You cats stop that right now!

I was in my computer room, the one I share with Reggie our 2 year old lop bunny and as I was checking email I heard this thundrous voice of David yelling "you cats stop that!" Oski and Fiona were going at it, playing a little too rough and they can sound like a herd of buffalo running through the house. Typical kids rough housing without regard to the books, magazines and TV remote on the coffee table, if it is in the way as they sprinting through the house it may end up on the floor. Sometimes a glass of water will end up there too if we forget.

As I am hearing this verbal command from David I have to smile a bit, because we talk to the Cats as if they were human kids. They listen to our loud voices and respond. It's been a long time raising and living with multi-species kids that I started realizing that they do listen to what we say and will honor the boundaries of the house and the humans who share it with them. It astonishes me how well they do understand and respond. And it is a good thing, because these beings in the home could do major damage if they didn't honor our boundaries. We would have no furniture intact, they could rip the upolstery to shreds in one fell swoop or take down the drapes with a single swipe. But they understand us. Don't get me wrong, sometimes they will still try to scratch on the sofa, but they stop as soon as we say "stop that, what are you doing?

Sometimes I only have to give them the "mommy" look and it stops. And yes, they do have scratching posts in various rooms in the house that they like and some cardboard cat scratchers to sharpen their claws and it's fine. We have such a happy household. It is peaceful and quiet and most of the time you will hear the classical station playing in the background. All the 4-leggeds in the house including the rabbits enjoy it. If you were in our home, you would hear things like "Oski, what are you thinking, you know the rules of the house". "Are you sure you are hungry now?" A phrase Tachi, our 15 year old minature panther will look at me questioning "what do you think", "Fiona, stop that Kitten-mew voice", Reggie, be safe when you are on the coffee table and I will guide down" I can use the point and tap method to guide him to safety. Oski just came up to me on the dining room table where I am writing this blog and I ask him to give me a kiss and he presents the top of his head so I can kiss it. Maybe not the exact words, but he understands i want to share affection with him. Yes, we have a great household and a wonderfully tranquil environment. How many other pet parents talk to their four-legged kids as if they understand every word? I don't think it is that rare. Having 4-legged kids is after all the new American Family.

Reginald Von Rabbit, III

It is hard to believe our baby bunny is 2 years old! but I can tell how much more affectionate and comfortable he is and showing his authentic self to us. Reggie is mischevious, rebellious, independent and has a good sense of humor -over all a very a happy bunny. My husband re-named him Reginald Von Rabbit III and Reggie does have a very commanding presence. He can be very impatient and will rattle his cage in the morning to tell us it is time for him to come out. When he does, he always presents himself to me so I can pet him and tell him how fabulous he is. then he will re-explore his room to see if there have been any changes to his environment. Then he will find a place to stretch out for a bit, do some chewing on his various pieces of card board and then start running around like a crazy bun. When he has gotten my attention he will leap into the air and turn around like a dancer. It is amazing to watch. Sometimes I will join in and imitate him in my own human dance steps and we dance together. he is so much fun to hang out with.

This morning he decided to go into the kitchen with the cats and I decided to give him a slice of dehydrated bananas-yummy. Fiona came up and asked me for a treat also, then the other cats, Moon and Oski said "yes" we will take a treat too. So I got out the Tastations for the cats and they all had treats together. Then hung out together which for them is sitting or laying in the same vacinity.

Reggie can also be a little temperamental at times. When we need to go out and need him to go into his cage, if we are not asking him in a respectful way, he will growl at us to tell us to stop. When we ask him nicely and reward him with a bit of mint of another piece of banana, he is very nice about it. And why not? Reggie has a lot of pride and expects us to treat him with respect. A good lesson to all.

Oski Grows up

Oski is now Seven years old. They say when a cat is 7 years old, they become a senior cat, but when I see how active Oski is, speeding around the room, leaping on top of the TV or the ledges in the dining room-to me I still see him as an adolescent two year old. He is still energetic, but he now sleeps through the night (he used to wake us up at 3am to keep him company). He takes more naps during the day. There are days he doesn't have to go to his time out room because he is wound up too tightly and he is riccocheting around the room. He has become quite a Gentle-cat in his Seven years.

He is also more responsive. He knows how to sit when we ask him. He even gives us a high five to get a treat. He is learning to get our attention in more subtle ways than instantly knocking things off the table. He and I are so tuned in to each other I can give him "the mommy look" and he knows I want him to stop what he is doing. Sometimes I wish I had a webcam throughout the house so people could see all the things I describe. They would be amazed.

I am amazed at how well he hears me. How mature he has become. How polite and courteous he is. Sometimes he will yowl in another room so I can play the twisty tie toy game with him. The twisty tie toy game is long twist ties that I slide across the kitchen floor so he can stalk it and pounce on it. He has a certain way he likes me to throw it so it is exciting for him. Yes, Oski is an excellent "human" trainer. He communicates silently without a single sound being made.

That is not to say that he doesn't make any sounds. He will still use his high-pitched cadence to greet me in the morning, so I can pick him up and give him a big hug and a kiss and hold him in my arms for a bit. He will also go up to David and give him a greeting. Sometimes I will be holding him, David will come up to us to give me a morning kiss and Oski will put his arms out to him so David will hold him. Oski isn't partial to either one of us. he has tremendous affection for both of us. He also will bug each of us when he wants a snack to see who will respond the quickest. It has been a long, long, long journey teaching Oski to understand the rules of the house and honor boundaries, and as he gets more mature, it gets easier and easier. Even Reggie and he seem to have reached a truce and the other day, I saw them playing together, Reggie initiated it. And sometimes he will lay next to Oski and my boys and I spend time together in Reggie's room.

Yes, I am so thankful and grateful that Oski is here with us. He is a sweet, loving affectionate cat. When I think about other families that have challenges in multi-species house holds and we, who have a big family, I am more convinced that with communication and patience, the foundation becomes more solid and secure.

The Healing Paws of the Shelter

I have been volunteering at the Benicia Vallejo Humane Society for 5 months now and am enjoying doing my part to help our adoptees find wonderful new homes. I love our shelter. Everyone seems to have so much love and compassion for the adoptees, they are like our own 4-legged kids.and our organization is growing in leaps and bounds. We have a resident dog trainer who seems to know how to counsel the volunteers and staff in helping each dog over come prior trauma or abuse the dogs may come to our shelter.


We have a cat committee designed to socialize and make each feline feel safe and free to play in our cat playroom.

I am part of the holistic team. I and a new animal Reiki practioner are now doing reiki healings on the adoptees and working with any "special needs' adoptees-adoptees that may have fear issues or behavior issues that could keep them from a new family.


We also have a woman who is a dog nutritionist and teaches people how to make their own food or find the right food for their dogs.

We also have a Homeopath who can provide Homeopathy remedies for physical issues and emotional issues.

We are even starting a Trap and Release program.


Yes, we are getting to be a full service Shelter. Any Vets who want to do some Pro-bone-o work we would love to have you donate some hours here.


I have a vision of our shelter being number one in finding and matching more families than anywhere in the country. I see it opening up in that direction every time I am there. So many hard working staff and volunteers to spread the love and compassion that is the birthright of every being on the planet.

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.