Animals Grieve too

A couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of the emotional capacity that animals possess and how they grieve as we do, when a loved one is lost. This story centers around a cat named Luke, although, originally, that was not why I went to his guardians' house.

First, a little background on Luke. There is something very special about him. He seems to possess wisdom and knowledge that you wouldn't normally expect from an animal. I wrote about him last year when I told the story of a woman who set up an appointment with me because she was worried about her cat. He had been acting strangely and she feared something was wrong with him but when I arrived at the house, he seemed perfectly fine . . . which surprised both of us.

It was at this meeting that the guardian discovered that I do energy healing with humans too and she began setting up Reiki appointments for herself. Afterwards, Luke told me that had been his plan all along . . . he knew his guardian needed some healing and he figured the best way to get her the help she needed was to pretend he was sick, so that she would call me. :-)

Since that day, my relationship with Luke has been special. There is just something about him that is unique and magical. One example is, when I am working with his guardian, he seems to appear at poignant moments, as if to confirm we are on the right track with what we are uncovering in her healing process. Sometimes when we are working on release a block in her body, he instinctively jumps up on the Reiki table and lays on the part of her body where the block is, as if to aid us in the energy healing. Each time I am leaving his guardian's house, he insists on walking me to my car. He waits patiently on the sidewalk until I am safely in my car and once I start the engine, he turns around and walks back into his house. I could write a book about Luke and all the little mystical, magical things I have seen him do.

So, back to my visit to their house a couple weeks ago . . . one of the reasons his guardian wanted me to come over that night was because one of her son's snakes had died. She and her son were both very sad about it and they wanted some help processing the grief they were experiencing, in part because they cope with grief differently and needed assistance in how to meet their own needs as well as each others. I spent some time with them, as we focused on the issues that had come up around the girl snakes death. When they were both feeling better about that, Luke's "mom" and I went into the other room, where she received a Reiki treatment. We talked for a while afterwards and as I was getting ready to leave, it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't seen Luke while I was there. I have never been to their house without spending some time with Luke and I found it a little odd that he never once made an appearance.

As I was mentioning his absence to his guardian, my mind and heart were suddenly filled with feelings of grief and I realized that Luke was grieving the loss of the snake as well. I explained what I was picking up . . . how much Luke was going to miss her and how sad he was feeling that she had passed away. His guardian asked if there was anything she could do to help him and I told her that I really felt he needed to be alone to work through his feelings. I told her that when he was ready to be around others again, she would see him but until that time, he just needed the space to deal with his grief. She smiled at me and said, "Ah, yet another way he and I are alike."

When I left a short while later, I was very aware of the fact that it was the first time I had ever left the house where Luke didn't walk me to my car. His guardian noticed it too, so she walked me out and "stood in" for Luke, waiting until I started the engine before going back into the house.

I found out from her the next day that not long after I had left the night before, she walked into the room where the snake habitat was, and she found Luke there, sleeping on top of the cage. She let him be, as I had suggested and he stayed there the rest of the night. In the morning, he was obviously ready to be around everyone again, as he came into the kitchen when she was making breakfast for everyone. She said she could sense his appreciation for being given the space he needed to work through his feelings.

Last week, when I was back at their house, Luke was his old-self again . . . jumping onto the Reiki table at just the right moment, to aid in his guardian's healing . . . and when it was time for me to go, he walked me to the car like he always does. His grief had lifted and I drove home that night feeling blessed to meet the beautiful, magical animals that I encounter in my work.