“Where can pet parents go to find a compilation of information that will help them support their pets’ various physical, emotional and spiritual needs?” A frequently asked question in my practice—Dr. Monica There usually comes a time toward the end of our pets’ lives when we need to let go and let nature take its course. But in the face of most of the distresses and health challenges our pets encounter in daily living, we don’t need to stand by crying helplessly and feeling sad. We can—Do Something! Yet, where can pet parents go to find a compilation of information, which will help them support their pets’ various physical, emotional and spiritual needs? As I finished writing my second book, Pets Have Feelings Too!, it was this very question that impelled me to begin yet another book—one that would be a “how to” guide for everyone who wants to do everything they can to help their pets, especially when their pets are in distress or experiencing health challenges of any kind. It all began with my desire to respond to the question, asked by so many of my clients and students over the years, “How can I talk with my pets?” But there were so many other topics which sprang to mind as I continued to write that before I knew it, I had enough material for a series of three “how to” books: • How To Communicate With Your Pets and Help Them Heal; • How To Heal Your Pets Using Nutrition, Herbs and Supplements; and • How To Heal Your Pets Using Alternative Therapies This, the first book in the series, begins by teaching you how to communicate with your pets about everyday things, as well as their health challenges. But discovering what your pets want to tell you is only the beginning. Once you’re truly aware of their needs, you must then Do Something! That “something” usually involves restoring balance and harmony in their lives. So, the second part of the first book shows you how to use spiritual and energetic healing methods as one way to bring about that balance and harmony. There are also a series of guided meditations to enable you to help your pet cope with a variety of life situations. The second book of the series covers the importance of nutrition, herbs and supplements, plus foods to avoid, and recipes for pets with special needs. The third book presents practical healing modalities including homeopathy, flower essences, incense, essential oils, crystals, color, sound, massage, magnets, hydrotherapy, acupressure, acupuncture and chiropractic, plus some other helpful guidance. As I was writing all three books, I knew many readers would wonder what qualifies me to teach people how to communicate with and heal their animals. What experiences and training did I have that prepared me not only to do this, but also to teach others to do the same? To answer this question, I’d like to share a few of the highlights of my life with you. I’ve known that I can understand what animals are saying ever since I was eight years old. However, when I was young, other children used to call me weird or crazy, and that was very painful. I didn’t want to be different, so I tried hard to push aside the images animals were sending me and make believe I wasn’t receiving them. But by my late teens, I began to realize that what I was experiencing was a gift—one that was becoming virtually impossible to ignore. So I nurtured this gift, and soon I grew more confident about using my abilities. I began communicating with many different species of pets and was delighted to be able to help them and their humans better understand each other. In time, I realized that I’d taken the first step on the path of what I considered to be my Life Assignment. But I’d also been searching for answers to many spiritual questions for the better part of my life. The answers to those questions came one at a time over several years. I read a lot of books and attended many classes. One of those classes, offered by a Vietnamese gentleman, Master Tam Nguyen, would change the direction of the rest of my life and teach me how to use my intuitive gift more fully. From him, I learned that healing is about restoring balance and harmony, that healing is available to everyone, and that we can bring about healing for ourselves and for others. During the last week of Master Tam’s class, he was able to help me experience the Life Force Energy that always surrounds every living being. This loving, healing Light and Energy surrounded me in a way I’d never felt it before. When the class exercise was over, I was crying. For the first time in my life, I’d been able to feel this energy. It came charged with such Love that I felt God had just embraced me. Master Tam approached me after class and encouraged me to continue to learn to let this loving, healing Energy flow through me for the benefit of others. He also invited me to come to his Center. I think I went the first time because I was curious, but I kept going back because I was learning so much about helping others to heal, not only spiritually, but also physically. I was drawn to return again and again. Observing many healing experiences filled me with the desire to further deepen my knowledge and understanding of metaphysics, and it was this study that would gently lead me along the path of unconditional love. And what better way to express unconditional Love for someone than by bringing balance and harmony into their lives through healing. Through Master Tam’s teachings, I’d already been introduced to the technique of Cosmic Healing, which helps every living being function, as it should in perfect harmony with the Universe. Cosmic Healing doesn’t use any physical modalities like touch or medicine. Instead, it’s done spiritually, from the heart, and with love. This type of healing requires direct communion with the Source of All Life, God, Spirit, Life Force, Supreme Being, All That Is. In the process of learning to tune in to this loving, healing Energy, the skeptic in me reacted by asking, “If healing energy always surrounds everyone all the time, why isn’t everyone accessing it more often? And why do we see so much sickness around us? What, if anything, can we do to bring healing to others, or to help people find healing for themselves?” With patience and further experience, I began to understand that often, people in need of healing haven’t learned to ask for help, or they feel they don’t deserve it. Most of them know they want to be healed but they don’t ask to be healed. They may not even know how to ask. So what should we do to find effective healing? First, we need to believe that healing is possible, that it does take place, and that we can heal ourselves. We also need to have confidence that the healing energy of The Universe can flow through us, or flow to us through others. Above all, the person needing healing, and the person helping, must take time to be in communion, or attunement, with the one true Source of All Life. Then we must stop looking at the problem itself and start focusing on our connectedness to, and our oneness with, the Source of our Being, the Source of our balance and harmony. When we once again fully remember our oneness with Spirit, we’re then able to manifest abundant good health for ourselves and for others. For a number of years, I helped many people heal, and I communicated with many pets about everyday things, but I’d never thought about combining my gift for healing with my gift for communicating with animals. It was one of my own precious Shih- Tzus who would show me the way. Chop Chop was only two years old when, one day, he was lying beside me with his eyes fixed somewhere on the horizon. He was giving up, and death seemed to be looming not many hours away from him. Unable to think clearly, all I could do was to keep him company, crying because there didn’t seem to be anything else I could do to help him. Two different veterinarians had already closely examined him. Medications were no longer effective, and the prognosis was very bleak. I lay on blankets on the floor next to him to give him what comfort I could. But as I reclined there beside him on the floor, feeling very sad and miserable, he sent me a telepathic message just as clear as day: “You call yourself a healer. You’ve helped a lot of people. So Do Something!” He now looked me straight in the eye as he prompted me to be an active participant, not just a sorrowful bystander. What he said to me kept playing over and over again in my mind until I finally got it. His plea was very simple, yet I hadn’t thought to use spiritual healing for him, or for other animals for that matter. I’d only used it to help people. But that was about to change. He responded, literally overnight, to the first healing treatment I gave him, and within a week of continued treatments, he was completely back to being his normal happy self. You can read the full account of his story in Chapter 1 of my first book, What Your Animals Tell Me. Thanks to the lesson Chop Chop taught me, I knew, then, that it was time to combine my gift for healing spiritually with my gift for communicating with animals. There were many other intuitives available to help heal people, so from then on, I resolved to dedicate my life exclusively to helping only animals. My work now includes not only private consultations for pets, but also presenting classes, workshops and lectures, as well as doing extensive research, and writing books to share with others all that I’ve learned about how we can make life better for our beloved pets. During the early part of my experience with Chop Chop, I could only cry, feel sorry for myself and for him, and wait for the inevitable. I felt completely inadequate, totally devoid of ideas, and utterly helpless. Later on, it occurred to me that many pet parents often feel just as I did whenever they’re faced with their pets’ illnesses. But you don’t need to go through those same feelings because there are so many things you can do, either to help your pets heal, or at least go through the process of their illness or pain with less discomfort. To help you, I’ve described as many healing modalities as possible in the three books of this series, For Pet’s Sake, Do Something! If you’re able to ease your pet’s pain, or provide quality of life for another day, week, month or even longer by implementing any of the healing techniques described in these books, your time and money spent on them will have been well worth it. My teacher and beloved animal friend, Chop Chop, taught me that I didn’t have to be a bystander. Thanks to him, when I was on the verge of giving up, I discovered instead that I could Do Something! I hope you’ll Do Something too. Healing can be brought about in many ways, not only for your pets, but also for yourself. When you’re able to be an active participant in your pet’s care, or bring peace and comfort to your pet because you’ve been able to Do Something, your spirit will also be healed. Dr. Monica Diedrich Anaheim, California, USA November 2006