Pete the cat, Reiki, and Intuition

By Beth Lowell, Managing Editor 


I’ve been thinking about Pete the cat recently. I worked with him a couple of springs ago. His human mother, Wanda, had called me at the advice of her local her vet’s office. Pete was in rough shape, and was under care at an animal hospital, some distance from Wanda’s home. Pete had a long history of serious conditions. He’d always bounced back, and Wanda was determined to do everything in her power to help him once again.

I met Wanda and her sister at her house and then we made the long trip down the parkway to the animal hospital. Wanda explained to the vet that I would be offering Pete Reiki. The doctor smiled, and then warned me not to overdo it. We could stay a short while. Since one can’t really overdo Reiki, I assured the vet that I wouldn’t.

Pete took to Reiki right away. He placed his paw on my hand and looked up at me with his beautiful green eyes. Wanda could see the change in him immediately. Wanda and her sister sat quietly, not wanting to interfere.

Knowing that being in a strange place is difficult for pets, especially for sick ones who could do without the added stress, I told Wanda to feel free to pet Pete during the session or talk to him if she chose to, but she preferred to wait until we were finished. The vet knocked on the door to signal it was time to leave.

The following day, Wanda and I drove to the animal hospital again. This time the vet smiled broadly. Pete’s blood pressure had come down. We could spend as much time as we wanted with Pete. I smiled back and thanked the vet, and began the treatment.

Pete relaxed quickly but he wasn’t quite as animated as he had been the day before. It was going to be a few days before anyone could get back to see him. During our absence, Pete went downhill. Wanda was heartsick, and friends were advising her that it might be time to let Pete go.

When Wanda called to update me, she told me that the staff member at her vet’s who had referred me suggested that perhaps I could tell her whether Pete’s time was up.

Clients whose pets are ill or who have physical problems themselves often ask me if I can share with them what I sense, either energetically of intuitively, and even though this was not the first time I’d been consulted about whether it was time to end an animal’s life, I was surprised.

“Wow. That must have been quite an honor.”, a friend said when I later related the story. On the contrary, I was dismayed. The well intentioned advice of a person who wanted only to help Wanda brings to light a common misconception about the purpose of Reiki, which is to offer the opportunity for healing, not advice.

Practicing Reiki, like any other meditative pursuit, helps increase intuitive powers. When your mind is quiet, you can better listen to the inner knowledge that everyone possesses. Sometimes, though, in an effort to be helpful, the line between listening to your intuition and trying to control an outcome becomes blurred.

I told Wanda that as a Reiki practitioner that I could neither diagnose nor prescribe, which advising her would have come perilously close to doing. My intuition told me that the right path would be in supporting Wanda so that she could come to her own conclusion and be at peace with it.

As the week wound down, Wanda chose to let Pete go. I drove to Wanda’s house one last time to offer Pete Reiki before the vet came to assist in his passing. The entire family sat in the parlor while I offered Reiki to Pete. Wanda, her sisters and brother in law, and her nephew had gathered to say goodbye.

The vet was running late, and I had to leave before she arrived. I had a previous engagement, for of all things, to let a friend’s piano tuner in before their weekend party. I felt badly that I had to leave, but I knew that Pete would understand. My intuition told me so.


This article appeared originally on the author's blog on November 18, 2010. To submit your animal Reiki article, please attach it to an email and send it to bethlowell@thereikidigest.com. Be sure to include the words,"Animal Reiki Friday" in the subject line.