4 Lessons Speaking to Pets at the Veterinarian’s Office
I was invited to spend two days at a holistic veterinarian’s practice and I learned so much communicating with the animals there. Here’s a summary of the biggest “aha” moments.
- Every animal “acknowledged” me in the exam room
This veterinarian, Dr. Cara Gardner, has gone out of her way to ensure that the pet examination rooms at ZenPets don’t feel sterile, institutional, or enclosed. Each room has a window, to see out into the central area and to let in light, and the rooms are large and pet-friendly.
I sat to the side or in a corner of each room, quietly focusing on the animal and on connecting with him/her. I didn’t motion to them or call to them; in fact, I sometimes closed my eyes so that I could focus on centering myself.
The vet pointed out to me, at the end of my visits, that each animal acknowledged me (except one that was seriously injured) by either coming over to me or lying down next to me. She was impressed with this, since I didn’t do anything to call the animal to me except through telepathic connection.
I wasn’t sure how the animals would respond to this, either, and was pleased that they acknowledged me in this way.
2. Every animal is unique
I thought that I’d start to see patterns, or types, but that’s not the case at all. Every single animal that I saw was unique in its personality and presentation.
Some were incredibly friendly and jumped all over me. Some were shy and kept to their owners. Some were tentative and would come over to say hello to me as they explored their environment.
But there were not generalizations to be made. Each animal was a new, blank slate. That was exciting… and exhausting. It was like starting all over again, each time. And because connecting with an animal takes focus and concentration, I was exhausted at the end of each day.
I hadn’t realized that this repetition – starting all over again, with each new patient – would take so much out of me. But it did. And it took me a day to recuperate afterwards!
3. If an animal is nervous, upset, or scared – I can’t connect with them
Unfortunately, many animals get scared when they come to a veterinarian’s office. I chose to work with a holistic veterinarian because most of the animals aren’t scared there. In fact, Dr. Cara and her staff spend most of their time making sure the animals are at ease and have a positive experience.
But there are exceptions, despite this work. If an animal is injured, for example, it’s in pain, or concerned, and less open to connecting with me. Also, some animals are more shy around strangers than others. Like people, we need to be respectful of their individual personalities and boundaries.
4. I told one animal how to make himself feel better – because he was open to it
I was able to connect with all of the animals at this holistic veterinarian’s office during the two days I was there, though I was able to have closer connections with some more than others.
There was one dog, in particular, who was very stressed about what was going on in his household: two other dogs in his home had died (one very unexpectedly) within a relatively short amount of time. As a result, he was feeling the losses himself and feeling wave of emotions from his humans, as they were grieving the dogs and worried about him, their remaining dog.
He was the only one that I gave “instructions” to, for him to start to feel better, to help him to deal with the stressful energy he was feeling in the household. He was amenable to the idea and even came over to me and lay down next to me, to show me that he was ready to try.
Overall, the experience at ZenPets was a wonderful experiment – and Dr. Cara and I both believe it was a success.
If you’re interested in setting up a time with me to visit with animals, in person, please reach out and let’s talk.
