Animal communication can support animals and their people in a variety of ways. In this post, I want to focus on the question,
How does animal communication heal?
Clear and accurate animal communication can help animals and their people in times of emotional or physical difficulty. Frequently, communication alone is a powerful healing tool—the animal simply needs to tell her story, express her viewpoint and be understood, and the behavioral or physical issue will resolve. Sometimes, the situation requires other supportive help as well, including energy healing, other holistic modalities or a trip to the veterinarian.
One of the greatest joys in my work is seeing how simply understanding an animal and listening to them fully can facilitate deep emotional and physical healing, and help to guide people to the right additional help for their animal. Some of the counseling and healing techniques used with humans are also very effective with animals, and often take much less time than with a human client. Here are a few examples from my practice that demonstrate how this kind of healing can work.
The Dog Who Didn’t Want to be Touched
I worked with a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix dog who had come to his people through rescue. Although he had made a lot of progress in his new home with loving people, he had recently become more nervous, fearful and disoriented, not even wanting his person to touch him. His fur had become badly matted because he would not allow his person to brush him.
When I communicated with this dog, he told me of trauma from his previous life that had been re-activated (interestingly, once he had felt comfortable and safe enough in his new home) causing him great emotional and physical pain. I listened to his story and helped him to release the pain that was stored in his body from his past, particularly in his hindquarters, using distance Reiki (healing energy) and some basic interspecies counseling techniques.
As this sweet dog poured out his story to me, I felt a tremendous release of energy and a deep “sigh” of relaxation from him. After our session, his person wrote to tell me that for the first time in a long time she was able to cuddle with him, rub and scratch him, and that she saw his soul in his eyes again and felt that she had her precious dog back.
A few weeks later, she wrote again to tell me that she had been able to groom him on his hind end, where previously he wouldn’t allow any touch, and that he continues to be much more relaxed and happy.
The Cat Who Needed a Better Diagnosis
When a client consults with me about a physical problem with their animal, I always recommend that they consult with a veterinarian, if they haven’t already. Animal communication can often assist clients in determining which course of treatment or behavioral training is best for their animal, as well as describe symptoms and the animal’s perspective on what is happening for them. Animal communication is never a substitute for veterinary care and treatment.
I worked with a cat who had severe digestive difficulty and was consistently unable to make it to the litter box. The cat’s person had spent thousands of dollars on medical tests and treatment, which had found nothing definitive, and it was suggested to her that the problem was either behavioral or that her cat was developing feline dementia. Understandably, the situation was creating a great deal of stress in the household, not to mention discomfort for the cat, and the person was reluctantly considering euthanasia for her companion.
When I communicated with the cat, he told me repeatedly and clearly,
This is not an emotional or behavioral problem! I cannot control my bowels and my body feels very uncomfortable. I love my people, I am happy with my life, there is nothing wrong with me mentally, but there is something very wrong with my body. I need more help!
Reiki helped to relieve his anxiety and discomfort, but it did not solve the problem. I encouraged my client to continue to seek the right medical treatment for her cat. After some time, a more sophisticated blood test that had been previously unavailable to them finally revealed a deficiency that led to the correct treatment for the problem.
In this case, clear communication from the cat helped to guide his person to further medical treatment, rather than continuing with “behavioral” solutions that weren’t helping the situation at all.
It’s important to understand both the possibilities and the limitations of animal communication. Just like humans, animals are not always aware of a physical issue, or the “why” of a behavioral or emotional issue. But often, they can communicate information that is helpful in facilitating healing solutions.
The Dog Who Wanted a Little More Time
It is important to remember that “healing” does not necessarily mean “curing” or “fixing.” One of the most common kinds of communication consultations I am asked to do is regarding end-of-life decisions. In these cases, animals can communicate about what they are experiencing, what may be helpful for them, and be partners in the decisions that their people are making for them.
I worked with an elderly dog who was nearing the end of her life. She had multiple physical conditions that could no longer be well-managed, and daily life was becoming difficult both for her and for her person. When I communicated with her, her person had made a euthanasia appointment for a few days later and was preparing to let her go.
The dog communicated that she knew she was coming to the end of her life, and was getting more and more tired, but that she felt that she didn’t want to leave quite so soon. She wanted a little more time with her person, and specified what was important to her: cuddling, sitting close together, eating some of her favorite foods, their short “smell-walks” in the neighborhood, and mostly just being together. She communicated that when she was ready, she would let her person know…she would have more difficulty getting up, and her person would know she was ready by how her eyes looked and how she looked at her.
They had a few more quiet weeks together, enjoying the simple things that were important to both of them. When the time came, she was as clear as she had indicated she would be: she was ready, and she let her person know in the ways she had said she would. They made the decision together, and both the dog and the person were clear that it was the right time. In this case, the right timing for the transition was the healing…though there was grief and much sadness, there was also a sense of peace and shared agency in the decision that was healing for both of them. Their relationship continues, though in a different form.
These are just a few examples of the ways that animal communication can heal. This kind of communication is available to everyone…it’s a universal language, and if you’ve forgotten how to use it, it can be recovered and relearned. To explore your own ability to communicate with animals directly, I invite you to join me at one of my upcoming courses. And, the Basics of Animal Communication Course is free…it’s a great place to begin your journey!
