"Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia." -Joseph Wood Krutch-
“Our cats become part of the family at home. They are not just pets that people usually have taken for granted. Furthermore, their presences are far more than just as companions. In our moody times and when we’re going through ordeals, they are stress relievers for us. They are our “gurus” with their mischievous ways. Their characters reflect what we are, as a mirror and a reminder when we are heading the wrong way. They have been training us so well.
Don’t forget that we are employed by them. Remember a saying, “dogs have master and cats have staff”? Last but not least, they are natural healers, with their purring that heals our illnesses and soothes our souls.
The aforementioned benefits and mutual relationships have compelled us to do the best thing for our dear cats. Not only our cats at home, but all cats surrounding us, including cats owned by our fellow cat lovers, and feral or stray cats around the world, need our concern and empathy. We do care for their well-being overall. Besides physical health, we must not neglect the emotional, psychology and spiritual aspects in their lives. Thus, what kind of treatment can we offer?
As we have known for a long time, whenever our cats, or any cats we find in the streets, become ill or show any symptoms of sickness, we will surely take care of them by bringing them to the vet. Traditional medication and surgeries from vets have been long practiced for years. Nowadays we can choose natural remedies or treatments to cure them from illness or any seizures as another option for healing.
Recently people are also considering another approach of healing (alternative healing) as a complement to Western medication. We should take into account that a holistic approach for their well-being is a necessity. We are not just curing the physical side, but also other significant aspects that we often neglect as wholeness.
Alternatively, Reiki as a Japanese form of energy healing will serve as the best complementary treatment for that purpose. Animals benefit from energy healing just as humans do. Cats, like people benefit from Reiki. Giving Reiki to cats helps the human as much as it helps the cats themselves. Even if you don’t know what the problem is, you can use Reiki to help. Cats respond to your loving touch and intention. We can give something back to them for all that they have given to us. Sessions for cats are done either in their home environment or by long distance.
Distance healing has proven as effective as in-person sessions, as time and space are no constraints to the healing process. Additionally, Distance Reiki is good to avoid any distress for your beloved cat, especially if your cat is skittish or aggressive to strangers.
Certain requirements should be met with this long-distance method: the owner must be fully receptive, with open mind and belief without doubt on Reiki for their cats. They should provide to the Reiki Master the cat’s full name, the cat’s location (city, state or hospital), and it is helpful to have a recent photograph of the cat. As we all understand the basic characteristics of our cats with their openness and sensitivity, therefore sessions for cats can be shorter than those for humans.
What Is Reiki?
Basically reiki is a Japanese form of energy healing that channels healing life force energy through a practitioner to a client to restore balance of the body, mind and spirit. It is a hands-on treatment which promotes relaxation, reduces stress and promotes the body’s ability to heal itself.
Brief History Of Reiki
Reiki (pronounced “ray-key”) can be translated to mean “Universal Life Force Energy”. Reiki is thousands of years old, and is thought to have originated as a Tibetan Buddhist practice that was rediscovered in the late 1800’s by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Buddhist. It is a non-intrusive method of hands-on healing and stress reduction that taps into the energy referred to as Ki in Japanese. Please refer to the video below for comprehensive understanding on Reiki.
The basic outcomes from Reiki are:
Reiki is a complementary therapy, meaning it complements standard medical treatments.
Research has revealed that patients (humans and animals) receiving Reiki show an increase in their energy, recuperate faster, need less pain medication, and experience fewer side effects from medication.
How can Reiki help your cat? It can help to:
See the video below on reiki healing for cat with an injured paw who lives on a farm:
Notes on the video, courtesy of
Shiri Joshua - Centre for Human and Animal Healing:
“This beautiful cat (”Felini”) had an injury on his paw. During an animal Reiki class, he “spotted” me from afar (likely sensed the energy), and came running, asking for healing for about 25 minutes! How beautiful! We ended up offering him a group healing, which he seemed to enjoy!”Reiki for cats or for any other creatures can be done in a meditation position, or as described in the pictures aforementioned. The most essential part is how we can connect our heart, mind, as well as spirit, and channel our energy with them. And basically our sincerity and love towards others are the fundamentals of energy healing.
How Reiki Helped Heal My Cat, Bunjie
Early in 2007, my brother became a Reiki Master. At that time I only knew a little about Reiki. My first thoughts were that Reiki is a kind of healing energy that can only be applied to humans for curing illnesses or diseases. Then, I was totally wrong because one of my cats, Bunjie got distemper in 2007.
At first, I didn’t know what really had happened to him. He looked so miserable, so afraid to be touched, tended to hide away and didn’t want to eat or drink at all. The worst thing was he suddenly became so weak and confused. I took him to the vet immediately and he got several shots. My vet diagnosed distemper, and he said his chance was 50% to survive since this is a deadly virus that hit Bunjie.As we all know, if we have multiple cats in our home, each of them tends to have their favorite beloved human. Bunjie is not only very close to me, but also to my brother. Bunjie is my brother’s favorite, maybe because they have the same gender. Most of my cats were female at that time.
Before he was learning Reiki, he was not a cat lover. After studying for few months about Reiki and becoming a Reiki Master, he learned that every creature in this universe, including our surroundings, are in one harmony and naturally balanced. It means that we will be able to live peacefully and in harmony only if we are not neglecting any components of life, no matter how small and simple it looks. We need to keep balancing our life with them naturally. Thus, we can start by appreciating and being thankful to our surroundings, our dear furry companions, the bright sunshine, the trees, the leaves, and the fresh air we breathe and so on, even including giving them a good praise.
Since we were worried about Bunjie’s illness and his chance to survive, my brother gave him Reiki healing everyday, three times a day. In the morning before he went to work, at noon when he was at the office, giving distance Reiki, and in the evening. Thank God, slowly and gradually, Bunjie’s progress was getting better everyday. On the fifth day after visiting my vet, he was starting to run because he was reluctant to drink his medicine. At that moment, making him to have his medicine became very difficult, so I had to mix it with his meals. And, now Bunjie is getting robust, full-bodied and manly.
There were times too when Bunjie disappeared for a week when I was out of town, due to my job. We were worried that he might get lost somewhere. My brother used his Reiki to call him home. It was amazing to see that Bunjie finally came home.
Bunjie’s character was very skittish and sensitive. If I’m being too pushy to reach him, or my brother tried hard to approach him, he would rather run off. Most often, if any alley male cats came to our home, he suddenly got diarrhea, due to being stressed and scared of other feral or stray male cats. We were concerned a lot about his character, and we wanted Bunjie became more brave and courageous in dealing with any strange male cats.
In order to boost his confidence and decrease his skittishness, my brother applied Reiki again to Bunjie. Moreover, we often encouraged him to have more guts in dealing with strangers, either cats or humans. The results needed several months and lots of patience. Now we are so glad to see his progress. Not only that, he became so loving towards other new siblings and new kittens, although it took a little time for him to get used to the new members. Furthermore, as he became the oldest male cat in our home, it’s as if he knows it’s his duty and responsibility to take care of the other cats and kittens, and protect them from any furry intruders.
Here is another story about a Reiki Master with a stray kitten. It shows how Reiki can change both a human’s and a cat’s life. It is truly inspiring.
An Abandoned Kitten’s Fight For Life
One evening last June I was riding my bike on my usual route around the lake, and as I approached home, something made me turn down a road I’d never taken before. About two-thirds of the way up the street, I saw something in the middle of the road, and as I got closer, I saw it was a tiny kitten. When I stopped my bike, it ran into the bushes on the side of the road, but then came back to me. I picked it up and checked the bushes for any more kittens, but there were none.
There are no houses anywhere near that spot, so clearly this kitten had been intentionally abandoned there. He was filthy, covered with fleas, and had a distended belly, indicating worms and malnutrition, as well as a head cold; he couldn’t breath through his nose and wheezed so loudly I had to resist the temptation to call him “Darth Vader.” He also purred non-stop, so happy to have been rescued. I took him home, and the next day I took him to the vet. He was de-fleaed and de-wormed, and the vet gave me nose drops for his head cold. He weighed just 1.7 pounds!
The first name I gave him was “Shadow” because he followed me around like one. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to give Shadow his nose drops because they apparently burned, and he literally turned somersaults when I tried. But I gave him Reiki every day, and within a week the head cold cleared up and he started playing.
My original intention was to get him healthy and find him a home but, with the help of Reiki, my two adult cats accepted him, and he is now a full-fledged member of our household. Five months after finding him, his permanent name became “Paddy,” and he’d grown from a tiny 1.7 pounds to over 10 pounds!”
By the way, be sure to read other Felinesophy's post, Cats’ Purrs As A Way To Heal Human. This is incredible!
Photo credits:
Top photo with gorgeous black cat:
Wendi Rose - Hearts in Harmony
Middle photo with beautiful gray tabby/white cat
What Is Reiki?
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