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And then there are the Spirit animals who share their “medicine” in the form of wisdom and guidance.  The beautiful female wolf who guides me in my work and day-to-day experiences.  The animal spirits that send messages through me to their previous human companions to comfort, guide and support them.  The mountain lion that shows up in my dream to remind me of my purpose.

 

In so many ways, animals provide us with “medicine”.  Here I would like to focus on what we can do for our companion animals to help lessen their need for medicine.  The animals I have communicated with and assisted with aromatherapy have taught me that when we ask them to live contrary to their instinctual nature an imbalance occurs.    This manifests emotionally, behaviorally and physically.  When we correct this imbalance, homeostasis and health returns.  As I explain to my Animal Communication workshop students, animals are spiritual, energetic beings like us.   They are here in the Earth school in a physical body that has been encoded with specific DNA.  This DNA determines their instinctual nature and is part of the experience they are having here.  So while we can communicate with them telepathically, we need to support them when living with us is contrary to their instinctual nature. 

 

While not all companion animals have the same level of instinctual nature, I have communicated with some pretty angry cats who are not allowed outside, horses so sad from being isolated in a stall that I cried with them and dogs saddened and confused about why they were abandoned for being a “dog”.  Of course we need to protect our animals from harms they do not understand, but we also need to be clear about the impact it has on their quality of life.  We need to support them in as many ways as possible to be congruent with their instincts while balancing this with keeping them from serious harm.

 

Cats want to stalk, play with and eat mice.  They want to catch birds.  Dogs want to roll in smelly stuff.  It is instinctual.  Some dogs are territorial and will bark and fight to protect their den.  Large dogs need to be able to run and play with other dogs.  Horses are very social herd animals.  They need to live in a herd with room to run and play.  They need to graze.  Being in a stall for a horse is like a person being locked in a 5’ x 5’ bathroom for half of their life. When we deny them the pleasure of being who they really are they can become very depressed which eventually results in disease.  

 

It is my observation that much of the medicine required for animals today is a direct result of our interference with their instinctual nature.  Diet, over-vaccination, exposure to chemicals and toxins play a huge role in much of the disease of our companion animals.  Commercial dog food, cat food and grain based feed for horses are like a prescription for a shorter life and degenerative diseases.  Corn, soy, wheat and rice should not be staples for any of these animals.  Cats are carnivores.  They eat meat.  Dogs are designed to eat primarily meat but will supplement with berries and plants.  Horses eat grasses, herbs and “weeds”.  When we feed them for convenience or cost savings they pay the price (and we usually do too in vet bills). 

 

So how can we support them?  Seek out information about the nature of your companion animal.  Study dog breeds and their characteristics before adopting. Research how horses live and thrive in the wild. Google holistic health and diet for cats, dogs, horses, or whatever companion animal you share your life with.  As much as possible allow them to be the instinctual being they came here to experience.

 

By understanding our animals we can see that there is a lesson for us.  Like the animals, when we stray from our instinctual being ness, when we deny who we really are, disease occurs.  Perhaps by observing and supporting the animals we can begin to see how the way we are living our lives today disconnects us from who we are and creates disease and how recognizing our instinctual nature can bring us peace and harmony.