When I contact animals after their passing, I not only receive information on their continuing existence in an animal paradise-of-sorts, but I am also frequently told that they have returned or are shortly planning to return in a physical form, in order to experience a new life. Over the years, I have received information about animals’ apparent reincarnations on numerous occasions, such as in my communication with a cat, which I will describe here. As always, where names and pictures are used, the animal’s story is shared with permission.

Mr. Fluffers

Mr. Fluffers was a young cat who loved people. One day, he got into some poison while out in the neighborhood and was rushed to the emergency vet. I was called to contact him, and he told me he wanted to leave immediately, as he was in great pain. His person followed his request and asked the vet to euthanize him. The day after, I was asked to contact his spirit, to see how he was doing. When I contacted him to see where he was, he told me that he was “still in transition.” I waited a few days, before checking in with him, again. When I contacted him at that time, he showed me a picture of being immersed in an ocean, and he transmitted feelings of great joy and sheer exuberance. He was very happy! Then he showed me a picture of his new mother swimming next to him: A great, Blue whale. He had just been reborn as a Blue whale calf!

After losing an animal companion, have you ever received any messages/impressions/dreams, etc. from your animal companion, giving you a sense that he or she may be reincarnated? To leave a comment, just click on the blog title. Thank you for sharing!

As an animal communicator, I am also contacted by people who just lost their animal companion and who are anxious to know that their furry friend is in a safe place and doing fine. This is a particularly rewarding aspect of my work, as it helps people let go of worry, assists in the grieving and healing process, and allows for closure to the loss of a loved animal companion. In this blog, I thought I would share one of the stories told to me by animals I contacted after their passing. As always, the following story is posted with the permission of the animal’s person:

Sammy

Sammy, the cat you met in a previous post on this blog, did not come home again, one day. When her person called me and I contacted Sammy, she told me she had been startled by a kid on a skateboard and had run in front of a car. She was dead. She then proceeded to show me how quickly she had left her body upon the car’s impact, so that she experienced no trauma. Then she showed me what appeared to be a big meadow in an idyllic country setting. She was contently lying in the grass, enjoying the sunshine. She told me she was sorry to leave so unexpectedly, but that she was doing fine and felt happy where she was.

Sometimes, our recently deceased animal companions are able to communicate with us, such as in our dreams, for example, and let us know that they are doing fine. Upon losing an animal companion, have you had any thoughts/impressions/feelings/dreams/signs in your life about your animal’s possible afterlife? If so, I would be interested in hearing about it. To leave a comment, just click on the blog title. Thanks!

Just as Animal Communication can provide helpful answers when an animal is about to die, Reiki can provide a healing space, easing an animal’s physical pain and anxiety, as well as the emotional pain of the people involved. The supportive healing space created by Reiki at that time then also helps people to calmly and clearly make any decisions and arrangements that need to be made and assists in a peaceful final good-bye for all.

As always, the following story is shared with permission:

Duke

Duke’s person contacted me recently to let me know that Duke was unable to get up, and she knew, at that point, that he was getting ready to die. When I talked to him, he told me he thought he could have left on his own but then realized he needed help. The day the veterinarian came to help Duke on his final journey, I was asked to administer Reiki. I began sending Distance Reiki at the time I was told the vet would arrive and kept sending Reiki until the energy flow subsided on its own. Duke’s person called me later that evening and told me that Duke had been able to stand up again, that day, and was very calm and relaxed during the procedure, and that people in attendance during his final hours at the stable had commented on how peaceful it all had been.

A few weeks after Duke’s passing, she emailed me the following:

“The pain is still there but what helps is that he chose to leave. As you know, it was my greatest fear that the decision would be made by man, and that he would leave against his will. What was significant, to me, is that when I arrived at the barn and spent my last moments with Duke, he was standing in his stall very quiet, relaxed and almost asleep. I will never forget the calmness between us, and it was during this time I believe he was receiving the Reiki treatment. It was almost as if time had stood still, for both of us.  During this time, my thoughts raced through the past 26 years of our journey together. It was our private goodbye. We walked out to an open area with green grass, and he actually perked up and pranced a bit. I think his pain was less, and he wanted to leave an impression of joy rather than sadness. The image I will always have was when he looked up to the sky. His eyes had a reflection of the fir trees and the blue sky and, for just a brief moment, the sun peeked out from the clouds. One day I will paint this image.”

Have you been with an animal companion at the time of death? If so, what helped make the experience as calm and peaceful as possible  for you and your furry friend? To leave a comment, just click on the blog title. Thank you for sharing your experience.

When our animal companions show signs of slowing down or become seriously ill, we tend to begin to wonder how much time we have left with them and what to do when the day comes that we have to say good bye. In the event of a medical emergency, we find ourselves facing those last questions and decisions even sooner, often with little or no time to think them through before having to choose a final course of action. Even when we did the best we could in our given circumstance, we sometimes wish we could have done something more for our trusted companion or wonder whether a decision we made had been the right one.

When our animals are about to die, communicating with  them gives us an opportunity to ask them about their final concerns and wishes. It lets us find out how they are feeling and enables us to keep our furry friends as comfortable as we can. Lastly, it gives us the chance to ask whether or not they need assistance from a veterinarian in making the transition.

As always, the following story is shared with permission:

Dillinger

When Dillinger suddenly broke down with Wobbler’s Syndrome, his person rushed him to the emergency vet, who recommended immediate euthanasia. When I received the call from the emergency clinic and was asked to communicate with Dillinger, he insisted on returning home, to have time to say good-bye to everyone. With the support of medication from the veterinarian, Dillinger went home, that day. I sent him Distance Reiki on a daily basis and also frequently checked in with him. He had two chief concerns on his mind: to say good bye to people and animals he knew and to be able to maintain control over his elimination, which he managed just fine until the end. After returning from the vet, Dillinger spent several days visiting with people and animals who came to see him and also took a final trip to the horse stable. After a second attack, about a week and a half later, he said he was ready to go, and I was asked to tell him when his final vet visit would be. His person later told me that on the day of his final appointment, he had jumped into the car by himself, even though he had hardly been able to move until then. He then had calmly walked into the vet’s office and had left peacefully.

His person emailed me the following, after he passed away:

“With Dillinger, you being able to communicate with him really gave me comfort. As an owner, I felt that asking him where he was with pain and how he wanted to live the rest of his life was the most important part, and knowing what he wanted made it so much easier to make the tough decisions.”

When we are about to lose our animal companions, our emotional state often prevents us from sensing what they need or want to tell us, even though at other times, we often do get messages from our furry friends, frequently mis-identified as “ideas” in our heads whose source we don’t recognize. However, have you had the experience that you just “knew” how an animal companion of yours felt and what he or she needed in a time of crisis or towards the end of life? To leave a comment, just click on the blog title. Thank you for sharing.

In today’s blog, I decided to write about a book I recently finished called “Pet Loss – A Spiritual Guide” by Julia Harris. In her comprehensive book, Julia Harris, a pet bereavement counselor at a New Jersey pet cemetery, addresses the strong bond that exists between people and their companion animals, and the need for society to acknowledge that for many individuals who lose their beloved animals, the grief that follows is as real and as deep as the grief we feel at losing a loved person. She then describes the grieving process and the different stages of mourning people experience, as well as the feelings and behaviors that are common to each stage, before offering a number of concrete steps towards reaching a sense of resolution.

When Julia Harris further discusses the emotional impact of different types of pet loss, such as losing your pet suddenly vs. after an extended illness, having to surrender one’s animal for a variety of reasons or having an animal go missing, I found her description of the different emotions people go through in each scenario very informative, and I appreciated her list of actions to take that can help us cope with these situations.  I particularly related to her discussion of the ways in which we can help children understand and deal with the loss of their animal companion. Reading about her suggestion of a funeral ceremony as one of the most positive ways to help children understand death and bring closure to the process,  I remembered how emotionally important and helpful my family’s backyard funeral ceremonies for our family pets had been to me, as a child.

I found the chapter on the challenging issue of euthanasia, the decision-making process, and the guilt we invariably feel when we have to make that choice for our animal companions very helpful as well, particularly Julia’s suggestions on how we can gently be present and assist our animal in its last moments, if we so choose.

As a bereavement counselor working at a pet cemetery, Julia Harris also provides in-depth information about the various options existing today in making final arrangements for our animal companions. I found reading about the many ways in which people are able to honor the life of their deceased animal companions in the United States very interesting.

Lastly, the author discusses the importance of  rituals to help us cope with and bring closure to the loss of our animal companions and how different spiritual belief systems acknowledge and provide emotional and spiritual assistance when we have lost our animal companion. In this chapter, I very much appreciated her description of how we can address our animals in spirit to say our final good byes, as this can be an important step in clearing up unresolved issues and finding closure.

In her book, Julia Harris assures us that we have the right to grieve for our lost animal companions, that there is no shame in feeling what we feel, that our need to honor our pets in death is natural and normal and an important step in the healing process, and that we are not alone in our bereavement but have resources available to us to help us come to terms with our loss and regain a sense of peace.

What were your experiences when you grieved for the loss of an animal companion? Did you find help? If so, where and in what form? To leave a comment, just click on the blog title. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject.

… because their time has come

At age 17, my cat Oliver began feeling unwell. I took him to the vet, and he was diagnosed with kidney failure. He was put on medication and a special diet, and my vet felt that he still had quality of life left in him. However, the days that he was quite under the weather were frequent. The fact that we had moved to a new town, and he now had to be an indoor only cat, after having been able to go outside all of his life, also did not help. I knew he felt awful, but  I listened to my vet and was afraid to ask Oliver what he wanted. So on a cold and icy January evening, he slipped past me, through the open front door and down the stairs, faster than he had  been able to move with his arthritis in quite some time; so fast, that I couldn’t catch him. He never returned, and I never found him again. I felt horrible and, at first, my sense of guilt kept me from contacting his spirit. When I finally did communicate with him, he told me he had wanted to die, and because I felt unable to help him, he decided he had to take matters in his own hands. He told me he was fine now, and that I needed to let go of my guilt, as he knew I had done the best I could, and he did not blame me for anything. I cried when he told me, but I also felt a huge sense of relief. He had been a wonderful companion and had taught me a lot in our years together. In the end, he taught me that we need to respect our animal companions’ wishes and let them go, when they tell us that it is their time to leave. 

While Oliver left because he wanted to end his suffering, some animals leave to die in solitude, because they feel it would upset their human companions to witness their death.

I was contacted by a family whose dog had wandered off through the open backyard gate, and they were worried about her. The dog, I was told, was fifteen years old and had heart trouble. When I communicated with the animal, the dog showed me a picture of her dead body lying peacefully in a nearby field. She told me she had wandered off to die on her own, because she had felt it would be less upsetting for her human family.

Has a former animal companion of yours left you shortly before they died? Did a part of you know and understand or was it unexpected? How did you cope? To leave a comment, just click on the blog title. Thank you for sharing your experience!

… because they are unhappy

Karolina

One day, I made the cardinal mistake to adopt a new female kitten at the spur of the moment, without first consulting my other feline companions. While Oliver, my male cat, put up fine with the rumbunctious newcomer, my female cat,  Karolina, began running away to look for a new home. For days, I kept getting calls from people to tell me that Karolina had been following them home, and I kept having to pick her up at people’s houses around town. It wasn’t until we worked out a deal for her to receive some undivided attention each day that she decided to stay, after all.

 Has an animal companion of yours ever left out of unhappiness? Were you able to find or work out a solution to the issue?  I’d be interested in hearing what happened! To leave a comment, just click on the blog title.

… because their work with us is done

A cat of mine, Janosch, left one day and moved in with a family somewhere in my neighborhood. When asked why he had left, he said his work with me was done, and he now had work to do with the other family. He was a very powerful cat who, throughout his life with me, had appeared to me in numerous meditations and had been instrumental in helping me get started in my Animal Reiki and Animal Communication work. He had served as a powerful catalyst and teacher for me, and it was extremely hard to lose him, but I knew I had to respect his decision to move on and not search for him to get him back.

Did you ever have an animal companion who you sensed was with you for a particular reason and left when his or her work with you was accomplished? To leave a comment, just click on the blog title. I’m curious to hear about your experience.

… to have an adventure

I received a call from a person who was very concerned, because her recently adopted, former-feral-now-housecat Sammy had not come home the night before.  When I communicated with Sammy, she showed me where she was, and her person identified the area as the immediate neighborhood. When she asked Sammy to come home, Sammy insisted that, as a former feral cat, she could handle herself outside, that she enjoyed being out by herself, and that she was going to be home “in her own, good time.” Her person then asked me to explain to Sammy that she cared about and was worried about her when she was out after dark, which took Sammy by surprise. It hadn’t occured to her that people could worry. That evening I got a call: Sammy had come home as it was getting dark.*

* All animal stories with names and pictures are used only with the consent of the animal’s person.

A cat of mine, Oliver, also left one day and didn’t come home that night. When I communicated with him, he told me he was fine and just wanted to be on his own for a while. He had been a stray for a long time, and I had learned through our years together just how street-wise he was. However, it wasn’t easy for me to respect his wishes and just leave him alone and not check in with him. Fortunately, about ten days later, he returned home. He looked good and showed me how he had been fed by various people and also had caught a lizard and a garter snake.

Do you have a cat or dog that is the adventurous type? How long was your animal companion gone? Does he or she frequently leave for extended periods? To leave a comment, just click on the blog title. I’d love to hear about your independent, furry friends!   

I just finished a gem of a little book by J. Allen Boone called “Kinship with all Life“. First published in 1947, it tells the moving story of the author’s encounter with a remarkable German Shepherd that changed his life. “Strongheart,” a famous Hollywood dog-actor in the 1920s, teaches Boone not only how to communicate with animals, but he introduces the author to the universe itself. Once Boone is able to communicate with Strongheart and explore the meaning of existence through conversations with him and other animals, the author finds himself in the company of a second teacher: a housefly he calls Freddie. Through his relationship with Freddie, the author learns yet another profound lesson about the interrelatedness of all living things in the universe.

What makes this book so very engaging, in my opinion, is that J. Allen Boone is able to tell the story of his relationship with these remarkable animals in a way that allows the reader to experience the fascination and wonder in his discoveries along with him. He writes from his heart and his mind, and the result is a collection of stories that has the power to transform us.  No wonder this little book is still in print and going strong. Read it, and you will never look at animals the same way again.

Do you have a favorite book about animals that expanded your view, changed your thinking, or in some other way moved you? If so, I’d love to hear about it! To leave a comment, just click on the blog title.