Photo by Mikhail Vasilyev

At any age, an animal can experience trauma.

You can’t always tell just by looking at a cat or dog, but stress and trauma can affect animals as well as humans.  Sometimes it’s clearly there in their expressions.

Loss of one’s human family and home due to floods, fires, earthquakes, and other natural situations are on the rise for animals.

Imagine if you experienced this loss, and then someone picked you up off the streets, put you in a cage, and sent you far away from your home so you’d never be able to find your human family again.

And many are moved around from shelter to shelter, while others are killed (euthanized is not a correct term here) out of so-called kindness.

This is the situation experienced by many displaced animals today. With the best of intentions, they are shipped by rescue organizations all over the US.

Their emotional state is often not taken into account, partially because many humans still don’t understand that animals feel just as humans do.

Visits to the veterinary office can also trigger stress.

Yesterday I took Starlight to the homeopathic veterinarian because she has an upper respiratory infection.  Her sense of smell is severely reduced and I have to put very smelly fish into her food to get her to eat.

Although the veterinarian we saw is quiet, calm, and gentle, and one whom Starlight has seen before, she became upset when I left for 2 minutes to use the restroom.  All the way home she meowed and said that she wasn’t sure it was me because she couldn’t smell me.

Cats rely on their sense of smell to identify people and other animals.   Of course, while driving a car, it’s hard to reassure a cat in a crate of anything.  Despite my reassurances verbally and telepathically,  she continued to be upset until we got home.

Once in her normal environment, she calmed down, used the litter box, and ate a hearty, fishy smelling meal.  Melissa grooming her helped, too.

If even this type of situation can cause stress, imagine what it’s like to go to the vet and be left there for surgery or after an injury without anyone explaining what’s happening.

Most veterinary practices perform euthanasia and the animals who are staying there are sick or injured, so the energy there can be intense.  Preparing a animal to see the vet can help, but may not be the whole answer, and isn’t always possible, especially in an emergency.

Symptoms of stress and trauma don’t always show up immediately after a traumatic event.  It may appear weeks or even months later.  And some animals may experience more than one trauma before showing symptoms.

There are lots of websites listing symptoms that could indicate stress and trauma in a dog or cat, but don’t necessarily mean the animal is experiencing symptoms of stress and trauma.  For example, inappropriate urination can be caused by a urinary tract infection or other issues.

However if you notice any of these behaviors in your cats or dog, you might consider that there is something going on that is stress associated.  I found this wonderful list at:  http://www.goodpetparent.com/2015/02/06/ptsd-pets/

• Uncharacteristic aggressiveness
• Fearfulness, trembling
• Increased agitation
• Decreased appetite and weight loss
• Reduced interest in playing, going for walks, or interacting with other pets and/or people
• Hyper-vigilance (an intense, “on guard” awareness of surroundings)
• Tendency to be easily startled
• Urinating or defecating inside (when previously housebroken)
• Increased neediness or attachment
• Unprovoked whining or crying
• Excessive barking or meowing
• Destructive behavior
• Extreme escape behavior to avoid a stresser (such as chewing through drywall to attempt to flee during a thunderstorm)
• Sudden changes in temperament
• Hiding for no reason
• Excessive panting
• Pacing
• Fear of being alone
• Sleep disturbances
• Avoidance of people, places, or things associated with a traumatic event

Even an animal who has lived with you for some times can develop symptoms of stress and trauma.  Still, when you are looking for a new companion, be aware that many may have gone through stressful situations before you find them.

When you open your heart to adopt someone at a rescue shelter, you may sense right away that the animal is in an enormous amount of emotional pain.  You may want to help, want to connect with them. You may feel drawn to adopt that person in fur or feathers.

But this isn’t always the case.  Some frightened beings are able to mask their emotions, and then when you get them home, it becomes obvious that there’s more going on than you might have suspected.

And once you realize that there’s something going on, the steps necessary for healing are not always obvious.

Since each case is different, general suggestions, such as “give the new animal his/her own space” or “be very patient with the animal” are great, but may not move the animal forward as effectively or as quickly as working with a professional animal communicator who can connect telepathically with your new companion.

A Professional Animal Communicators has special abilities that are very helpful to the animal:

• the ability to sense and feel the animal’s energy.
• the ability to to experience the animal’s perspective viserally and emotionally.
• the ability catch glimpses of the animal’s inner emotional state, even when they may be deeply hidden.
• The ability to help the animal communicate with their new human companions to facilitate mutual understanding.

Most animals respond well to someone making a telepathic connection, in part because it may be the first time they have ever experienced this and don’t have any old baggage around it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the animal is going to open up and pour out their life history.

Just as you may find it too difficult to talk about your own life traumas, animals often feel the same way.  But just knowing that someone can listen and understand helps many animals begin to open up again.

When you’ve been traumatized, trust is at a minimum or gone, and rebuilding trust can take a very long time.

Still, in a telepathic conversation, it’s possible to encourage an animal to begin to consider the possibility that their life situation is improving and their feelings will be respected.

When you’re in a traumatized state or feeling extreme stress, the feeling of having no control and of being powerless makes recovery feel hopelessly impossible.

In contrast, an Animal Communicator can ask the animal what will make him/her more comfortable.  An Animal Communicator can encourage the animal to take some first steps towards healing.

Combining Animal Communication with Energy Healing and with The Emotion Code™ technique (of Dr. Bradley Nelson) brings together 3 powerful tools to help an animal transform back to feeling good about life.

So if you’ve recently brought home a new animal companion whom you suspect has some serious trauma in his/her past, consider Animal Communication and Energy Healing for your new family member.