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!"

Our Happy Family. Part 1-Fiona The Fearless

I have a great multi-species family. It consists of 5 felines, one house rabbit and one human husband. All the Fourlegged kids as I call them are rescues and yet they all co-exist very well. I am not saying that from time to time they don't squabble or may hiss and snarl at each other, but they know when to stop or they listen to me (who I believe they think of me as the "alpha cat"). Even the Cats in the house respect Rex, our 6 year old rabbit. It can be challenging at times but I feel that if you communicate with your Fourleggeds on a regular basis, any challenges can be neutralized or stopped. I titled this blog "The Paw Stops Here" as a take off on the expression--"The Buck Stops Here". We can no longer give into the belief that animals are beings with no consciousness, thoughts or feelings. It is our responsibility and privilege to care and nurture our Fourlegged with love, respect, companionship if we want a close relationship. And you don't abandon a family member because they are not the perfect cookie-cutter image you have of a specific being. You work with them and get outside guidance if necessary. I want to write our experiences of the great relationship my husband, David and I share with our multi-species family. We really love being together and "sharing space" a term I heard (your are correct, telepathically I heard this) from my first Fourlegged kid, Oscar--a beautifully marked brown tabby who had a presence of a old soul. People who didn't like cats loved him.

Because cats do like to have their own territory whether it is inside sitting on their favorite couch or sunbathing in the garden, like our Emma, they want to claim a place that is theirs, a sanctuary for them to be quiet and meditate or dream when they are napping. But if they have a trusted companion they will allow a friend to stay and nap with them in their special place. They may not sit or curl up next to each other, but they will be in the same close vacinity.

First, let me introduce you to the members in our household and then in the days to come, I will share the wonderfully amazing (to me) things that happen in our household every day. I can give you examples of cats, who are supposed to be independent, unresponsive beings who come when we call them. Who show us how they communicate their feelings to us in different ways. How we have gotten them to honor the boundaries in the house and how they honor each other, even a cat who was born outside and even though she prefers to stay outdoors will come into the house and though I have seen her be agressive with other outside cats is a perfect lady with the other 4-leggeds who live in the house, including Rex our bunny.

The Fourleggeds range from 2 to 10 years. Because they are all rescues, We only know of their approximate ages. The Babycat of the family is Fiona (the Fearless) who is two years old. Fiona came to live with us when we found her yowling up a storm underneath our front porch when she was aprox. two months old. She was so tiny, we thought she was a month old, but after a trip to the vet, it was determined that she was twice her age, she was just tiny. I call her Fiona the Fearless, because even though she was so tiny, when my husband David picked her up she didn't have a problem coming right into the house. Fiona is a Fluffy black cat with expressive round citrine colored eyes, small in stature, with a tuft of white fur in her chest area. I believe the white patch is a way of letting us know that one of our elder cats, Cleo who died a day earlier, had led Fiona to our house as a way to help us cope with our grief. Fiona is very dainty and feminine, fluffy with a very bushy tale that almost resembles a quill pen. She is very regal looking. But don't let the "fru-fru" look fool you, she loves to pounce on two of the other cats and she loves to play hunt. When she was younger, she loved using my husbands socks as her prey. She would carry her "prey" in her mouth through the house and then drop it and try to tear it a part with her teeth and claws. She will still occasionally find a lone sock and make the Prey call that she captured and show the other cats what a good hunter she is. Because she is so fast in reflexes and the graceful turns she makes when she is play hunting I believe she would be a good hunter if we let her go outside. She is independent like all cats are, but when ever I need to find out where she is all I have to do is call out "Where is my Fiona the Fearless" and she will saunter out where ever she is in the house. She learns quickly what the rules are and is pretty good at following the boundaries, but when it comes to food, she is quick to be first in line to receive treats and then it is every cat for herself. Although I will say if I need her to sit to get her treat as a way of not stealing the other cats treats, she will sit if I ask her to and keep talking to her to keep her focus. We do have a routine in the morning where she will call me through the bathroom door so I will let her in and then I sit down so she can sit in my lap. She likes me to inspect her ears, tail, her fur and her feet to make sure she is ready to start her day. She also likes it when I kiss the top of her head. I place 3 short kisses at a time. I wait a couple of seconds and then she moves her head back to tell me she wants me to give her some more kisses. It is such a cute ritual, but It makes me feel as if we are sharing some quality Kitty-Mommy time. I feel Fiona, like the other members in the family, really know we love them and respect who they are. They in turn do their best to follow the rules of the house. Next up: Oski the cat who is a cross between Bart Simpson and Dennis the Menace. Until then "keep your eyes on the prize and keep reaching with your paws!