Empowering Pet Parents

Clients often ask me if I can tell them why something is going on with their pet. I wish it were that simple - that I could ask a pet "What is making you so itchy?" or "Why have you been throwing up lately?" and then relay their answer to their guardian.  Since animals don't communicate that way, it is often up to us - their guardians - to answer those questions. You might be surprised to know that keeping track of changes we've made (regarding food, treats, medication/supplements as well as life changes, schedule changes, etc) will give us more information than we thought possible.

I learned this myself many years ago when all of the sudden Lucky had a ton of hot spots. She was itchy and uncomfortable all the time. My vet asked me if there had been changes to her food or treats and my answer was "No." In my mind, nothing had changed so we couldn't figure out what could have caused this sudden bout of severe itchiness. Then one day while at the pet store, I decided to grab another bag of the treats I gave her and was stunned to realize that there were two different brands right next to each other on the shelf. The shape and size of the treats were identical and the bags were even the same color. Could I had accidentally bought her a different type of treat the last time I made a purchase? Sure enough that ended up being the culprit. Here I was swearing up and down that NOTHING had changed, when the truth was, I had accidentally bought a different treat and since I opened the bag up and poured them into the "treat jar" I hadn't seen the packaging since the day I bought them.  (On the plus side, that was when we determined that Lucky had an allergic reaction to corn). 

I learned a lot in the years Lucky was with me and thankfully, I can pass those insights along to my clients. For instance, I have had countless dogs suddenly become "deaf" - my clients assume it's an old age thing but often inquire if a Reiki session could help with that. This is a situation I am so familiar with that I always ask "Did your dog have ear mites anytime in the last 6 months?" The answer is YES about 80% of the time. The reason I ask that question is because I learned through my OWN experience that the treatment (drops that you put in their ear canal) can often leave a thin coating on the ear drum. This results in the dog not being able to hear as well and in most cases, using an ear wash will "restore the dog's hearing." 

The "hearing loss" isn't usually noticed immediately so by the time we're at the "I think my dog is deaf" stage, we've long forgotten about that brief period of ear mite treatment that occurred months earlier. So much time can pass that it won't ever occur to us that the two things are related. 

As Lucky got older and had more health issues, it was harder and harder to keep track of how long something had been going on, as it seemed my answer to that was "just recently" or "for quite a while" whenever our vet asked me questions about the timing of things. That was when I learned to keep my own "Pet Journal."

Recently I had a client who was very concerned about her dog's seizures and she wanted to know if I could tell her what was causing them. I explained to her that her dog wouldn't be able to tell me the cause but reminded her that she had more knowledge than she thought she did. I suggested she start keeping a journal/diary for her dog. She said she already kept track of food changes and medication/supplement changes in her calendar so I asked her if she could also start writing down everything else she was observing. Whether it was behavioral or medical or just seemingly random small things.

So often the "answer" can lie in our ability to observe (and keep track) of seemingly unrelated or unimportant things . . . there is real "gold" there if we can take the time to jot all those details down. Things like crankiness, sleeping a little more, a random potty accident could actually line up with random things that aren't obvious at first. I also find clients change things between visits to their vet (or sessions with me) and they have trouble remembering when they stopped giving their pet a certain supplement (and why) or when certain behavioral things began happening.

It is the reason that I often suggest that animal guardians start keeping a diary for their pets (especially with all my older pets) because a) it's nearly impossible to remember every detail or know what details are important and which ones aren't. and b) because animals often "show us" what's going on through these seemingly small and/or unrelated things. Yes, it does mean that I talk about 50% of the people who come to me for a session OUT of having a session - LOL - but I would much rather support people in finding the answers themselves whenever possible.  

And I love getting their updates when they have figured something out on their own. From the dog who was having issues with itchiness (Her mom determined it was the laundry detergent she was using to wash her dog's bedding and hadn't previously noticed that the itching got worse every time she "washed all the dog bed covers") to the client whose dog had "random potty accidents" who determined that they actually occurred on the day she returned from a business trip). The animal guardians I work with are becoming more and more empowered to find important information this way. Always remember: you have more knowledge of what is happening with your pet than you realize!! 

The other reason this type of information can be helpful is when I DO have a session with an animal, I am able to tap in more specifically to what the guardian has been able to put together. Partnering WITH the guardian almost always ensures a better and/or quicker resolution. 

For example, when a guardian needed help with her cat who had suddenly started vomiting . . . since she was able to tell me exactly what her cat, who was on a raw food diet, was eating for breakfast each day, I was able to pick up on the fact that it was too many different proteins. Plus I got a feeling of queasiness that I get when I eat food that is too rich. Based on that she decided to cut back on the # of different proteins each day and also cut out the ones that were a little more rich. Kitty barfing was resolved!!! 

With another client, being able to share specifics from his journal about when his dog jumped the fence and how often it happened along with what other things were occurring in his life at the time, helped us determine that it WASN'T a negative reaction to his new girlfriend (his biggest fear), but instead the fence jumping coincided with his son's visits. Each time his son came for a visit and then went back to college, there was a day or two of fence jumping. His dog was just missing his son. Putting a t-shirt or sweatshirt his son had worn in the dog's bed resolved the fence jumping. 

Like I said, you have more information than you think . . . and you probably need an animal communicator less often than you think too!  :-)  Something to consider . . . 

Helping our Pets through the Holidays

When I saw this, it made me laugh out loud.  It reminded me that this time every year, I feel compelled to write a plea to animal guardians, to do a little extra to help their animals during the holiday season. This is a crazy time of year, not just for us but for our animals as well. For animals who live in our homes, it can be very confusing. WE know what's going on, but they don't always understand and it can make the holidays even more stressful for them. This is especially true for animals that are new to our home, but it still applies to animals who have been with us a while and have been through a few holidays seasons.

You may experience all sorts of frustrating experiences, such as your dog deciding to "water" the christmas tree, or your cat removing half the ornaments from the tree while you are away at work. They may unwrap gifts that have been placed under the tree, or chew through a string of lights. This behavior is typically telling you that the holidays are stressful for them too and chances are, they don't understand what all the hoopla is about.

From their perspective, this is what they see:

- People coming and going, not always their the regular schedules and routines

- Packages being brought into the house, that they aren't supposed to get into

- Trees being brought into the house, that get a lot of our attention, especially during the decorating process

- Lots of food being prepared in the kitchen, that they don't necessarily get samples of

- People coming over, sometimes spending the night, often displacing them from their usual hang out spots

It's all very confusing to them and they often don't end up enjoying the holiday season very much. I think we can increase the enjoyment of the holidays for everyone if we talk to our animals and explain what was going on. If we can manage their expectations, they can be a part of the celebrations, instead of adding another element of stress to it.

Many people talk about how their animals behave strangely during the holidays and most of the time, I believe it is because they don't understand what is going on. Their regular routine is changed up and they often feel ill at ease because of it.

Imagine if your spouse brought home bags of "goodies" but told you that you couldn't touch them. Wouldn't that make you extra curious about what was in those bags? What if a bunch of people showed up and decided to spend the night without telling you ahead of time? Wouldn't that potentially put your nose out of joint? Especially if those people set up camp in your bedroom and you didn't know where you were supposed to sleep?

Here are some tips:

If you are bringing a christmas tree into the house, explain to them that it is for decoration. Let them know you are making sure it has plenty of water so they don't feel the need to water it themselves. :-) Explain to them that the things hanging on the tree are not for them to play with or eat. Then make sure they know where the things are that they CAN play with and eat.

If you are going to have a house full of people, let your animals know. Tell them . . . this many people are coming and this is how long they are staying.

If you want your animal to do anything different, please let them know. If your animal is going to have to sleep somewhere where they aren't used to sleeping, tell them that and explain why. Let them know how long this new arrangement will last.

If your animal is used to having quiet time to rest in the house and you know that isn't going to be easy when you have a house full of people, tell them where they can go to be "alone" if that's what they need. Give them a specific room in the house they can go to if they need to "get away from it all."

Include them in the celebration in whatever way you can. Whether that is feeding them at the same time the rest of you all are sitting down to eat so they feel they are having a special meal too, or giving them something to unwrap when the rest of you are unwrapping your gifts, let them know they are part of what is going on too.

I believe the holidays can be happier for all of us - 2-legged and 4-legged alike, if we can set everyone's expectations for how things are going to be different for a few days or weeks.  Your animals will thank you - in their own special way!