Job 35:11 Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? (KJV)
One of God’s greatest blessings is animals. I’ve always loved & appreciated animals, but the older I get, the more I love & appreciate them. Animals love deeply & unconditionally, they are fun, they are very intuitive & intelligent. What’s not to love?!
In 2001, my husband & I lost Bubba, a very gentle, sweet, special orange tabby cat I’d had since he was only 4 weeks old. I was absolutely convinced losing Bubba was going to kill me, my grief was so strong. In spite of the pain though, God showed me something interesting at that time- I could communicate with animals.
The day after Bubba died, I let the cats out into the backyard for some supervised fun. I went to Bubba’s freshly dug grave for a moment of grief. I told him how much I loved him & missed him, & always would. A small voice spoke to my heart saying, “It’s OK, Mommy. I feel much better now!” (Bubba suffered with feline AIDS & emphysema for about 4 months before he died) I wasn’t sure I heard this right at all, & quickly came back to the part of the yard where the cats were. Spitfire, the queen of the castle, looked at me with great concern as I came near her & I heard, “Something is wrong with Mommy.” I told my husband what happened, & he said he could believe I could hear them. After all, I was extremely close to all of our cats.
The following day, I turned on some music while I was doing housework. When Lynyrd Skynyrd’s song, “Freebird” came on, I heard what I’d thought was Bubba’s voice again, as I heard it the previous day. “Mommy, this song fits me. Listen to the lyrics.” By this time, I doubted my sanity. Once I was done my chores, I prayed, asking God what was going on. I felt no answer coming, so I opened up my Bible. It came open to the book of Job, & my eyes fell on this Scripture: Job 12:7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: (KJV) Immediately, I knew I heard Bubba & Spitfire. I wasn’t crazy!
Since that time, I’ve gotten better at communicating with animals. I don’t often hear them as clearly as I did Bubba & Spitfire, but I still communicate with them constantly. What’s so interesting is the more I wanted to communicate with them, the more they wanted to communicate with me. Our late chow chow mix, Bear, taught me that when he barked once it meant yes, twice meant no & three times meant I love you. Vincent, my granddad’s cat that we ended up adopting in 2008, told me one day his great great great great grandfather was a purebred Abyssinian cat. He was very proud of his heritage apparently. Minnie Rose, our dilute tortoise shell cat, actually tries to form words with her meows, so there is never much trouble figuring out what message she is trying to get across, especially when she says, “Yea” or, “NOOOO!!”. Punkin is our orange tabby with feline PTSD. He is very vocal & very clear at communicating whatever he wants me to know with certain facial expressions as well as meows.
I’m always impressed by how if you just pay attention to them, animals will make sure you know what they want you to know. You just need to be observant.
Also, not all animals are overly interested in communication with people, so if you try to communicate with some animals, they may have absolutely no interest, no matter how hard you try. Some seem to put up a mental wall.
Be careful reading about communicating with animals. Some who discuss animal communication claim it is some sort of psychic ability instead of a gift from God. They make it sound almost occult in nature. I have asked God to help me to communicate with animals His way, & with whatever animals He wants me to communicate with. I believe keeping God involved keeps anything bad out of what really should be God’s gift to His children.
Several years ago, I wrote my first book on the topic of animals. I even included some about things my animals & I have discussed. If you would like to check out this book, it is called, “Pawprints On Our Hearts”, & is available at this page on my website, simply scroll down : http://cynthiabaileyrug.com/Books-For-Sale.php
Cynthia Bailey-Rug, Christian Author 
Thanks for this post, Cynthia. My dog Alice is ill with cancer and I stress over how she is handling her symptoms and especially if she’s in pain. I often say that I wish she could talk so that I’d be better able to care for her. From now on I’ll pray that God will enable me to hear what she needs to tell me.
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I’m so sorry about Alice. (((hugs))) Absolutely ask God to enable you to hear what she needs. I have noticed something- when animals are very ill or near death, they often go one way or another- either suddenly they desperately want to communicate everything or they shut down & want to communicate nothing. My Jasmine wanted to communicate every thought- her last few hours I learned more about her than I’d known in the 8 years I’d had her. Bear however, shut down a few weeks before he died. You need to respect what Alice wants either way. And, even if she doesn’t easily communicate, she most likely will let you know some things, like if she is in a great deal of pain or wants you to hold her.
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I’m sorry to read about your dog Suzanne. I’ve never had a pet myself but feel I can appreciate how special and important a person’s relationship with a pet can be. I hope you won’t mind me relating this tale.
Years ago a stray cat turned up and spent a lot of time in my neighbours’ garden and ours. The neighbours tried to catch it to take it to an animal shelter but it was a real scrapper and couldn’t be caught. They fed it/Harry and gave him a bed to sleep in, in their garage. He wasn’t keen on me because I’d told him not to do his business in my patio pots but I amused my neighbour by talking to him. I’d say “How are you today, Harry? Would you like a roast dinner?” when I was putting scraps out for the birds. Harry seemed to me to have a vast range of expressions and I sometimes felt I knew what he was thinking. I heard a cat fight in the neighbours garden one day. When I looked over the fence, Harry looked at me triumphantly and said “It’s OK, I’ve seen him off!”
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My understanding of animal intelligence has changed over the years. There was a time when I believed that they operated mostly on instinct and didn’t have much cognitive ability. But some good studies have been done in the last few years that indicate that dogs, for example, have the IQ equivalent to that of a 2 year old human. And I’ve seen several videos of animals (birds, fish, sea mammals, etc.) actually going to humans for help when they were injured or entangled in some way. And then there are animal friends, two different species forming strong bonds for life. All of this leads me to believe that they do have emotions and are capable of forming strong bonds with their humans. And if that is so I must also conclude that they want and are capable of communication with us.
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Absolutely!! They are very capable of communication, intelligent thought, reasoning & so much more.
Zippy has somehow taught himself how to help me when I have flashbacks. How is beyond me, but he knows to get in my face & make me focus on him- it keeps me grounded. Valentine & Chester know my parents aren’t safe, so when they have been in my home, both have scratched & bitten my parents. No one else- everyone else thinks they are super sweet & gentle. One friend of mine grew up afraid of cats because one attacked her as a child. My Poo Kitty was incredibly gentle with her & gained her trust. Then the others followed suit, gently giving her affection when they saw her. The last couple of times she’s been by, she’s had a cat on her lap with NO anxiety!!
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Oh, boy.
I have an almost seventeen-year-old Tortie who is the light of my life.
Your story has got me all weepy, but in a good way. Thank you.
I have know for YEARS, now, that my soul is heavy with unshed tears, but it’s hard to get them started and, I’m finding out, even hardER to keep them going.
I so feel your pain and your joy about your “Fur Babies” (that’s a new one to me!). Although our vet continues to be amazed at what she described just last week as my “stoic” cat, I know that no matter what, That Day will come sooner rather than later.
Thank you for a good cry: I’m glad I can still cry at all and gladder still that I can cry for / with someone else.
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aww… Sending you big hugs! ❤
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