I have lots of vital dreams.

Bridge: Vital?

Jack: Alive dreams.

Bridget: What are you doing in these dreams?

Jack: I am running with a pack. Sometimes I am a wolf. Sometimes I am a human.

Jack shows me buffalo.

Bridget: Are you a buffalo?

Jack: No, sometimes I am on a horse with buffalo.

Bridget: But always running.

Jack: Always running. I love to be with others as we run. I can feel them. I can feel who they are.

Bridget: What if you run here? Is it like that when you’re awake?

Jack: I feel that if I run with people here, there’s always things to look out for, but there, we are just running together.

Bridget: That’s fascinating!

Jack: Thank you! 

Sebastian Redecorates

From time to time, I come across kitties that want to redecorate. They are nearly always male, and nearly always a wee bit snarky. 

Sebastian is one of these fine fellows. He knocks over his mom's stuff all the time. 

This is Sebastian with his buddy, Oskar. 

I asked Sebastian about the knocking over of stuff. 

I said, "Sebastian, why do you knock things over?"

He showed me a couple of cylinders. I thought maybe they were pillars of some kind, like very modern pillars that you could put a candle on top. It turns out they were cylindrical containers that Caroline uses to store binder clips and push pins. 

He said, "I don't like these. They should be in larger groupings, and in odd numbers."

 He showed me a cluster of 5 or so pillars standing together. They did look quite stylish. 

Caroline laughed when she heard this. She said that she always thought her cat was giving her interior decorating advice. 

I wonder if there's a market for cats like this, and also, I wonder if this is why my cat knocks jewelry off my dresser! 

Trixie's Not Sure What to Make of the Other Side

Trixie is a Southern Belle of a cat, the beloved kitty of Melissa. 

Melissa made the difficult decision to put her to sleep. Melissa called me. She missed her so much. Could I make sure that Trixie was all right?

Most pets cross over without a problem, but Trixie didn't.  Trixie didn't want to leave Melissa. She felt that Melissa needed her. Trixie was deeply anxious.

When pets have passed away, if they choose to not cross over, they are in a deeply anxious state, and their owners feel it. These are the owners that say, "I don't know why, but I'm not getting over this." or "I'm so sad. I didn't expect to be this upset."

This is not to say that it's abnormal to deeply grieve a pet. To be an owner of a pet that hasn't crossed over is to feel a deep state of anxiety, not just a deep sense of loss.

It's very rare, though, to encounter a pet that hasn't crossed over. 

Trixie hadn't. She didn't want to leave Melissa. Melissa needed her. She didn't want to leave.

I told Trixie that she could come back, in spirit, and help Melissa once she crossed over.  Trixie said, "Okay, I'm just going to say goodbye."

I emailed Melissa to let her know that Trixie hadn't passed over. Melissa said that she had a dream that she was fat and full and happy. This was healing for Melissa. 

Trixie on the Other Side

So, I checked in with Trixie a few days later. Most pets, on the other side, are filled with joy. Their spirits are light. Trixie didn't feel that way. She felt, well, crabby. 

I said, "You crossed over, right?"

She said, "Yes."  

I said, "Okay. What are you up to?"

She showed me a cottage with a passel of little old ladies playing cards. There was some light classical music playing. Trixie sat on an antique table. 

This, too, is VERY DIFFERENT, than the typical cat experience (which is full of cats and catching things, and being outside in beautiful weather). 

Trixie said, "My helper said that when I want, I can stop having a owner, but I'm not ready. I need an owner." 

I showed her how to visit Melissa on earth. She was afraid to jump down. I've never felt fear with a pet that's crossed over. Trixie seemed so alienated. 

So, I've been working with this modality called "Theta Healing". I go up to talk with God, and ask him to heal whomever I'm working with. It requires some deep meditation, but I am happy that I can do it. 

I went up to talk with God. I said, "God, Trixie needs help." 

God said, "Yes, she does. That's why I sent her to you."

I burst into tears. 

Please understand. I don't mean to say this in a conceited way. I mean to say that it is hard for me sometimes to believe that there is a plan or that there is a destiny or that we are called to do what we do.  It's hard for me sometimes to even believe that there is a God, although I talk with this benevolent spirit often. 

So to hear, "Yes, she does. That's why I sent her to you." was to feel a puzzle piece click into place. 

God said, "You need to tell Trixie that she can do whatever she wants. She doesn't understand this." 

Ah! Okay. I can do that. 

So, I went to Trixie and said, "Hey, you can do whatever you want." 

I showed her a few things that I thought she'd like. I showed her that she could grow herself up to 60 feet tall, or she could imagine and create bowl after bowl of food. I showed her that she could chase and catch things. I showed her that she could go to Melissa. 

It dawned on her that she could really do anything. Anything. Really. 

"I want to go to Melissa," she said. She was excited. 

I said, "Okay. You know how to step down."

"Yes," she said. "I do." 

And there she went. 

St. Francis of Assisi- An Instrument of Peace

Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint for caring for animals. 

St. Francis could talk with animals, so I feel a special affinity to him. He was also gentle and kind. I like that too! 

Here's the St. Francis Prayer 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

This prayer was first published in 1912, and probably was never uttered by the man himself, I find it a gentle reminder of what I'm supposed to be doing here.

We all come to different realizations about spirituality and religion. I hope that you aren't offended by me sharing something from my spiritual tradition.  

I'm a Universalist, which means that I find value in every spiritual path. Whether you experience the divine through prayer or through a walk in the woods or through your own powerful self, it's all good.  

Okay, so here's the song I sing on St. Francis' Day. It's a silly little song but I think it speaks to the universal holiness in all of us! 

All God's Creatures Got a Place in the Choir

All God's Creatures got a place in the choir.

Some sing low. Some Sing Higher.

Some sing out loud on a telephone wire.

And some just clap their hands, or paws,

or anything they got now.

Allie's emergency

Please note: All of the photos in this blog post are courtesy of Lisa Teso, an amazing Portland-based photographer. Thanks Lisa! If you need pictures, her site is here: Portland Child Photography

Katie and RIchie have a knack for finding super-cool spotted dogs. Their dog, Makani is a Visla and Australian Shepherd mix who is so fleet and fast that it's hard to count her spots. 

They started looking for a playmate for Makani, and found a sweet dog named Allie Pocket.

Here's when Makani and Allie met. 

They've since become buddies.

Allie's Early Days

Allie is about four months old. She was at a shelter from her puppyhood, then stolen by someone for about six weeks, then dumped back at the shelter. Then she was adopted by Katie and Richie.

In the same week that I heard about the theft of Allie from the shelter, I heard about a completely unrelated dog shelter thievery in another state. This dog was brought back and dumped too. Very disturbing. 

Allie Contracts Parvo

Anyway, Allie's new family had her about a week or so, when she got sick. During that time that she had been stolen from the shelter, she had picked up the Parvovirus.

Parvo is about 80% fatal in puppies who are not vaccinated, but only 20% fatal in those who have been vaccinated. 

She had been in the local hospital's ICU for a couple of days when Katie called me. Allie was to the point where she wouldn't even lift her head up anymore. It looked like the end. 

Katie said, "Could you please talk with her? I'm not sure that she knows what's going on."

I tuned into this little pup. She felt very sick, and she had the energetic distortion that comes when a soul is disconnecting from the body. I had only felt this a few times before, like when a friend's cat caught a baby bunny in the yard,  and we helped that bun pass over. 

Energetic distortion feels terrible to the communicator. It feels like you're touching a live wire. It's not a good sign of prognosis. 

She was also quite scared, though not scared to talk with me. That was an encouraging sign. 

Allie didn't understand why she was at the hospital or what these people were doing to her. 

She felt sick, but she thought that maybe these people were making her that way.

She knew that Katie was really upset, but she thought that it was because Allie had been taken away from her and put here in this place and Katie was trying to get her out. 

She missed her new family, and she thought that she'd never get back home to live with them.

She was giving up. 

I sat with her a bit, in my mind. I just gently sat with her, and then I said, 

"Well, actually, your body is sick, and these people are here to make you better, and when you feel better you get to go home to your mommy and daddy and Makani."

She said, "I don't know how to make myself better." 

I said, "You don't have to know. Your body will do that on your own."

She paused for a minute, and then she asked, "Do you think I will get better?"

I knew the odds against her were pretty high. But, I felt like she'd make it. 

I said, "Yes, I think so. I think you will get better and then you will go home and it will be very good." 

I sent her pictures of her playing in the yard with Makani, and snuggling with Katie and Richie. 

Allie said that she didn't like the smells of this place, and that she missed the smells of her family. I told her that I'd ask Katie to bring in a t-shirt or a blanket that smelled like them. 

Then I disconnected for a few minutes. I was feeling sick to my stomach from her parvo.

I tuned back in, to find a lighter, happier dog. She felt more hopeful. The energetic distortion was gone. 

Allie Turns the Corner

Allie made the choice to stay. She asked the questions and took the brave step of believing that she could get well.

That night, Katie visited and Allie lifted up her head, and ate some food. Katie gave her a blanket that she had rubbed all over Makani and Richie and herself. Allie buried her nose in it and soaked in all those good smells of her family. 

The doctors went ahead with a plasma transfusion.

Katie hired Ming and Candy at Reiki Fur Babies to provide healing to Allie.

Ming said that Allie told her how much she loved her mama. I burst into tears when I heard this. Sweet little puppy. 

Allie Goes Home

I didn't hear from Katie for a day or two, and then I got a note saying that Allie was home! 

She is still possibly contagious for the next 10 days, so they've cordoned off half their house, and separated these two bouncy dogs. 

But..Allie is home, and she is recovering and soon she and Makani will get to play together.