Hooray – Henry finds a home!!

Bella's always been a little picky about the cats she'll let into her garden. In fact, with just one exception a couple of years ago, she'll hiss and spit at them all, and once even took a run at a poor hapless cat sitting in the middle of the lawn, landing a smack around the chops.

But a few weeks ago a lovely young boy cat came calling, and it all changed. She'd lie on the patio in front of him, legs in the air, flirting like mad. He didn't seem to know what to make of it, but was friendly enough. It was fairly clear though that he was a stray, and he'd worked out that where a cat lived, there would also be food. I used to find him sheltering inside the compost bin (not used for compost, just looks like a redundant dalek), so started putting food in there for him. Of course, he became a regular visitor.

What made me so sure he was a stray was that he was always on the lookout for food, his coat was a little dirty, he was always around, and he very obviously hadn't been neutered. I was starting to think that I should put notices up to see whether any neighbours came forward to claim him, and if not, would see if I could get him along to Animals in Distress – so that he could be checked out by a vet, neutered, and hopefully found a lovely new home. He was quite friendly, although fairly quiet and shy, but had a gentle way about him – I was sure he'd settle well into a home with someone. I'd even started wondering whether Bella would be happy for him to move in with us.

Before I could do that, someone beat me to it! There were posters attached to lampposts with his lovely face on. They said that he'd been visiting these people, and that he was very friendly – but clearly they wanted to find out whether he belonged to anyone. I called and left a message, and a few days later Sophie called back. No-one had contacted her apart from me, so they were certain he didn't have a home to call his own. She and her partner had decided that they would be happy for him to live with them, which was great news.

They decided to call him Henry, and he now sports a smart new green collar, which will indicate to people he has a home to go to.

Things are going quite well. The weather's been fine recently, so most of the time he seems happy to be outside, continuing to wander around his territory. But he always knows where to go for food, and whenever Sophie opens the door at meal times he's always there. He's even slept in their bedroom 3 times.

And I've been to take care of him as Sophie and her partner have been away for a couple of weekends recently. It's lovely to see him in his new home, and see how well he's doing. On Saturday morning he came in for his food, then went upstairs. I followed a little while later and found him flat out on the bed, fast asleep. He stirred a little as I went in, but not for long. It was an extremely hot day, and I think all the heat had made him very tired. Also, when you're living the life of a stray cat, you can never quite switch off, even while you're asleep – who knows what other cats might be coming around? He just needed a good long sleep, knowing that he would be safe. The next morning he looked very refreshed, and ready to go out again.

He knows where his home is now, although having spent a while as a stray, he might never really become a home-loving cat, preferring to wander outside as much as he can. But he loves his new garden, knows it's his, and is never far from the back door. So, I've not seen him here now for a couple of weeks; now that he has a home and regular food, he's less need to go finding food where he can. For a few days Bella would go outside looking for him, but I think she's forgotten now. She'll get over it!

The Trust Technique with James French

I've written before about how I first realised I could communicate with animals, how I went on to learn more about it, and how it's now an essential part of how I care for all the animals I go to see.

I'm returning to this theme as I wanted to share a wonderful video with you. I have studied animal communication and behaviour with the amazing James French and his partner Shelley. At one of our learning sessions he introduced what he calls "The Trust Technique" to the group.

Although it was a very, very cold November afternoon, we all went and stood in the stables with a couple of horses who had both experienced very traumatic pasts, and their behaviour showed this. They were very aggressive (and in a big animal that's also very dangerous to anyone nearby), and clearly extremely scared. I was so moved by what happened that I didn't feel the cold any more, just wanted to stay with the horses.

We had all learnt before how to still our minds, to be in the moment, in order to be able to communicate with animals, and this took it one stage further. By being quiet and still with an animal, finding that place of gentleness and love inside, and being totally in the present moment, it is possible to help the start of the healing process for the animal. It's easier if you watch what happens, so please have a look at this amazing video that James has posted. The link is at the end of this blog post.

I found it so powerful, and also so obviously simple (and through Reiki and intuitive communication, this was what I was doing anyway, but not necessarily so aware), I consciously brought this technique to the animals I work with at Animals in Distress. Healing takes time. It's not immediate. Many of the animals I work with have learnt to be very scared, especially of human beings. But in time, and sometimes in very tiny steps, this has helped them to start their healing, and learn to trust people. Once they've been able to do that, then the people who care for them are able to help them to heal even further.

Enjoy the video, and please post any comments, thoughts or questions you may have.

Click here for the link to James' blog, which contains the video.

Barnie's story

My friend Cindy has a lovely dog called Barnie who's a 14 year old Malinois (Belgian Shepherd dog). He'd recently been taken to the vet for a gland problem, and was prescribed a course of anti-biotics. Unfortunately the drugs did nothing to resolve the gland problem, but brought with it other problems, including being entirely off his food and losing a vast amount of weight.

Blood and urine tests were done, and they came back fine, so the vet wanted to take a sample and do some exploratory x-rays. Cindy was extremely reluctant to put him through something so stressful, with no real idea whether any particular cause would be identified. He's an old boy, suffers with osteoarthritis, and also had a severe bloat attack a couple of years ago. He'd also been on antibiotics before, and they'd done nothing to resolve the problem then either.

Intuitively Cindy felt that neither drugs nor surgery were the answer. Thinking about the anti-biotics, she'd been wondering whether as well as killing off the bad bacteria, they'd also been stripping him of all his good bacteria, and was this now at the root of the problem? Would a good pro-biotic be helpful for him?

She contacted me to see whether, in my experience with animals, I could offer any ideas or suggestions. Well, I've had no experience in the use of pro-biotics with animals, so wasn't in a position to offer any ideas. And I didn't know of any vets I could recommend to talk to about this. But I've been going to a naturopath for a number of years, and she's extremely expert on the use of pro-biotics albeit with people and not animals. Gabi has a dog, so I wondered whether she had any experience of using pro-biotics with Ollie.

She provided some very good advice which I passed back to Cindy, who then went off and did lots of internet research. Seems that her intuitive idea was a good track to follow..........

Very quickly she got some pro-biotics for Barnie, and his improvement was almost immediate. A few days later she was in touch again to say that he continued to get better and better. How wonderful!!! She never did get a complete diagnosis for whatever it was that was wrong with him, but it does look like the anti-biotics had a lot to do with causing the problem.

Clearly she'll continue to monitor his condition closely, and of course, will return him to the vet should she need to.

But this story raised some interesting issues for me....... These are very personal issues, but they might resonate with you too, would be interested to hear your views.

The first is that Cindy trusted her intuition as to Barnie's needs. She was tuning into him, and learning what it was that might resolve his problem. As you all know, I communicate intuitively with animals all the time, and I strongly believe that we can all do this. Cindy also did this.

The second is that mainstream medicine - both for people and animals - needs to open its eyes and heart more to other approaches. A client of mine put it very well: "...seems awfully cruel and patronising to insist that no cure has taken place because science struggles to explain it." There are a number of scientists at the cutting edge these days who are understanding the link between what they would call rational science/medicine and other healing modalities. Clearly as a Reiki practitioner, this is a subject very close to my heart.

Many are still subject to their very limited thinking, and possibly ruled by either ego, fear or financial considerations. After all, the drugs and chemical companies are extremely rich and therefore wield a certain amount of power! For many people, it's not comfortable for the status quo to be challenged, and things they've always known or believed in to be changed or shaken up. There are a small number of vets who take a holistic and/or naturopathic approach, but are still rather few and far between.

This doesn't mean I'm advocating turning our backs on mainstream medicine either. That would be daft. There is so much we've learnt about the ways our bodies work, and so many amazing advances towards improving health have been made over the years. There are thousands of wonderful medical and healthcare professionals.

But mainstream medicine doesn't necessarily have all the answers. So, what needs to happen now is for both approaches to appreciate that each have so much to offer, and they are two sides of the same coin. Let's all start to work together now in a spirit of trust, hope and endeavour to continue to understand and improve health for all living beings on this wonderful planet of ours.

I could go on and on and on on this subject, but will leave it there I think....... (although may possibly return to this issue from time to time!!)

Finally, although Barnie is clearly doing so much better now, this isn't necessarily the end of the story. It is possible that he'll suffer a setback, or develop something else. But that can happen anyway, whether with mainstream medical intervention or other approaches. Or perhaps he will just get better and better and live well and comfortably until the end of his natural life........

I'll finish this story by sending love and healing to Barnie and Cindy. xx

On the subject of cat litter again....

I know, I've written about cat litter a couple of times before, firstly about how I really do detest that awful fullers earth clumping stuff, then about the habit they all seem to have of needing to christen a fresh new litter tray straight away.

But this is different. And a bit of a plea..........

All the cat experts will tell you that cats like to be fastidious and clean, and that their litter trays should be kept spotless at all times. Well, I'd echo that. I get to see a lot of litter trays, so I know what I'm talking about.

In my experience, for indoor cats, I'd say that many people need to completely refresh the litter more frequently than they think. And whenever you do a complete change, always properly clean and disinfect the litter tray. It's much better to err on the side of cleanliness.

It's also recommended that there should be one litter tray per cat in the household, plus one extra. Again, unless the cats are mostly outdoor cats and only use the litter tray infrequently, I'd agree with this. If you do have them sharing a litter tray, then it will definitely need a complete change every day.

This might sound a little over the top, but really, if you want happy cats, and a happy house this is the only way to be. And please stay away from Fullers' Earth litter!!

Complete or Complementary Food?

When you last bought food for your cat or dog, did you check the label to see whether it was Complete or Complementary? And what's the difference anyway?

It's so easy to assume that the premium brands, often at the most expensive prices, are going to be the best to feed your pet. But many of these will be labelled as Complementary, so won't have all the nutrition necessary for proper health and development.

I've been doing a bit of research, and have learnt that Complete foods can be classified as follows:

"A complete pet food is one which, when fed for an extended period (ie covering the whole period of the life stage) as the only source of nutrients, will provide for all the energetic and nutritional needs of the particular animals of the given species and physiological state for which it is intended."

In particular, cats must eat food that contains taurine, as they are unable to synthesise it themselves. This is essential for optimal retinal function and is vital for reproductive efficiency. All Complete foods will contain the required amount. Taurine is found naturally in meat, but not fish, so a Complete fish food for a cat will have added taurine. It shouldn't be assumed though that a cat food with a meat flavour - for example beef - will contain sufficient taurine (and other essential nutrients) unless it is labelled as a Complete food.

The legal definition of a Complementary food is:

"......one, which by reason of its composition is not sufficient to ensure a daily ration unless used in combination with another food."

Complementary foods are absolutely fine to feed your cat or dog, but you will always need to ensure that a Complete food is also provided. This doesn't mean that Complementary foods are poor quality - the vast majority are extremely good quality, but will not contain all the nutrients needed.

The information in this blog post has been found in the following document from the European Pet Food Industry Federation, which contains much more information - if you feel inclined to read it! http://http//www.fediaf.org/Pages/NutritionalGuidelines%202005.pdf

All you need to do though, is to check the labels when you're shopping and ensure you know what you're feeding your cat or dog. Complementary food is absolutely fine as a treat from time to time, but always ensure that they receive Complete food at least every day.

Oh for a nice cup of tea......

A few weeks ago I went to meet Natalie, a new customer, and her cat Louis (he does look very regal, so very well named!). We had a lovely chat over a cup of green tea - peppermint is my favourite, but she didn't have any in, so green it was.

Anyway, a few weeks later, I went along to take care of Louis while she and her family were away for a long weekend. She was very sweet and had bought a pack of peppermint tea for me, and left it in the kitchen along with a cup, with a note to help myself.

So many of my customers are very kind and leave out the tea and coffee for me. But the reality is that I rarely get time to drink anything, other than a slurp from the bottle of water I always carry around with me (it's thirsty work!).

The thing is, if I'm there for half an hour, if you take away the time spent washing up the cat bowls, putting out more food, and checking or changing the litter, it only leaves a few minutes to be with the cats. And to be honest that's what I'd rather do - that's what I'm there for, and that's why I do what I do. I've thought before about popping the kettle on, and making a cup of something hot, but with a cat on my lap, or wanting playing with, a very hot mug in the other hand isn't very safe. And then up I jump to go to see the next cat - and it's probably still too hot to drink.

So, for all you people imagining me spending the day sitting down drinking tea and coffee, you'd be wrong!!

Adopting from Rescues or Buying?

On Linked In, I'm a member of a group that is related to those who work with animals, and there are various discussions that go on on line.

A recent discussion was one that is close to my heart. Someone raised the question about why so many people are reluctant to take on a rescue animal, as opposed to buying from from a breeder. The writer was from the US, so she was quoting recent data she'd come across (didn't cite the source though) that less than 20% of animals in homes are from rescue centres.

I've been trying to find data on UK rescue ownership, but finding it difficult - however, when I do, I'll update you. But I was surprised the figure was so low, as so many people I know, whether they're customers, friends, neighbours, family, etc do have animals that were once resident at rescue centres. And people seem to be really happy to let people know that their animal came from a rescue centre.

As with any discussion, it did get off track a bit, what with people flying the flag for their own issues. However, even if the figures are different for the UK, I'm still interested to know why people, if they're making a conscious choice, prefer to go to rescue centres to find their animal companions. And if they've decided not to, then why not?

Please join in with your own thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences.

What happened in May?

I started writing this blog for a number of reasons, but mostly because I found it enjoyable. To sit and share with you all my experiences in working and being with animals, my thoughts, ideas, opinions and suggestions - and to hear from you about yours - is a great way to add to what we all know about the animals with whom we share our lives.

I've always had plenty of ideas for subjects, and found that in a spare few moments, I'd be happily typing away. But the whole of May has gone without a single post!! That's very unusual. Ever since I started I've made a number of posts every month - some months have been very full! Now and again, when things get really busy, I might struggle to write as many, but still, manage always to write a few.

May has been very busy, both with animals, and with my people related activities. But I'm sure that I could have found time somewhere to write a post or two. And it's not that I have no ideas for subjects to write about - there's loads buzzing around in my mind, even as I write now. I have a list with subject titles, just ready to be written about.

No, I think that what happened was that I lost the muse for a little while. When I started I wanted this to be enjoyable first and foremost, but during May, whenever I sat at the keyboard ready to type, it felt like a chore. Now, there's no way I want to force something out if it just doesn't want to come. It won't read right, and I won't be happy about it. So I've been a little quiet.

I also think that it's part of a little phase I've been going through. Normally I'm a very sociable person, who likes to reach to out others, to communicate, to bring people together. It's who I am. But now and again I feel the need to bring the drawbridge up for a bit, curl up inside myself, hold myself in. So, it's not just my blog. I've been in contact less than normal with my friends, family and other people I know. Even with Facebook and Linked In, even though I've been reading what others are writing, I've felt less inclined to include my own comments.

But it's different when it comes to being with animals. Although I've held back from people a little of late, I've done lots of talking to the animals I've been with. They are so wise, loving, giving and accepting. Perhaps that's what I've needed. Perhaps that why I felt the need to shut up shop with people for a bit. Now that I can feel myself coming out the other side, I can appreciate that it's been good for me, I've needed to do this. And I know that I do this from time to time - confuses those who don't know me so well, but good friends and family understand. I feel nourished and refreshed now, and ready to take on the world again - but in a quieter way than before.

So, I shall still be writing blog posts from time to time, whenever the mood takes me. And I look forward to hearing from you all too - please share you own thoughts, comments, ideas and suggestions.