Giving medicine to animals

Many of my clients have animals who are sick and need to take medication.  Their stories are often very similar . . . their animals spit pills out, no matter how creative their guardians get in hiding the pills in tasty treats, their animals run and hide as soon as they see the medicine come out, or their animals fuss and fight any time someone is trying to give them medication.  

I personally believe that most of the time, the problem is that the animals doesn't understand what they are being given or why.  I always encourage my clients to talk to their animals and help them understand more about the medicine.  Here are some 'talking points' that I give my clients when they talk to their animals:

- Tell them what the medicine is and why they are giving it to them

- Explain how it will help the animal feel better in terms they understand ("You know how you have been having pain when you try to run?  This will help make the pain go away." or "You know how your skin has been itchy and irritated?  This will soothe your skin so you will feel better.")

- Tell them how long they will need to take the medicine.  They are often much more willing to be cooperative when they know it's only a ten day course of antibiotics or just something they have to endure for a few weeks.  If it is a medication they will have to take for the rest of their life, explain that to them.  (refer to the point above, making sure they understand how it will help them).

In most cases, this type of open communication with the animal will help them be more cooperative when taking medication.  Most of my clients tell me that after talking to their animals, all the previous behaviors (spitting out pills, hiding, resisting) have subsided.  

In some cases, animals who were being cooperative for a while, will suddenly start refusing the medication again.  When this happens, I encourage my clients to 'listen' to their animals.  I believe animals know what is helpful to them and what isn't.  If your animal is refusing medication, it might be because they don't need it anymore or because they need something different.  It can't hurt to go back to the vet to find out if the medication is still necessary or if there is something else that might help more.  

Animals are such intelligent beings and if we are willing to work with them, giving them the opportunity to understand what we are giving them and why, I believe they have the ability to get on board with what we are doing.  I also believe they can partner with us and let us know if what we are giving them is actually helping them.  If we just force them to take medication without telling them why, often all we create is resistance.  Animals are not much different from humans that way . . . we often resist that which we don't understand.  So, talk to your animals, help them understand what you are giving them and my guess is, you'll find a much more cooperative recipient of medications. 

Acknowledge your animals feelings

A few months back, a friend of mine who takes care of about 20 horses called me to ask for my help.  He told me they had acquired a new horse named Lorelia not long before and he was worried about her. They didn't know much about her history, all he knew was that she kept to herself, not interacting with any of the other horses and was very timid around people.  She spent most of her time standing out in the pasture away from everyone else, all by herself.  He asked if I could come and give her Reiki and see if I was able to figure out what was going on with her.  

The next weekend, I went out there.  My friend tried to coax Lorelia over to us with carrots but she only came within about ten feet from the fence and would not come any closer.  I decided to just talk to her for a while, from the other side of the fence.  I introduced myself, explained why I was there and told her about Reiki.  After about fifteen minutes, she finally came over to the fence, close enough for me to touch her.  I asked for her permission to touch her and give her some Reiki, then waited for her to give me a sign that it was alright with her.  

When I felt she was ready, I reached out and put my hands on her.  Immediately, I felt overwhelmed with sadness.  My heart felt so heavy as I felt all the thing she felt.  I didn't know what exactly had happened to her, but I knew how she felt . . . afraid, alone, and incredibly sad. I could feel tears welling up in me as I worked on her.  Her sadness was so deep.  I told her how sorry I was for what she had been through.  I told her she didn't deserve to be hurt or be made to feel she was unimportant.  As I continued to give her Reiki, I picked up more and more of what she was feeling and the words continued to flow out of me.  I told her that she was not dumb and that I was sorry she had been told she was.  I told her that the other horses would welcome her and it was safe for her to spend more time around them.  I told her she could trust my friend who worked there and that he would always take good care of her.  

After about an hour, the sadness I was picking up from her finally started to lift.  Her eyes looked a little brighter and she even held her head up a little higher.  I thanked her for trusting me enough to let me work with her and told her how grateful I was to have been able to spend time with her.  

As I was walking back across the ranch to find my friend, another horse on the property came over to the fence and tried to get my attention.  I stopped to visit with him and I could feel his concern.  I told him about Lorelia and explained that she could really use a friend right now.  I asked him if he could try to help her feel welcome and make sure she didn't spend all her time alone.  I am never entirely sure if my messages get through but I try to trust that they will understand what I am saying to them.

After my visit with him, I continued on my way, and when I found my friend in the barn, I filled him in on what I had picked up from Lorelia.  He said he had sensed she was sad as well but didn't know why.  I explained to him that we don't always need to know the details of what has happened, that it was my belief that what was most important was that their feelings be acknowledged and to let them know how sorry we are that something bad happened to them.  I asked him to keep me posted on how she was doing.  I wasn't sure if what I had done was enough to help her let go of all the sadness she held in her body or if she would need some more help.  

Two days later, my friend called me and was talking so excitedly, I could barely keep up with him.  He told me that Lorelia had been happier and friendlier since I had been there.  He said that she was coming right over to him when he called her and that he was really excited to see that one of the other horses had spent the last two days hanging out with her in the pasture.  I realized I had forgotten to tell him about my conversation with the other horse on my way back to find him that day.  I described the horse I had spoken with and asked if he was the horse who was hanging out with Lorelia.  He confirmed that it was.  I was surprised and yet at the same time, I wasn't.  I know animals are capable of understanding what we say to them and I also know they are incredibly compassionate. 

Since then, Lorelia has been doing wonderfully, continuing to interact more and more with the other horses and becoming more comfortable around people.  When I go up to the ranch, she always comes over to the fence to greet me and let me know that she is doing well.  

It reminds me how important it is, not just for animals but for people as well, to have our feelings acknowledged, to hear someone say "I'm sorry that happened to you."  I'm also reminded of how much it means to know you have a friend you can count on.  

Holiday Preparations

As the holiday season approaches, I feel compelled to put a request out on behalf of animals everywhere.  Please talk to your animals and tell them what is going on so they aren't caught off guard.  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. 

If you've been reading my blog, you know I believe very strongly that animals understand everything we tell them.  I think we owe it to our animals to help manage their expectations, so that they can enjoy the holidays as well.  Please, talk to your animals!

Imagine if your spouse didn't tell you they were bringing 10 people over for dinner.  Wouldn't you be a little thrown off?  What if 7 people showed up and told you they were staying for a couple of days?  Would that potentially put your nose out of joint?  Especially if those people set up camp in your bedroom and didn't tell you they were going to?  

All I ask is that you put yourself in your animals shoes for a moment so you can understand how it feels from their perspective.  Then inform them of what will be happening.  Here are some tips:

If you are going to have a house full of people, let them 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."

Tell them if you are bringing a christmas tree into the house and if need be, explain to them that it is for decoration.  Let them know you are making sure it has 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. 

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.  Your animals will thank you - in their own special way!

Setbacks and moving forward

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my German Shepherd Lucky and her battle with cancer.  At the time, I was excited to see that her tumors were finally shrinking and I was feeling confident that we were going to beat it.  

This week, the Universe threw me a curve and Lucky's tumors started growing again.  I felt defeated, overwhelmed and scared.  I cried a lot and worried that I wasn't taking care of her as well as I had promised her I always would.  I struggled to listen to my intuition.  I want to do everything I can for her.  I want us to heal the cancer so she can stay with me longer but I was feeling lost as to how to make that happen.  

After a couple of days of feeling helpless, I felt guided to adjust the dosage of cancer fighting herbs I was giving her, although I didn't trust the guidance completely.  I made the change and then still felt fear that it wasn't the right change or that we weren't going to be able to make the tumors go away.  As much as I tried, I couldn't completely quiet the voice of fear in the back of my head.

The next day, I took Lucky to her water therapy session.  With her back legs being weak, she isn't able to exercise by walking and chasing the ball like we used to, so we started doing water therapy a few times a week to help keep her muscles in shape and help her stay strong.  When Lucky got into the water with Connie, the water therapist, I began telling Connie that the tumors were growing again and that Lucky wasn't doing well.  Just then, Lucky took off, swimming into the deep end of the pool, which took both Connie and I by surprise.  She never swam into the deep end, even when we tried to encourage her to do so.  Connie looked at me with a questions on her face and at that moment, it was crystal clear to me.   Lucky was showing me that I was wrong when I said "she isn't doing well" - she was showing me that she was still strong and still feeling good.  There was no question in my mind at all.  She swam out to the deep end at the exact moment I was telling Connie that she wasn't doing well.  She wanted me to see that my fears were unfounded, that she was doing just fine in her opinion.

I know from my work with animals that they do hear us and they will respond to what they hear us say.  I have seen countless examples of animals responding in the moment to what it being said so I couldn't ignore what Lucky was showing me.  The heaviness that had surrounded me all week lifted and I realized that I needed to pay attention to her and what she was telling me.  I needed to listen to her more and listen to my fears less.  

That night, she was goofing around for hours.  She pulled a bag off the table that had a dog toy in it and began making the hilarious sound she makes when she is happy, something similar to a whine, but deeper and with a tone of contentment.  She wanted me to toss the tennis ball to her, she did a few play-bows.  Everything she was showing me was positive and I couldn't ignore it.  If she was going to be so positive and happy, then I needed to be as well.

I still don't know if we are going to beat the cancer.  I don't know if the current dosage of herbs I am giving her will make the tumor shrink again.  What I do know is that Lucky is telling me that she is OK right now.  She is telling me that she is happy and that she is capable of living and enjoying life.  It is a reminder to me that I need to enjoy every day that we have together.  I need to take time out to be light and playful.  I need to stop worrying about "tomorrow" and be present with her today because that's what we have - today.  

If you have an animal, I encourage you to pay attention to how they behave when you are talking about them.  I know they are trying to show us all the time if we are right or wrong regarding the things we say about them.  What you see may lift your spirits or give you new information about what they are thinking and feeling . . so watch them . . . and enjoy them . . . and love them for everything they are.  

Animals are our teachers

Many times, the animals that come into our lives will show us what we need to work on in our human relationships.  It is as if they are giving us a safe place to work out an issue we need to address and if we can we can work out the issue with our animal, then we can begin to apply those learnings to the other people in our lives.

One of my clients has several cats who were testing the limits with her and in need of some boundaries.  They needed to be told what was ok and what wasn't ok, and they needed her to be consistent.  As I explained to the guardian what they cats needed in the way of boundaries, she shook her head and laughed a little under her breath.  I asked her what was going on and she said "Well, if setting boundaries was easy for me, I'd be doing it with everyone else in my life."  

As we continued to talk, she shared with me how difficult it was for her to set boundaries and how frustrated she felt that the people in her life took advantage of her.  She said she often felt like a doormat but she felt powerless to change the dynamic.

I encouraged her to try first with the cats because I sensed that was part of the their purpose in her life and I knew they would be patient and understanding as she developed this new skill. 

She was willing to try and I give her a tremendous amount of credit because it wasn't easy at first.  She would set a boundary with the cats and then that old tape would start playing in her head, telling her it wasn't ok for her to ask for what she wanted and if she set limits, she was somehow being unkind to others.  She hung in there though and kept at it.  Within a few weeks, the behaviors we were trying to change with the cats did begin to change, for the better.  She started to feel empowered and began embracing the idea that it truly was ok for her to say "this is not ok" to someone.  

Over the weeks that followed, she began trying to set boundaries with family members.  The old tape still attempted to play in her head, but she had a recent success to draw from and she knew that even though she set boundaries with her cats, they still loved her and respected her, so she stayed in a place of confidence.  Her relationships with her family members have started to improve.  

If you have a pet, take a look at what your challenges are with that pet and then ask yourself if you have that same problem with people in your life.   If so, your pet may be offering you an opportunity to develop a new skill, so that you can improve all the relationships in your life.  Animals enjoy being our teachers, they like helping us become better versions of ourselves, so don't be afraid to practice first with your animals.  They will be happy they were able to help you and you might be amazed at how other relationships in your life can become more fulfilling.

Communication Nuances

As an animal communicator, I relay information I get from an animal to their guardian, often with the goal of helping them solve behavioral issues or get to the bottom of medical mysteries. Animals give me information by actually sharing what they they feel, so that I feel what they feel in my own body, whether they are physical sensations or emotions.  From there, it is often up to their guardian and myself to interpret what I am picking up to make more sense of it.  

Sometimes, it is straight forward . . . I feel pain in my knee and the guardian might say "I noticed Rocco was limping a little bit on our walk yesterday."  Or I may feel a sensation of being overwhelmed by noise and feeling afraid that the noise was over my head and the guardian can piece it together by saying something like "Oh, we were having work done on our roof last week, and that is when Misty started acting so strangely." 

Sometimes, it isn't quite as straight forward and often it is because the animal doesn't know how to explain what is happening.  They can't tell me "I have this type of medical condition and this is the name of it" so we have to work at interpreting what I am getting and do a bit of our own detective work.  With one recent case, I was working with a rabbit who was losing his fur. My skin felt itchy when I was working on him but that was all he could give me.  I sensed that he was allergic to something but he couldn't tell me what it was.  His 'mom' and I did some brainstorming and she remembered that she had changed the type of hay in his hutch about the same time he had started losing his fur, so she decided to try cleaning out his hutch and going back to the old hay she had been using before.  After a short while, we didn't see any improvement in his fur loss, in fact, it seemed to be a little worse, so we went back to the drawing board.  We were looking for other things he could be allergic to and wondered if it was something he was eating.  Each of the new things that had been introduced about the time he started having problems was removed from his diet and still there wasn't any improvement.  

The next time I came to see him, my skin was itching even more.  I told his 'mom' that I felt like things were crawling on my skin this time and it gave us an idea . . . maybe he had skin mites. We did some research and found pictures of rabbits who had similar fur loss, caused by something called "Walking dandruff."  When treatment for "walking dandruff" was administered, he finally started to improve.  

I know that he was giving me all the information he could.  If he knew the word "mites" and what they were, I am sure he would have given it to me sooner.  All he knew was that his skin was itching so that is what he was showing me.  It was up to his guardian and I to interpret what he was showing me.   Similar to Misty, the dog that was so frightened by the work being done on the roof.  She told me what she knew . . . that there was noise over her head and that it was frightening her.  It was up to her guardian and I to figure out what it was from there, since I don't think Misty knows a lot about roofing contractors.  

And while the 'interpretation' part can take a while to sort out sometimes, the beautiful thing about animals is that they aren't upset with us for not figuring it out sooner.  They know we always do the best that we can.  After we finally figured out what was going on with my little bunny friend, I apologized to him for taking so long to get to the bottom of it.  I told him I was sorry we couldn't figure it out sooner and wished he didn't have to suffer for all those additional weeks with itchy skin.  What I picked up from him was that he knew we'd figure it out eventually and that he wasn't worried about it.  He didn't hold anything against us for not figuring it out sooner. 

I often talk to people who are beating themselves up for not being able to figure out what was wrong with their animal sooner but I know their animals don't blame them.  Animals don't want us to be hard on ourselves.  They do the best they can to communicate with us and then trust that we'll figure it out when the time is right.  

Just this week, I spoke with a woman whose dog had a cancerous tumor in his neck.  She knew something was wrong for many months, as he wasn't interested in eating and when he did eat, he would often throw up.  She told me that she kept saying to him "Please help me understand what is wrong so I can make it better" and each time, her dog would come and sit right in front of her with his head tilted up.  She thought he was just wanting to be petted and she would continue to say "I don't understand what you are telling me but if you can show me what's wrong, I will do everything I can to make it better." When the tumor was finally found, she realized that he had been doing just what she asked, in the best way that he knew how.  She kept asking him what was wrong and he kept showing her his neck.  He wasn't upset with her for not figuring it out sooner.  Animals seem to be more peaceful about that part of communication, trusting that eventually the pieces will fall into place, never holding it against us.

So, if you have ever beaten yourself up over not figuring out what was going on with your animal, I hope you will be kinder to yourself.  Animals understand that we do the best we can to interpret what they are showing us.  And even if we get it wrong, or miss the clues they are giving us, they love us just as much.   

When I 'talk' to animals, I don't hear full sentences.  I feel sensations and from there, I partner with their guardian to piece together what I am picking up with what they have noticed as well. The guardians play a very important role in helping me understand what their animal is communicating to me, so it is paramount that I communicate well with the guardians too. 

Alternative ways to treat cancer

I discovered last June that my thirteen year old German Shepherd, Lucky, had cancer.  I have been taking her to a holistic veterinarian for 11 years so I had long ago left the world of tests and biopsies.  The tumors appeared on her body and they were growing and my intuition told me they were cancerous.  That was all the confirmation I needed.  Well, most days I thought so. Many people questioned my decision to avoid getting tests run and I had a few moments of self doubt here and there, wondering if I was doing her a disservice by not getting tests to confirm what was going on.  Then other moments where I knew I couldn't drag her to another vet for tests because I had made a promise to her 11 years ago that we wouldn't do that anymore. 

I found that this issue of Lucky's health shook up my foundation many times, making me question my beliefs, to second guess myself, to wonder if I was misguided and then ultimately finding my way back to my beliefs again, maybe even more strongly than before.  

Shortly after I discovered the tumors, I spoke with my vet.  He reminded me that the only thing tests would do would be to give me the name of the type of cancer and that in the process of getting tests done, cancer cells could end up being spread to other places in her body.  I knew that wasn't what I wanted and I made my peace with not knowing the specific name of the cancer she had.  I felt good about the path I was on. 

My vet and I discussed our shared belief that our bodies are designed to be able to heal themselves and that one of the best things I could do was support Lucky's immune system.  I started giving her an herb that is designed to do just that, (boost her immune system) and she started getting daily Reiki treatments from me.  We also started her on another herbs that would work on getting rid of the tumors.   I knew this was the right course of action for us because for me personally, chemo and radiation were never going to be an option I would choose.  I wanted to get rid of these tumors and I also wanted to minimize any negative impact on Lucky's body.  

It was a rocky couple of months, not seeing the tumors change in size and wondering what I was doing wrong, worrying that it wasn't going to work.  I knew I had to face the fact that Lucky was 13, which is a pretty advanced age for a German Shepherd and that she might not be able to fight this.  I also knew I had to accept that when her time came, it was her time and I didn't have the ability to change fate.   

We switched to a different herb after a month to see if that worked and after another month, there was still no change in the size of the tumors. I wasn't willing to give up though and Lucky was telling me she wasn't ready to give up either.  She told me by continuing to have a great appetite, by having energy and still being goofy.  She told me in ways that I could feel in my heart, that she wasn't ready to go, so we pressed on.  

There were many moments where my fears and emotions would get the best of me and my intuition, which seemed to work effortlessly with other people's animals, seemed to not work at all when it came to Lucky.  There were days where I would be overcome with sadness and worry . . . worry about what I would do without her, worry that I wasn't doing enough, worry that I was letting her down in some way by not being able to make these tumors go away.  The first herb hadn't worked, the second herb hadn't worked, the third herb hadn't worked.  I was running out of options and feared that I was running out of time.  It had been 4 months and there was still no improvement.  I would have moments where I didn't think I would be able to figure out what to do, where I just wanted someone else to tell me what to do . . . and then eventually, I would find my center again and be able to access my own intuition about what to do next.  

After a particularly rough couple of days of self doubt and worry, I finally found my center again.  I felt peaceful and more empowered.  I let my mind go quiet and asked what I needed to do to make these tumors go away, if that was possible.  The answer came into my head . . . I needed to give her a combination of the 1st herb and the 3rd herb.  I couldn't explain it scientifically, I didn't know why the combination of those two was the potentially right combinations, I had no data to back it up.  All I knew was that an answer had come to me and I wasn't about to ignore it.  I immediately started Lucky on the combination of the two herbs.  I tried to resist the urge to check the tumors every day to see if they were changing, but at first it was hard to keep my hands off them.  Eventually, I managed to stop checking them and tried to just trust that we were on the right track. 

Last week, about three weeks after I had last touched her tumors, I decided to run my hands over them.  Much to my surprise and delight, they were smaller.  I was afraid I was wrong, afraid to get my hopes up, so I didn't touch them again for another week for fear that I would touch them again and discover they hadn't changed at all.  But yesterday, I checked them again and sure enough, they are smaller.   

There is still a long list of unknowns . . . I don't know if the tumors will keep shrinking, I don't know if I am going to need to change up the herbs I am giving her to keep this progressing positively, I don't know how long she'll be with me even if we do make the tumors go away.  

What I do know though, is that this was the right path for us.  I also know that one of the most important things I have learned through this is that I need to keep trusting myself, trusting my intuition and trusting what I am picking up from Lucky.  I have also come to realize that there are new options out there every day for dealing with disease.  We aren't stuck with limited choices if we're willing to take a chance at trying something new and if we're willing to trust that the right path will present itself if we stay true to ourselves and our own beliefs.  

For the moment, I am blessed to have a beautiful German Shepherd, who can still make me laugh and melt my heart.  I am holding the intention that the tumors continue to shrink until they are completely gone and I try to take a moment every day to picture her healthy and cancer free.  I know I can't make her live forever but I can love her and appreciate her every day that she is here, and I can keep trusting that my intuition will help guide me to make the best choices I can for her.  

If you have an animal with cancer, I hope you'll explore the many alternative treatments that are out there and trust yourself to find the one that is right for you and your animal.