Herald-Sun

Pet acting catty? Animal consultant to the rescue By LOIS CAROL WHEATLEY : The Herald-Sun lcw@herald-sun.com Jul 13, 2001 : 5:42 pm ET

PITTSBORO -- You could call Tera Thomas a pet whisperer.

But one thing’s for certain: Folks do call her when they want help with their pets.

For instance, there was the cat owner in Illinois whose cat was diagnosed with an inoperable heart tumor. The owner had to decide whether the cat should be euthanized or whether its illness should be allowed to run its fatal course.

The owner placed a telephone call to Thomas, an animal communication consultant based in Pittsboro. After a series of calls that took place a couple of times a week for several weeks, the decision to let the cat die a lingering death was reached.

"I do a lot of this kind of work to help people make decisions at the end of life, whether it’s all right for an animal to die naturally, which most animals would prefer if given the option," Thomas said. "Death is a process that animals are very aware of, and it’s our inability to deal with pain that causes problems."

When the cat’s owner told Thomas that she had reached a point where she realized she had a connection with the cat that would go on forever, the cat died that day, Thomas said.

"Animals do this for us all the time," she said. "They really are in service in our lives, to help us come to a point that we can see something, or to open our hearts, or to help us move on. They are really selfless in the way that they work with us."

Thomas will publish "Opening My Wings to Fly: What Animals Have Taught Me" next month, a chronicle of her work as an animal communication consultant and an overview of her lifelong journey through the minds and hearts of animals and their people.

Professionally, she has worked from her Pittsboro home for the past six years with animals and people who come to her seeking a means to better understand one another.

Getting down to the roots of thoughts and behaviors is an ability everyone possesses, she said, and that can be witnessed in daily people-to-people interaction.

"When someone is telling you one thing, saying they’re doing well and they’re fine, but you can see underneath it that they’re not fine, that is picking up telepathically on what’s really going on," Thomas said.

"I don’t consider myself an animal psychic. I communicate with animals telepathically, which is really listening to the feelings of others. It is a skill that we all naturally have."

Thomas has fielded telephone calls from around the world, from people who want their dogs to stop barking at night and from people who want their cats to start using the litter box. Animals are sending messages with these sorts of behaviors.

"If the cat’s not using the litter box, something is up," Thomas said. "Either, they are physically ill or they’re upset, they’re angry, they’re stressed out or something like that."

Often, the problem lies in opening the lines of communication so that people receive the messages, she said.

"It’s not my mission to fix anything," she said. "It’s my mission to put the person in touch with their animal."

For many people, she said, a relationship with a pet is the deepest bond they’ll ever have because it’s unconditional love. There are no barriers with animals, no deceptions and no conceivable means of putting up a false front.

Thomas has to laugh when people tell her they’ve tried to sneak in a visit to the veterinarian or tried to sneak out of town.

"Your animals know because they read your mind," she said.

Thomas said she can’t talk to a dog and make him stop jumping up on people or correct any sort of behavior that is annoying to its human. What she gets from many wayward dogs is a desire to be taught or trained.

"Because they like to have rules," she said. "Then they feel safe. Dogs like structure."

When she tells this to a dog’s owner, he or she will often respond with a ready excuse for why the dog hasn’t been trained.

"People will say, ‘I just didn’t want to do all that master-slave thing,’ " Thomas said, "but it’s not about that. It’s about taking responsibility to say, ‘These are my rules, this is how I’d like to live and this is how our relationship should be.’ We do that with people in our lives — hopefully — and we need to do that with the animals in our lives."

Stress is the culprit for problems in many cases, the source of which often is not the animal, Thomas said. Animals typically pick up on an owner’s stress and try to take it upon themselves.

"Animals will try to fix stress," Thomas said. "This is one of the things I get so often. People say something is wrong with my dog or cat, and I tune in and find that the owner is working too hard or is really stressed out, and the animal is trying to help but doesn’t know what to do.

"They start getting crazy because they don’t know how to help you. They’re very tuned in to what you’re doing, and they’re tuned in whether you’re home or wherever you are."

Thomas moved to Pittsboro in 1990 from New York City. She was working through a healing process of her own when she found herself surrounded by animals, both wild and domesticated. While she always has preferred the company of animals, it was at this point that she began looking to them to explore her own issues.

"I didn’t use to like humans too much," she said. "I was one of those people who thought animals were perfect and humans were horrible, and I felt pretty embarrassed to be human. And the animals let me know that if I didn’t open my heart to my own species, they wouldn’t work with me."

About four years ago, Thomas moved to her current residence in Saralyn near the Haw River, where she lives in a log cabin in a densely wooded area. She has two cats and two llamas that officially live with her and a host of deer, squirrels and birds that visit frequently.

Thomas runs two-day weekend workshops in this pastoral setting. Participants bring a photograph of their pet and commune with the animals in and around the house. They are taken through a process that lets them see the commonalities between man and beast and also lets them appreciate the differences.

"You would be amazed at how dogs that have been abused may be afraid of other people, but they don’t hold grudges," Thomas said. "Those animals will do anything to help you open your heart to them, even if it means letting you beat them."

Animals are more spiritually aware than most humans ever will be, she said, and far better acquainted with the laws of nature.

There is an infinite number of things to be learned from your next discussion with your dog, she said, but you likely will have to be the one to initiate the exchange.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

Answers

Back when my first Golden Retriever was a puppy we thought she was deaf. She never responded to her name unless she saw one of the other dogs responding. [We had her sister and parents, too. Call one, get them all.] No matter what, she never responded to her name, but followed the pack around. she was never far from her sister either, and that one had decided early on that if anyone was talking, it was to her and it was about eating. This was in North Carolina.

One day I noticed that my dog was not with the others. I searched the house, and then went outside and searched. We lived in a rural area with farm fields and woods, ditches and creeks, etc.

After searching the yard without finding her, I told the other dogs to show me what they had been doing. they immediately took off for the woods stopping occasionally to see if I was coming or if I was going to call them back. I walked, ran, climbed, slid, jumped, crawled, as they continued on their way. [dogs do not travel as the bird flies so this little jaunt was about a mile or so but the actual distance from the house was about 80 yards]

We came upon a little pond in the woods next to a farm field behind a neighboring house, two doors down. There was my dog, trying to get out of the pond but tangled in the vines and losing strength quickly. I climbed thru the vines and slid down the bank and grabbed her and pulled her up. she was so cold, shivering like crazy. I think this was about February or March and so she was about four months old. Born on Halloween, you see.

I kept her craddled in my arm inside my coat as we walked back home. I gave her a bath, and dried her off, then just sat on the bed and held her. she slept about two hours.

when she woke up hungry I fed them all. I noticed that she was just sitting there watching me, while the others were doing the tail wagging dance to hurry me along. When the bowls hit the floor, I pointed at one and said, "That one is for you Becky." she went right over to it and ate every piece in it. the others ate theirs, and then checked each others out to make sure nothing was missed. No one went to hers.

I went and sat in front of the tv to watch the news, and called Becky over my shoulder to see if she would come to her name. she came running down the stairs and leapt up into my lap, curled up and stayed with me till it was time to go outside.

After that day she was my shadow most all the time, never going far from me while she played with the others.

I never needed a leash with her, she picked up hand signals very quick. After I moved back to Miami, I could walk down the sidewalk in the Grove and she would stay beside me perfectly. People would stop to mention how well behaved she was, and pet her which she loved. she would not take food from the people eating at the tables on the sidewalk, and she wouldn't touch food on the ground unless I said it was okay.

One time I was talking to someone in the parking lot, leaning on my car while he was leaning on the one next to mine. Becky was inside mine sitting in the driver seat watching when two guys came up, the owners of the car the guy was leaning on. They just hauled off and punched him in the face, then turned and hit me as well. Becky leapt out of the window growling and stood in front of me so they couldn't hit me again. She almost bit one when he tried. Then they got in their car and left.

Becky was licking my face, which was covered in blood, and whining loudly. A cop walking by saw us and thought she had attacked me. Idiot. With that tail going for all it was worth, I guess he wasn't a dog person. I told him what happened, but never heard whether they had found those guys. The guy I was talking to about Becky had run off. I never knew who he was, except that he was an artist who lived in the Grove.

So, if that lady can talk to dogs, then so can I. Especially when the dog is worth the effort.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

Barefoot, thank you for sharing that!

On a more mundane level, and dealing mere with cats, which like structure so long as they decide what it is...

When I first got my current tabbies, young adults from a shelter, I had just put down my 19yo coon cat, Boomer. Over that many years, Boomer, who was a very obliging kitty, had developed a sizeable vocabulary. I didn't really appreciate that until I realized that Ginger, although appearing very well-meaning, hadn't a clue what I was talking about. Actually, it was just a bit longer for me to grasp that Ginger understood perfectly well, she was just being a tad selective about what she did in response.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

Yep, most cats have the capacity to understand a large vocabulary. Old Sooty, who died last year, had the most understanding (or inclination to understand) of any cat I've ever known, and from a fairly young age. Just like your coon, I should think. Polly has a pretty good understanding, but I'd say less than half of Sooty's comprehension. The others understand but ignore, especially the word "No" and the phrase "Don't scratch that bloody door, dammit!!!"

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

The first woodchuck I contended with in my backyard was also well- meaning, but not especially bright.

For instance, he picked up right away on what I meant when I'd scream, "GET OUT OF MY GARDEN!!!. He'd hop to it right away, obliging little furball that he was. What more could you ask for??

However, if I made the instructions any more complicated, like a compound command, it was too much for him. So, "GET OUT OF MY GARDEN, AND STAY OUT!!", didn't accomplish much.

Unfortunately, a neighbor disappeared him before we could progress any farther with our English lesson.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

LOL! Great Stories!

If I could bother an animal consultant for a few minutes, I would ask:

1. Why does my cat come in the bathroom while I'm taking a shower, meow at me once when I'm getting out and then run away?

2. Why does my cat eat her food sometimes and then at other times make "burying" motions over it, even when its a can from the same case lot number?

3. My other kitty has been missing since October. It's a tabby in a town full of tabbies, so I get calls sometimes that someone thinks he or she has spotted it (I've been keeping the posters current). If he's still alive, where is he?

4. How unhappy are the "yard rodents" going to be if either the other cat returns or I "borrow" one for a few days to do some hunting? (My present kitty is strictly an indoor kitty. Her former owners had her declawed.)

Anyway, that's what I'd ask. I'm sure anyone who can talk to animals would get some interesting tales from my present kitty. She knows I'm nuts, but she's learned that me rolling around on the floor, making strange noises and doing things to the plumbing is nothing threatening to her.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

The stray kitty, Mojo, is living in the den until we can get him to the vet. He has a new name: Slasher. We've found out he suffers from a recognized behavior called "petting aggression." If he rolls on your foot and you wiggle your toes under him, he purrs and doesn't attack. If you scratch his head and neck area from the back, he's okay with that too--up to a point. And he'll wriggle up next to you on the sofa, rubbing against your thigh and purring like mad. But when he turns his head, you have to quit. However, if you pet him from the front, he'll slash out and draw blood. Go figure.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

"Why does my cat come in the bathroom while I'm taking a shower, meow at me once when I'm getting out and then run away?" Why would you possibly want to know the answer to that??? (I would hope the animal consultant would be too polite to translate for you.)

Sorry about your tabby. There appears to be feline zoning in my town. For the most part, only all-black cats in my general neighborhood, but mostly black & white across town. Does make it tough when one disappears. A friend with one of the B&Ws thought that her neighbor had stolen her cat when she saw a B&W in the neighbor's window.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

Git, use a back scratcher on him. If he slashes at it, smack him with it. He'll get the idea.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

>I would hope the animal consultant would be too polite to translate for you.)

I really want to know! I have been owned by cats all of my life, and this is the first time I've seen this behavior. Cats I've raised from kittenhood would come in the bathroom and generally curl up on the rug or find something to play with until I left. This is the only time that she meows and runs away, and it's the only time I hear this particular meow.

Re: B&W zoning. I think it's that way with tabbies here. Almost all of the indoor-outdoor kitties in this area are tabbies. The indoor kitties are either siamese or some type of long hair. The purely outdoor kitties (feral) are all black or a brown/black mix. Their numbers have rapidly decreased, which leads me to believe there has been a concentrated effort to kill or relocate them (perhaps to a research lab). This is a problem because we need some mousers to keep the rodent population in check. We don't have large enough birds to prey on the rodents.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001