Dear Lora:
I am sorry that you have read "hostility" into anything I have said because
none was intended, nor am I in any way "angry" or trying to "ram the idea of
animal communication down your throat." I was not the only one who suggested
to
you contacting an animal communicator, and when you seemed to express some
interest in that possibility, then indicated you could not afford it, more than
one person also suggested that such assistance could probably be obtained very
reasonably, or perhaps even at NO cost, yet still you just made excuses that
the one thing that might finally answer your question "Why?" was not an option
for you. At that point, I could not help feeling rather frustrated, myself,
because you chose to drop a ball that might have scored a goal for you rather
than play it.
Since I became aware of the benefits to both cat and human which animal
communication can provide, and have learned from my cats what it is like for
them
to not be understood, I could not help but feel some sympathy for Dartagnan, as
well, (not that I condone his behavior by any means!) for it seems he has
surely been "shouting at the top of his lungs" but you aren't listening in a
way
that can make a difference for him.
It was abundantly clear to all of us that you are VERY frustrated, with good
reason, and are obviously very devoted to being a good cat mom to Dartagnan to
have been through all that you have on his account. I do believe that I, and
everyone else on this list, have sincerely acknowledged that. Many
suggestions and insights were offered to you with the utmost sincerity. Most
were
dismissed by you as unfeasible for one reason or another. I certainly did not
detect any "anger" in anything that was said to you... so it is very
unfortunate that this is what you have perceived. We are all here on this
talklist
because we care and sincerely wish to help one another, regardless of the
problem
that is presented.
Your cry for help seemed a desperate one and I believe we all responded
thoughtfully. As someone else tried to point out in the recent wave of
negativity
that arose due to posts by the person who called himself "Ong Meo," that is
one drawback to the written, rather than the spoken word...the reader can
interpret a tone or attitude from his/her own perspective that was not intended
by
the writer. I do apologize if whatever I have written came across to you as
being "hostile" or that I was "angry" because that was most certainly not my
intent.
What I DO feel is sadness that you've felt compelled to endure so much,
perhaps unnecessarily, because you have not been able to understand WHY
Dartagnan
has been behaving so outrageously, despite the fact you've provided a very
loving home. You've gone to the mat and beyond for him in so many ways, yet
sadly
missed the one thing that might truly give you an answer. Cats often have a
very different take on things than we do and tend to be very "in the moment"
and self-gratifying creatures, though I have known some that could be downright
thoughtful and even altruistic in some ways. If you had been elightened about
animal comunication and able to talk with Dartagnan when this behavior first
started, you might have been able to spare yourself much frustration and
expense. I for one, would not have gone to the effort/expense of completely
redoing the carpeting and furniture before I did have an answer as to
"Why?"...if
the problem is neither understood nor resolved, that just seems like an open
invitation for further disaster and even more frustration. I am certainly NOT
angry, Lora, my heart is bleeding for you, and for Dartagnan, confined to a
crate for obvious reasons.
I do realize that many people are simply not aware that it is possible to
communicate telepathically with animals, while others believe it is just a
bunch
nonsense. With the former, it sometimes helps to share my own experiences in
that regard and how it has enriched my understanding of and ability to relate
to the beloved animals with whom I share my life, and how it has helped me to
resolve a variety of problems and become better able to provide for their
needs. With the latter, unless people are open-minded to some extent, there is
usually little that can be said to convince them otherwise. As you did not
just
dismiss the idea, and said you really did want to know WHY, it seemed there
might be some hope that you would give Dartagnan a chance to tell you and so I
tried to encourage you to do that with all my heart. Sometimes people do need
more than a gentle nudge to get beyond just thinking about something to taking
action, especially with regards to a new or novel endeavor.
I suppose I've also felt some frustration on Dartagnan's behalf, because I
have learned though experiences with my own furkids how discouraging it can be
for them to try and get us to understand. They try their darndest to tell us
something through their behavior, but all too often we just don't get it. There
is much that we humans, who think ourselves so intelligent, can learn from our
animal companions.
I have, from time to time, shared some of my experiences in communicating
with one or another of my furkids on this talklist, usually with regards to
those
who are now angels because of FeLV. I wish that I could afford to talk with
my furkids on a regular basis about everyday things, but usually can only
afford to do so in dealing with emergencies such as a lost furkid, a baffling
medical problem or in asking what their wishes are when it comes time to say
goodbye as they cross over.
One point that I tried to make (evidently badly) is how animal communication
can be helpful in dealing with medical problems. I did not say that I dismiss
the value of traditional veterinary treatment and put the welfare of my cats
in "the hands of a palm reader" as you expressed it. Veterinary medicine has
much to offer, and in dealing with emergencies there is no substitute; I did
not suggest otherwise. But animal communication should not be compared to a
fortuneteller who interprets the lines on someone's hand. It should be compared
to learning to speak a foreign language. When we go to see a doctor, the
first thing he/she does is listen to whatever we have to say about our
condition,
what we may be feeling in the way of pain or this or that. Doctors rely
heavily on what we have to say before they start running a battery of
tests...it
helps them to narrow their focus. The same can be true with animals. What I
did
mean to say was that when I am faced with a medical puzzle to which there are
no obvious symptoms to indicate a particular problem and because of limited
$$ (which for me is the norm), I will call an AC first, to ask the animal what
he/she can tell me about his/her condition. This has saved me a lot of money
for perhaps unnecessary tests/procedures that are performed by a vet trying to
establish just that using a shotgun approach.
For example, I have an old mare who will be 30 in '05. Until about four
years ago, she had led a relatively problem-free life with little need for
medical
intervention. She was developing some arthritis and her teeth were wearing
out so feeding her was becoming a bit problematic, but otherwise she was in
good spirits and doing well. Then in mid-August '01, while I was away for a
few
days, she was found down in her corrall and the stable owners called the vet
out, naturally, and they got her up and she was given the standard treatment
for "colic" or gut distress...an injection of Banamine to ease any pain and
relax the muscles, and some mineral oil pumped down a naso-gastric tube to
lubricate the gut and facilitate passage of any impacted feed. She was fine
after
that and I got a bill for $3-400 when I got back. I called to talk to the vet
to see if they could offer any explanation what may have brought on such an
attack...nada. The following August, almost a year to the day, the same thing
occurs, only this time I'm there and it is on a Saturday evening so I have to
pay for an emergency call and it costs almost $500 for the same treatment and
still no explanation. There had been no sudden changes in feed, no strenuous
exercise or any other type of "stress" to link it to. Very puzzling, and hard
on the pocketbook.
Then in December '02, just a few days after Xmas, I go to the stable one
morning to find her lying down in the mud outside her nice dry stall...very
disturbing since by this time her arthritis has become so bad it is extremely
difficult for her to get back on her feet, so she doesn't lie down any more.
It is
a Sunday, and to call the vet out will be at least $4-500...she is not
exhibiting the sort of pain that a horse with colic usually does, so what to
do? I
called some friends to come help me get her back on her feet and that
accomplished she seemed to be OK except that she refused to go into her stall
and would
not eat anything offered to her, not even her favorite, carrots. This time,
rather than call the vet, I decided to first contact an animal communicator
who specializes in working with horses.
What Joy told the animal communicator was that she was feeling nauseous, so
much so that she had lain down, not considering at that moment that she would
not be able to get back up. She did not want to go in her stall because she
associated feeling bad with being in there. This particular AC is also skilled
in herbal therapy and is medically intuitive...she was able to tell me that
Joy's nausea stemmed from toxicity in the liver and recommended an herbal detox
product for her and suggested some other dietary modifications that would
likely help her. That call (and several follow-ups by email) cost me $85.00
and
within a day Joy was eating again and while I did have to tie her feed buckets
onto the fence outside her stall for several days, she eventually started
going back in her stall. I not only saved myself several hundred dollars, but
I
got some answers as to the source of Joy's problem and what I could do to
prevent a re-occurrence. There have been no more "pseudo colics" since then.
Another instance, with one of my cats, was a year ago November when my indoor
diva Miss Scarlett O'Haira (an incredibly vain and beautiful longhaired
orange tabby) managed to sneak out of the house during the night when I fell
asleep
and forgot to close the dog's pet door. She came sailing through the pet
door around 3AM and dove under my bed. When I attemped to exricate her, she
growled at me so I decided to let her be. When she did not come out for
breakfast
(very unusual, for this little lady is not just very fluffy, she is FAT) I
again attempted to drag her out and she not only growled, she bit me. When I
managed to get her out from under the bed, I could see that her normally lovely
fur coat was dirty and full of debris and when I tried to clean her up she
again tried to bite me. There was no blood and no sign of an injury, but her
left side felt like a balloon. I put her in her carrier and took her with me
to
the stable while l fed the horses, then took her to the vet. He looked at her
and told me she had a hernia, and I could not help but wonder how on earth a
4-year old cat who just wants to eat and sleep would get a hernia on its side,
not along the midline where you might expect. I asked if he could fix it
right away and he said to come back for her at the end of the day. When I
returned to pick up Scarlett, the vet came out to talk to me and was shaking
his
head in dismay...he said when he shaved off her fur, he found two puncture
wounds
in her skin and further investigation revealed a 4" tear in the abdominal
wall under the skin which was allowing her intestines to bulge outward. He had
to shove everything back in place and suture the tear closed and then sew up
the incision he'd had to make. He speculated she had been grabbed by a dog and
shaken, thus the internal tear without ripping the skin. I brought Scarlett
home, but she was not recovering well...her temp was down to 92 and she was not
moving around...she looked like a corpse but was still breathing. I wrapped
her in fleece and packed hot water bottles around her and sat with her all
night. By morning her temp was back to normal but a pinch test showed her to
be
dehydrated. She would not move and refused to eat, or even drink. I was
worried and called the vet and asked if he had seen any indication there might
have been internal damage, but he said no, everything was clean and nothing
internal had been punctured that he could see. I gave Scarlett subQ fluids,
but
still she did not perk up and I was begining to wonder if I should take her
somewhere to have an ultrasound done to try and determine if there had been any
internal damage because she was responding so poorly. But that would not only
have been very expensive, it would have been stressful for Scarlett, so I
decided to call the animal communicator, first. I was able to learn that it was
not
a dog, but a raccoon, that had attacked Scarlett, which surprised me greatly
because I had never seen one out and about since moving here, though I did
lose a chicken to a possum once. The dog theory had seemed unlikely to me
because our neighbors put their dogs inside at night and on a closer
inspection, I
found other toothmarks on her back that were too close together to be from a
large dog. The AC did not get a sense of any other injury...Scarlett said she
just felt awful and didn't want to move. I explained to her that she needed to
eat, or at least to drink or I would have to stick her with the needle to
give her fluids, and she said that was OK, but she didn't want to move or be
seen. She also said she was very angry. I asked her who she was angry with
and
she said it was with the vet. I was a bit surprised to say the least and asked
her if she realized he had saved her life. She said yes, she was aware of
that, but he had shaved off her fur! I had to laugh as that is SO like
Scarlett
to be so illogical about something like that. She did come out of hiding and
begin to eat within a day or two after that, but would turn her shaven side
away. She is one vain kitty. Again, a call to an animal communicator saved me
much money that would have been unnecessarily spent on an expensive and
stressful exam and gave me answers I was not able to get from the vet.
I could give you numerous other examples, but I hope these two will suffice.
If anything caused me to get up on a soapbox, as you put it, it was the way
you posted about your situation to the list...saying it was a matter of life or
death and if you were not able to resolve Dartagnan's spraying, you intended
to relinquish him to the HS to be PTS. That was like an arrow to the
heart...to think that his life might be brought to an untimely end without his
having
a chance to be understood. I was trying to somehow find the right words to
make you reconsider and give him that chance. I am so very glad to hear that
you
were just venting and do not really intend to consider that an option.
Perhaps you would feel less defensive, and more receptive to the possibility
of what can be accomplished through animal comunication if you learned more
about it. I can recommend a book by the well-known AC Raphaela Pope, "Wisdom
of
the Animals." It is not a tedious book, but very entertaining and inspiring.
I have had consultations with Raphaela, and another AC I've consulted,
Jasmine Indra, was one of her proteges. Several years ago, when I got to meet
Raphaela, in person, I was profoundly impressed by what a serenely joyful aura
she
exuded when she talked about being able to communicate with animals. How I
wish that I could learn how to do so. If you cannot find a copy of this book
and would like to read it, please let me know and I can send you a copy...I
include sections from it in my "adoption manuals" that I prepare for those who
adopt one of my rescues. If I can be of any further assistance to you in
understanding animal communication, please do not hesitate to ask.
For Dartagnan's sake (and yours), I am still hoping you will give the matter
of consulting with an animal communicator serious thought. You've been given
the names/numbers of two good ones who are very compassionate, not expensive
and might even be willing to help (given your extenuating circumstances) at no
charge. You've also been given the e-address for the Yahoo group, and perhaps
Madelina, the AC intern, will decide to offer her services to you.
Through animal communication, it is possible to learn things that medical
tests and vet exams cannot shed any light on. Our modern traditional medicine
is
marvelous, but it tends to focus on diagnosis based on purely physical
symptoms, without taking the spiritual/emotional aspect into consideration. And
where behavior is concerned, that is often far more important than whatever may
be
going on physically. Cats are very spiritual creatures and, (haven't you
noticed?) like sponges for our emotions, especially the negative sort. We do
them
a great disservice if we fail to take that aspect into account when dealing
with what we perceive to be problems.
With regards to another blood test, as I mentioned before, I've dealt with
hyperthyroidism in cats, and usually doing a "free T3" is only indicated when
there are other suspicious symptoms such as accelerated heart rate, ravenous
appetite yet loss of weight, but the T4 is normal and so does not confirm it.
HyprThism in a young cat like Dartagnan would be rare; it tends to correlate
with much older cats. Such a blood test here costs $80-100 most places. If
you
would like to learn more about HyprThism and the testing for it, the website
Holisticat.com gives a good explanation and there are other websites which do
so as well, if you do a search for "Feline Hyperthyroidism." With all the
exams and testing you've already done, there is little to indicate a physical
basis for Dartagnan's behavior...it seems to me your limited resources would be
better spent elsewhere.
I am not trying to cram anything down anyone's throat, just making a sincere
appeal on behalf of an innocent creature who cannot speak for himself without
assistance from a person who has cultivated the ability to communicate with
other sentient beings through thoughts rather than voice. As the title song
from a movie back in the 70's said it..."Bless the beasts and the children,
for in this world they have no choice, they have no voice."
Very sincerely yours,
Sally in San Jose
