Becoming a Foster Parent

Recently David and I had the opportunity to become foster parents for an abandoned bunny that had been running around in our neighborhood. He is a beautiful silver and white agouti domestic short hair rabbit. Because we don't the sex of the bunny we named him Silver (he even has a silver streak behind his ears). I of course was concerned at first, with Reggie in the house, I didn't want there to be any territorial battles. I told reggie that we were taking care of a bunny for a short time before he goes to another temporary home before he is adopted. All Reggie said that as long as he stays in the kitchen, he will be fine. Blessedly, our kitchen is big enough for him to get in some exercise. The first two days we let him stay in his cage to get acclamated to his new surroundings. The third day. We opend the door to his cage and let him roam a bit. He was a little cautious at first. I blocked off the kitchen with a pice of foam board and put a chair in front of the entrance so he could only stay in the kitchen area. he sniffed outside the opening of the cage before he came bounding out. All Rabbits seem to do the same thing. They sniff first and then bound out of the cage quickly and almost look like they are doing a Cosmo Kramer impression (he was a quirky character in the sitcom, Seinfeld). I gave hm some unsweetend fruit treats as a peace offering and he eagerly took them from me. Both Moon and Fiona were in the room with me and observing him. When they saw I was giving Silver treats, they wanted in on it to and got in their treat sitting position. I got the treats from the fridge and started distributing treats to Moon and Fiona. Silver saw the whole thing and came up to the girls to see if he could have another treat.

Good sign that he isn't freaked out by cats. He seems to be very calm about everything. Fast movements don't seem to faze him. I did a couple of light dancing to see if he would be nervous of this big object moving around in a crazy pattern. He looked at me once and then went on to more exploring of the kitchen. Because our kitchen is pretty much bunny proofed to begin with I didn't see anything I would have to move around. All the cords are safely behind things-no way he can reach them. The kitchen has a linoleum flooring so if he does have an accident it will be easy to clean up. So I sat at the table and quietly observed him.

I realized that he could go under the bakers rack that is unprotected and if he wants to stay burrowed under there, we couldn't get him back in his cage. So I called him "Silver, come" and I made a couple of quick claps to get his attention. He came out. But being the determined bunny he is he tried to get behind there again this time I put my hand behind him and redirected him out. he didn't flinch that I had my hand on him, he was very calm.

He has a really good personality. gets along with cats, housebroken already. responds to his name. I haven't picked him up, but David has and he says he is easy to handle. So who ever adopts this rabbit is going to have a family member. I have felt for a long time that one of the roles David and I have is that of helping to find homes for other animal beings. I used to do this mediation that we ran a placement agency for families to come together. So I think this is a lesson from the Universe "let's see if you really want to walk your talk. What the start of a wonderful journey.

Let the Healing Begin

I have been actively using Reiki energy on animals and it is very rewarding when I can see changes. I recently spoke to two very nice cats. these cats (that I will change the names for privacy reasons), Plato and Leanardo. They were born in the urban jungle and didn't feel comfortable around humans. My friend, Janet, wanted them to come indoors to keep them safe. There was a big, agressive cat who was terrorizing them.

So one evening. I went to my studio and connected with them. I asked Plato why he wouldn't go in the house or let Janet pet him even though he knew her really well since she had been feeding him. He answered me "I am afraid I won't be able to go outdoors again." I reassured him that Janet would never keep him captive, that she respected him and just wanted him to be safe from that cat. I could feel his energy relax.

Then I went to Leanardo and asked him why he is afraid to come indoors, he said that Janet's brother didn't want him in the house. I told him that he had since changed his mind and would be more open to both him and his brother coming in the house. Then I said "if you want to come into the house you need to do the human claiming ritual and allow Janet to pet you and pick you up if you feel comfortable".

Then I did some Reiki balancing using the Reiki animal healing symbol to release both their stress. I always use a visual of a rose bud opening up to let me know the treatment worked. I had two buds by them and then the buds went into a beautiful pinkish-red color and I saw irridescent flecks of energy swirling around them. Before we said good bye, I told them I was sending some angelic beings to protect them from that agressive cat I will call "Bud" and I said from this day forward you are protected.

After these words I felt a woosh of energy and felt the presence of a cat jumping on my lap. My cats were not in my studio. I am not sure if this was Bud or the Angels telling me they were on the case, but I felt something. That was the first time I felt a physical weight on me. I was glad that I am opening my channel to recieve more clear messages. It was time to end the session. I imagined all the healing energy coming together swirling as fast and ferocious as a tornado and then it dispersed into the Universe.

The next day I called Janet, because I was also doing so Reiki on her and also wanted to see how she was doing, she said she felt a little better and then she said excitedly that Plato let her pick him up and he was purring. It was nice confirmation. I have been doing this work on myself and others for over 20 years but it is always nice to recieve confirmation. Which is one of the reasons I really like working with animals, they don't question energy work, they just go with how they are feeling, they don't dissect the process or try to intellectualize why or how it works, they just accept it as it is.

When the Student is Ready the Teacher Appears

I love that saying and it is so true. Since I have been on my true path with spirit, I have been directed to talk to the right people or be in the right place at the right time. I know that not everyone may agree with me or think I am being airy-fairy or woo-woo, but for me this a reality and I have been living a much fuller life-full of magic, happy surprises, an abundance of laughter and vibrating joy.

I have been taking a lot of classes the past few months. Classes in Chakra balancing, Meditation and grounding techniques and have been actively using the healing modality of Reiki which means Life force. It is an energy work that is very subtle-some people feel it as a relaxing sensation that is very peaceful, but a Reiki practitioner can move any stuck energy in the body so if there is any dis-ease or discomfort, the Reiki will move it so balance can take place and also along with the inner work, an aspect in your outer life will also improve. I have used it to protect myself energetically when I have had problem customers who want to project their bad energy on me, with these techniques, I have learned to send the energy back to them like light bouncing back and they either stop or leave because they don't like their own energy.

So on Thanksgiving, I was writing in my journal about the benefits of Reiki and contemplating how I wanted to use it--all of a sudden I felt a rush of cool energy surrounding my arms and my face and I knew there was spirit trying to get my attention. I also got a headache which is telling me that there was too much psychic energy coming at me. I told the spirit to stop and he did pull his energy back. That same day I had invited my friend, who is also psychic, to dinner. while we were waiting for the food to be done I asked her to see if she could find out who and why he is contacting me.

Almost instantly, she said that there is actually a group of guides who are here to help me and Alan is the contact guide who is going to teach me about using herbs to get in balance so I can do my Reiki work. I was excited. When I decided to revisit my Reiki teachings I realized that Reiki was part of the work I am to do spiritually. I allowed Alan to come to me in a subtle way to give me direction. I wondered why I suddenly liked being in our vegetable garden and would get euphoric when I was out there. Alan loved all plant life and it gave him energy being here. I always felt there was something special about our garden.

Part of the changes that Alan is guiding me is I am drinking more tea, particularly white Jasmine that has a lot of things for immunity and balance. I am more active. I love being outdoors more than I used to. I am taking a lot more walks and taking my Nikon camera to record any thing that catches my interest. As a result I am also losing weight just by choosing different foods and adding additional activity.

As I have been switching from Coffee to drinking green tea, Rose tea and white Jasmine tea, I have been hearing my guidance more closely and it feels good to be that connected. Which brings me to my latest discovery. My true calling. I am to be a Reiki practitioner for Animals and Plant life. It came very clear-this message-"you love working with animals, why not specialize in Reiki for animals? I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I do feel a real affinity with animals. Even though I am human, I feel a close connection with animals.

I seem to hear the energy of the birds who live in our neighborhood and take seeds and twigs from our garden for their nests and feeding their families. They are starting to recognize me as an OK human. I even had a humming bird flying outside my kitchen window trying to get my attention! They are so small, but one morning something told me to look out the window and there was his little body facing me, fluttering its wings as if to say "good morning". I did my little wave I make when I am acknowledging another being and when it got my attention, it flew away.

So when I got the message I said to David "I just decided to specialize in treating animals with Reiki. I don't know why I didn't think of this before." The next day I was corresponding to my Reiki Master who did the certification for my Reiki and I mentioned that I have decided to work with animals and Reiki. She emailed me back and asked me if I had gotten the animal attunement to work with animals?! I didn't even know such a thing had existed. I asked her if she knew someone who could do the Attunement on me and it so happened she knew the perfect person. So I am getting the Attunement tomorrow.

It is truly a blessing that when I am in alignment with my authentic self, the information and resources I need to move me toward my goal just appear. Of course I know the Law of Attraction works for me too and so all this synchronicity just continues to flow together. So if you need my services for Animal Reiki drop me a line. I am here to help.

Reiki and Animals

I am a Reiki Practitioner. Reiki means life force. So What a Reiki practitioner does is to move the life force through the body when there is stuck energy that can cause blockages and dis-eases in the body. It is a subtle energy healing modality and not everybody feels it when a practitioner is working on them, but they will notice the changes in their body and in aspects of their life. Because blocked energy can be the cause of some discomfort in our life--conflict with friends and family, feeling unsupported, fear of moving forward, etc., this will also show up in your body as headaches, back or knee pain. For instance when you say someone is a pain in the neck, that is a block in that part of the body. So when I work with someone I can help remove and release an energy that is the cause of the physical ailments and my clients also find that an aspect in their lives also gets resolved.

Animals respond to Reiki very well. Because they aren't thinking a million thoughts like us humans, the Reiki will move very quickly and balance is restored once again. I had a girl-cat, Cleo (photo at left) who suffered with asthma. When she would have an attack I would place my hands a few inches from her body and within minutes the asthma attack subsided. Emma, our black and white cat, was having eye problems, so she has been letting me do Reiki on her and I have noticed a change in her eyes. Emma does not like to be held or touched so I do the treatments a few feet away from her, because I can also do long distance treatments and she will sit there for 2-3 minutes while I work on her. When she feels she has had enough, she will move. Animals always know how much they need.
Another Cat, who passed away a year ago, Nicholas (photo at left), was traumatized by 17 other cats when he was being fostered. He was so terrified by anything that moved after that, when I adopted him, he would run away from me if I came too close. I would do some long distance healing and within 5 years, he was a very affectionate lap cat.

I volunteer at the local humane society where I live and work at the front desk. One hectic morning some good Samaritans were dropping off a mom cat and her litter that were living under their car. They brought them in a carrier and the mom was very fearful and hissing and snarling. they had to transfer the mom and her brood to one of the cages at the site. So while they were filling out the paper work. I communicated with the mom that we were only trying to help them and I was going to send some energy to help her relax. within minutes she quieted down and the kittens turned to look at me very intently. The couple that brought them in were amazed at how they were all looking at me.

So Reiki is good for Animals whether for illness or quieting anxiety. And it is easy to learn to do. If you are interested, there are some good resources available so you can take a class to recieve the Reiki Attunements then you work on your animal companions. The other benefit of Reiki energy is that you can use the Reiki energy to enhance the healing properties of any medication you need to give to your animal companion so they take what they need and lessen the side effects.

Here is a good book and it is titled appropriately:

Animal Reiki: Using Energy to Heal the Animals in Your Life (Paperback)by Elizabeth Fulton (Author), Kathleen Prasad (Author)

The Prodigal Daughter

I call Emma our prodigal daughter because she does see us as her family, but doesn't feel the need to be with us in the house all the time. Emma was born in the urban jungle. We never knew who her bio-mom was. We met her shortly after we moved into our home in Vallejo. We were out in our garden talking to our next door neighbors, Wheeler and Linda and we see a kitten not more than a week old next to our compost heap, of course we became alarmed to see this tiny being seemingly abandoned. Was he sick, is that why it was abandoned? No sooner after we started discussing what we needed to do about the kitten, out of the far right side of the garden, we see a black and white cat holding another tiny being in her mouth to put the little one next to his sibling. We realized that the first kitten was not abandoned, the bio-mom, Emma (at the time we called her Black and White Kitty), was transporting her litter to our home for safe keeping. We found out later, that there were some neighbors in back of us that were doing some yard work and Emma needed to more her pride to a temporary home until it was safe to move back. What a good Mom. Linda, a lady who along with another lady, trapped many feral cats and got them spayed and put them back in the neighborhood, knew of this mom cat. They had already trapped her first litter and was able to get them spay or neutered but the mom was another story. She could not be caught. We knew she needed to be spayed but she was very crafty she always seemed to know what the traps were for. But we were patient. We knew eventually if we just kept getting her trust, we could persuade her for us to get her the vet. So when it was time they were able to get Emma's latest litter.

David seemed to get along will with Black and White Kitty and she started letting him pet him. Me-she was still unsure of who I was. She was suspicious of me, she knew I could understand her and she did not want me to know what she thought. But I knew that eventually she would realize that I was an ok human and she would open up to me. When I would see her, I would tell her how important it would be for her to go to the vet and have the operation. she wouldn't have those awful feelings she gets and have those male cats after her. It would calm her down and it would keep her healthy. She still wouldn't come up to me but she would sit from a distance as I spoke to her. Then one day, on a Saturday morning, David was able to pick 'Black and white kitty" and took her over to one of the ladies who worked as a vet tech. They took her in and got her spayed.

Black and White kitty stayed with the vet tech's home to recooperate when she was well enough to go out, she started coming over to our house more and more. In the evenings, I would still go out and talk with her. I told her we would love for her to join our family--that we would always made sure she would lots of good food to eat and toys to play with and a warm place to stay when the weather was a little too cold or rainy. She would look at me as if she was playing with the idea of being a house cat. She really liked her freedom and the idea of not being able to go outdoors didn't appeal to her. After all, she had the whole neighborhood and a garden as her territory.

Six months had passed. We still had our quiet talks (mostly me and her listening). Finally I said, you don't have to be in the house all the time, you can still be part of our family, but you will have a place to go to when you need it. And if you accept this, I want to name you. That is what humans do when they adopt a family member. I would like to call you Emma. It is feminine but a strong and independent name. So you like the name and want to be part of our family. I want you to come inside the house to let us know that you accept. Two weeks later, whe came in.

Emma is so sweet, but she sill has the primal instincts from living outdoors most of her life. During the summer months she does prefer to live outdoors, but in the winter months, she does spend the night in the home. Sometimes if we pet her too much she will respond with a bite, but over the years, she has learned to stop before she bites. She listens so well. she understands to be courteous and honor the other cats in the home and she is very good about that. In fact it is Oski who we have to watch, he will still try to get territorial with her, she is good, she will give a ferocious hiss to let him know she is not pleased and I will intervene on her behalf.

She accepts us on her own terms as her family. There are times she wil get on the sofa and get on my lap and let me pet her. Those special moments mean so much to me. We love our prodigal daughter.

Reggie and Me

It has been over two months since Reggie the veggie boy has been living with us. It took him a couple of weeks to feel comfortable with me and now loves running through the house and exploring. The girls, Fiona, Annie and Moon seem to have a good friendship with him, but Oski, well that is another story. Reggie tolorates him, but if he feel Oski is getting too much in his business, he will rush after Oski and growl, Oski usually acquiesces and it is fine. They have learned to reach a compromise.

He is still getting used to David's energy, but being the good sport that he is, David is just letting Reggie find his own way. When I realized that Reggie liked me it was one of those special moments where I could see him processing something in his head. When I was on Bart earlier that day I said (telepathically) "If you want to get on my lap, just try it, if you don't like it, you can always jump off, but I feel you want to get on my lap, so just do it, you might like it." So as I was sitting on the love seat in his room reading "Digital Photography for Dummies" one moment he was on the floor, the next minute he hopped on the love seat with me and then proceeded to get on my lap. Because it was so new to him, he only stayed a few seconds, but in that time he sniffed my face and then I lowered my head and let him sniff my hair. then he jumped off fairly quickly, but I could tell he was pleased with himself that he was brave enough to go through with it. Shortly after that, when I was on the sofa watching TV, and he was out and about, he would make a point to get on my lap and explore again. I would make sure I had his favorite snacks on hand, banana chips-no sugar added, a piece of parsley or a piece of banana. Instantly I would see his eyes perk up and he would stay on my lap longer.

He is four paws full and a tale. He will get into anything he feels he needs to explore. Sometimes I think his motto is "Divide and conquer" because if he sees something that is blocking his view (like one of the barriers I made for an area of the home he needs to stay out of), he will do what ever he can to knock it down or tear it down with his claws or his teeth-that's why I use cardboard. One day I was working at my computer and I felt him jump on the chair with me. I thought he was saying hi, what he was actually doing was using me and the chair to make it easier to get on the computer table! he had no problem navigating his way to the top in the most efficient way possible. I recognized that from this point forward, I would have to keep the chair a good distance away from the computer table when I wasn't in the room so he wouldn't be tempted. I do have cords from my mouse and IPod charger. But one day, Reggie was out and I placed the chair away from the table but not far enough. I was in the dining room doing some painting and I heard a "crash". I run into the room and found Reggie behind the barrier! He was trying to jump from the chair to the table and mis-judged the distance. Was he hurt or traumatized? NO! he just proceeded to explore what was behind the barrier. I was able to get him from behind the barrier before he did any real damage (now I have another place to Reggie-Proof). I have since moved the chair so far that he knows he can't clear the distance. Yes, our Reggie is a jumper, a climber and a long distance jumper-a very athletic rabbit. Well at least it will keep him healthy.

And he still has a lot of attitude. He is very head strong and stubborn. When I tell him to move away from a new area and I know it isn't good for him. I will lightly guide him away, sometimes he isn't ready to move away and he will turn and growl at me. It startled me the first time he did it and I knew if I tried to force him, he would see it as agression and then I could lose his trust. So I went to get a treat and guided him out that way. He was fine and peace was restored once again.

I am really enjoying my friendship with Reggie. He will come up to me if I come into his room or when I come home from work. Sometimes he will follow me around to see what I am doing and then sometime we demonstrate our fancy foot work to each other. I will move around in a silly way and then he will do his own dance by racing around the room. it is run and I know we are playing . I also love sitting on the floor with him. sometimes he will put his paws on my legs or sometimes he will come up and sniff me, then run away very victoriously that he went out of his comfort zone.

In the months to come it will interesting to see the changes he makes as he gets more mature and understands the rules of the house. He is already learning to listen better and comes when I call him. He really is a wonderful addition to the family. Before we adopted him, I had my friend Cathy ask him if he would get along with the cats in the family, he said he wasn't sure but he was willing to try. And I glad he took the chance, because I can tell he is happy living with us. And we are so very happy he is here with us.

Maneuvering Through the Urban Jungle

Reggie has been living with us for almost a month now. He is comfortable in his room (my former creativity room) and loves to stay in there the majority of the time. The rest of the family will come in to hang out. Fiona and he seemed to have formed a friendship. I have seen them chase each other and the other morning, he was still in his pen and she was lying on the outside of it sharing space. I tried to take a photo of that, but unfortunately, I got distracted trying to capture Oski’s Sun cat essence and by the time I gave up (he just wouldn’t sit still) I saw Fiona move to the kitchen. I just got this new digital camera and I am still trying to learn how to use it, even though it is pretty simple.

As I have gotten to know Reggie better, I realize that he has a very strong personality and if he was in a Warren, he would be the top bunny. I think that is partially why Oski doesn’t seem to bug him the same way he did Rexy. Nothing seems to faze Reggie. Even in the first couple of weeks, when I would guide him away from something I still needed to bunny proof there was a day of two where he would snort at me—a rabbit’s way of showing annoyance. I knew if I was too forceful for him he might start being aggressive with me, so I would talk to him sweetly and then guide him where I wanted. One day he was so hyper, jumping on everything, running through the house as if someone lit his paw on fire that he was running erratically through the house. I finally put him back in his cage.

The next day, while he was still in his cage, I had a heart to heart talk with him. I explained to him that he needs to listen to me. That my only intention is to keep him safe. I told him we love the fact that he loves to run around and explore. We want him to feel comfortable in our home. We are so happy that he decided to live with us. I love his energy and the way he loves to jump into the air and move his head from side to side to let us know how happy he is—but I am his mom and I am here to keep him safe, and if I tell him to move away from something it is only to keep him safe—so it is important to listen to me and his dad. The next time I let him out, he was more subdued and he stopped snorting at me.

But almost a month later and he is comfortable with us. He is finally letting me know that he does like me. I came in the room after David let him out and said enthusiastically, “hey Reggie, it’s good to see you—it’s me your mom” when he heard my voice I saw his energy perk up. Because rabbits don’t have the best eye sight, I started waving my hand vigorously and said “it’s me your mom, I am right here.” With that he ran out of his cage and came right up to me. Because I know sudden movements can cause him to bolt, out of instinct, I let him come up to me to find me then I reached down slowly and scratched the top of his head. I love it that he likes me. Sometimes I think animals are wary of me because my energy is more present than most people. I know they can hear me so I focus my intent on connecting with them on a soul level. For some animals with trust issues sometimes being that present makes them uncertain.

So I like to let them make the first move-eventually, they will realize I am an ok human and from that point forward, we get along great. So the 4-legged kids are getting along fine—they are all finding their niche and the stress of bunny proofing the house, recognizing where to bunny proof, the most efficient way to bunny proof—that’s been taken care for the most part, but as with everything in life, it is important to be flexible to any changes that could come up. One day Reggie may find an unexplored place that I didn’t know was there and then back to finding yet another thing to bunny proof, but it is worth it when I see how happy he is, watching him leap in the air, kicking his back feet from side to side—coming up to me, standing up on his hind legs and resting his front paws on my leg to say “hi mom”. Looking at his little bulldog shaped face with the floppy ears. It’s just part of the process of our way of Maneuvering in the urban jungle that is our home.

Our Happy Family-New Bunny in the house

His name: Reggie M. Rabbit (M stands for Mini-Lop)
Age: 8 Months old
Color: Black/White quilty coat
Likes: Carrots, bananas, apples, parsley, dandelion greens
Dislikes: Being cooped up in a small space, pushy humans, humans that don’t see his greatness.

We found Reggie at the Humane Society where my husband, David volunteers. He is a very nice, loveable—aren’t they all, spunky bunny. I love the mini-lop personality. They are charming, mischievous, daring and out spoken. They have been described as a canine in a rabbit suit. I have a friend who would scoff “He is a rabbit who has a certain personality, he is not a dog, you are being a classist!” And yes, I guess I was putting him in a box—because rabbits come in with all types of personality traits.

One of my rabbits, Asher, was very playful and gentle he would come when I called him and loved being with the cats in the family. He would sit on the couch with me as I watched TV or he would jump on my lap. Another rabbit, Heather Celeste, loved to spend a lot of time on her own. She would come up to me but preferred to sit in the same corner and sleep, but when she found something she enjoyed to chew on she would become very animated. And our 8 year old, Rex, who just passed—he was quiet, dignified and loved to sit and meditate. He loved spending a lot of time in his pen, but he had a favorite place in the cool hearth of the fireplace to lie on during the summer months. He didn’t like to be picked up but he would come up and greet me when I came home in the evening. I saw him as an intellectual who liked to ponder over the life of bunnies everywhere.

He like other species will connect with other like-minded beings to teach each other things they are learning to help their species evolve. That is why, if they have one life, where maybe they lived with a family that wasn’t sensitive to who they were, they could pass that info on when they die and come back in a place where they know they will be loved and respected.

The first rabbit I had when I was in my 20’s was named Phoebe. She was a grey agouti mini-lop with a determined personality. She could be aggressive when she wasn’t pleased with you or thought you didn’t take her seriously, but if she knew you respected her, she was gentle and patient. She loved her treats. When I would bring out the box of her favorite treat, she would run to me and enthusiastically move her head from side to side to show her excitement. She didn’t even mind that I liked her to sit up to grab it. She lived to be 7 years old. At the time the life span for a rabbit was 2 years old, now with all the new findings on nutrition and cage maintenance, Rabbits are living to be 7-10 years.

What attracted me to Reggie was not just because he was a mini-lop, but I saw something about him I recognized. It was intuitive, but I knew that he would fit in great with our big feline family. Cats and rabbits can be good pals. Since they are both non-confrontational, they seem to be very compatible. One day as I looking at his photo, I realized that he had the same expression as Phoebe. I realized that phoebe came back as Reggie! That is why I was picking up on his personality. I was excited to have her back.

When I was getting ready for Reggie to come to live with us, I was looking up the Mini-Lop to get any tips pertaining to his breed. I forget, that if I type cast him in a certain way, I am not being fair to his unique qualities and so it is no wonder I didn’t find anything. I need to learn from him about who he is. I have Rex who is one of my rabbit allies who will help me with any challenges along the way. I also have our friend Cathy who can answer questions about Reggie if I feel I am not hearing him clearly.

I have been communicating with our own feline and Lupine family for over 20 years. It helps that our 4-legged kids, as I call them, know that David and I are willing to honor their needs as long as it is not harmful to them or goes against the rules of the house. So they pretty much communicate to us through their thoughts, body language or vocalizations.

So David and the rest of the kids will help him to get comfortable in our home. All the kids are happy to have this highly spirited bunny living with us and when they saw Reggie come in, I could see that were excitement to have a bunny living with us again. They have been coming in to visit him in his temporary pen. In the days to come I will chronicle our experiences with Reggie and the antics that he and the rest of the family conspire together. I am sure they will keep us on our toes and who knows; maybe we will all create games to play together. What the start to a new and fun journey.

Our Happy Family--Life With Oski

For the first 5 years of Oski’s life, he might have thought his real name was “Oski-No” because everytime we turned around we had to tell oski to stop what he was doing. NO jumping on the bookcase….leave that cup alone, off that counter now….leave your sister alone…Oski no…Oski no…Oski no!

Oski had a way of looking at the world that didn’t agree with the humans and other beings in the house. Our animal communicator, Cathy says, that Oski looks through the world with rose colored glasses. He thinks its logical to jump on the counter, after all that is where the food is, why can’t he help himself? What difference does it make whether it is in his bowl or not, it will just dirty the bowl and then we will have to wash it? Besides we were going to give it to him anyway, he is really doing us a favor by helping himself.

Sometimes he jumps on the counter so we can really see him more clearly. And if we don’t know he is there, he will knock something off so he makes sure we see him. He knows we will always come running. Sure we may yell at him, but it got the job done. He always tries to make things as efficient as possible.

From Oski’s viewpoint, it is perfectly logical why he does what he does. So our job as his pet parents have been for the past 6 years is to teach him the rules of the house. It has been a rocky, chaotic journey but one that has been rewarding at the same time. We have learned patience, acceptance and developed a broader sense of humor. And Oski has learned to be more patient not as impulsive.

Oski is also a very stubborn young cat who is very smart and like most beings with a high IQ, he gets bored very easily and then will try to direct his energy in what ever is in the way. He really loves to chase things. He loves things that have fast movement and moves a long way. One of his favorite toys are plastic bag twist ties. We renamed them “Twisty-tie toys” for Oski’s benefit. If he starts prowling around the house, I know he is bored and needs something to do. I’ll ask him if he wants to play with his twisty tie toy and he stops what he is doing (even if he is trying to wrestle with one of his sisters) and will stand at attention waiting to see what direction I am going to slide the toy on the floor. Because we have more hardwood floors and linoleum than carpet, when I throw it, I can make it slide quite a distance and it makes a sound he loves, it makes him more motivated to run after it, pounce and capture it.

Sometimes he will pick it up with his claws and bat it around some more or sometimes he will pounce on it and then stop and look at me to say “do it again, Mommy!” so I will pick it up and move it to different rooms in the house. One of his favorite places is throwing it on the bed. He has the added challenge of trying to find it on the bed. Sometimes it goes underneath the covers. On few occasions, he will pick it up and carry it in his mouth and then drop it and play with it on his own.

As Cathy says he is all boy, he is very rambunctious and loud when he jumps off of things. It is as if to say he is here. Being that he was the runt of the litter he had to really make sure every one knew that fact. Sometimes he terrorizes the girls in the house. He can play a little too rough and there are times we have to intervene, but if at all possible we let them work it out. Because Oski is impulsive and a boundary taker, the girls do their best to show their displeasure. Moon, our 6 year old black short hair cat that has the face of an Egyptian goddess, will hiss at him. Sometimes it works, other times he is relentless and then we have to scoop him up and give him a time out in our bedroom, where he will take a nap.

Fiona, the baby of the family, has her own way. She is half the size of Oski. She is a very fluffy cat with a fur collar, very elegant, very dainty. But looks are deceiving. Most of the time, when Oski starts to become too much, she will run after him and with a single look, Oski seems to stop, in some cases she has been known to wrestle with him and throw him over and he stops. For her size, she is a very determined being in her own right. I admire her sense of self, her calm. She has this wide eyed look that seems to have an innocence-a trusting nature.

But even with all his boisterous behavior, there is another side to him. He loves to be cradled like a baby and loves the affection. When I get up in the morning, he will greet me in a certain cadence that says “Hi, mommy, I’m so glad you are up.” Then he will put his front paws up so I will pick him up. He purrs in a soothing, content rhythm and I will carry him around kissing him on the cheek or the head, telling him how wonderful he is. I love this ritual. I am very blessed that Oski and I have such a close relationship. He is a momma’s boy.

Teaching him the rules of the house has been a long, ongoing work in progress. He has been a slow learner. I believe that part of the challenge for Oski is that he seems to be easily distracted, so unless I have his total awareness, getting him to respond to my requests can take a few attempts. The way we got him to respond is teaching him to sit through the method of the clicker and treats. The clicker is a device that makes a very distinct noise, so distinct that most animals, dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ect., will take notice. This method of training has been very effective for a lot of 4-legged kids.

Once we got his attention, we would say “sit down”. We would put a little pressure on his hind end to give him the idea to sit. Eventually he started sitting. And we would reward him by giving him a treat. Over time, he would sit even if he didn’t get a treat, we would give him a lot of praise. Oski is a pleaser so telling him what a good job he did worked too. Now when he is acting out and I say “Oski, sit down”, once I have his attention, he sits very politely. This has been a eye opening and wondrous journey. We have enjoyed every minute of being with Oski, teaching him the rules of the house and see how much he has grown and matured in the almost 7 years he has shared his life with us. There may have been times, where we felt, he would never get it, other times amazed at the progress he makes. And through all our experiences, it has been so worth it.

For Every Life there is a Season

It has been quite awhile since I have written. As they say life happens. I want to catch you up since the last entry. We have lost 2 family members. Sadie (she is the one on the right in the photo), one of the Torties that came with the house. We didn't even realize she was sick until two weeks before she died. I noticed she wasn't eating as much. but she still had the same happy go lucky nature. When she seemed to grow listless, we took her to the vet in the morning, in the afternoon I received a call from our vet. They took tests and found she had cancer. That afternoon I stood next to Sadie in the vet's office as the vet helped release Sadie from her pain and quickly slipped from this world to the next. I was glad I could be there for her. It was sad and yet I felt a peace in the room when I knew Sadie left her body.

Rex our almost 8 year old bunny died a month ago. He was feisty all the way up this death. He went quick. I was able to hold him until he left his body. I was glad that he wasn't alone when he died. I am told from an animal's perspective, they don't have the same attachment to their physical body and they don't fear death the way we humans do.

Interesting things happened after he died. I started feeling him around me and I started hearing messages, like little suggestions. I started gravitating towards certain fruits. One time I was in a coffee place and I was going to buy a muffin and a latte. but as I was looking at the different options, I also noticed some bananas and a couple of apples displayed on a serving dish. I heard a voice that said "I think you will the find the banana much more tasty." So I bought the banana. Ironically, I am not the fan of the banana, but as I ate it, it actually tasted better than I remember. I said to myself "ok, Rex , this is for you." Sometimes I would go to the store next to my work and buy fruit for snacks instead of my usual sweets and I started eating more salads. A week later, we had our monthly meeting where I made a fruit sald that had a lot of the fruit that Rex enjoyed. Of course we had muffins and a sausage dish and I heard "try the fruit salad, you'll like it much better." So I did and I felt more present in the different flavors and my sense of taste seemed much more heightened. I felt like it was Rex communicating with me. Sometimes, like now, I can feel a cool energy lightly touching my left fore arm.

Soon after these experiences, I was riding on Bart to get to work and I started meditating. As I felt my body going into a deeper meditative state, I found myself in a field. A grassy field with a lot of yellow grasses around me and a big tree. As I looked around I saw a bunny running towards me--it was Rex. "I just wanted to show you where I live. I have a lot of bunny friends and I can run where ever I want. There is plenty of dandelion greens, they don't taste the same, but I don't get hungry anyway." We went to the big tree and I sat on the ground and supported my back against the tree. He sat next to me and laid his front paws on my legs. He told me he is glad I am eating more fruit because when I eat he can take in the flavor from the vibrations of what I eat. So that is why I am drawn to eating more fruits and vegatables. I enjoyed sharing space with him. I really felt present in his new home. It was peaceful. The temperature was pleasant. I gently stroked his head and ears the way I used to when he was in his body. I asked him if he would like to be one of my allies when I do my work with animals and he said yes. As I sat with him I felt like we were two old friends catching up. We didn't need to converse much, it was just comfortable sitting together. When it was time to say good bye, I saw another bunny coming up to me. This was a Rabbit walking upright. He was dressed very dapper wearing a tux with tails carrying a cane. It was my rabbit, an angora rabbit, Asher. He said it was time for them to go. I hugged both of them goodbye and came back in my body. it was nice.

A week later, I was just getting out of bed and I walked through the formal dining room that rex used as his room, where his cage was and I saw him for a brief second in solid form, stretched out on the floor the way he used to when he was relaxing. I wasn't alarmed, I just said telepathically "Hi Rex, glad you stopped by". That same week, David and I were in the second bedroom. this is where I have my computer set up, I was having trouble with some software and David was checking it over to find the problem. We have a mobile hanging from the ceiling. I happened to see it moving slightly. It never moves. So I said to myself, "Rex if you are there could you make it move faster?" Almost instantaneously, it started twirling. The mobile was behind David. I asked him if he could feel a breeze in here and he said no. I said "look the Mobile is turning I asked Rex if he was here to make it move and he did". David said "What a good little bunny." I take comfort that Rex and I are still connected through spirit. He seems to enjoy being in this form of energy. I think he likes the freedom to move where ever and when ever he wants.

Next up: The grieving process that the rest of the family went through and our animal communicator who helped us through this time.

Until then "Keep your eyes on the prize and keep reaching with your paws!"