By Sandy Zoumbaris

There is nothing worse than the terrifying feeling that grips you when you realize a precious animal family member is missing or lost. Twice I have lived through the panic, the fear, the stress and the search process. The intense emotions make it impossible to think clearly about what to do. Thankfully, in both cases I was able to find my missing animals. I am uncomfortable sharing about actual lost and missing animal cases I have been involved with, but I want to share in this blog about my own experiences searching and how I found my own lost animals. Using examples from my searches, I will describe some of the measures that helped me find my lost dog and my lost cat.

If you are searching for a lost or missing animal, I recommend utilizing every single method available to you. I was successful finding my own missing animals using a mixture of methods. Every animal and every search is unique, but there are excellent resources available that explain WHAT TO DO and, also, WHAT NOT TO DO.

After you conduct a thorough search of the immediate area where the animal was last seen, the two links below contain information that can help you START ACTING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

HOW TO FIND A LOST DOG
This short video from the Front Street Animal Shelter in Sacramento, CA clearly describes the steps to take if your dog is missing.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8cKxfWUXBnY

FINDING A LOST CAT
This website provides a Lost Cat Kit as well as a video, UNDERSTANDING LOST CAT PSYCHOLOGY, and other useful information to help you find a missing feline.
https://www.lostcatfinder.com/lost-cat-resources

Animal Communication can be a very valuable resource in the search for a lost animal. By connecting telepathically with the lost animal, a communicator may be able to verify if the animal is safe and whether they have been rescued by someone. Information gained from the lost pet can even help pinpoint their location. I am currently not accepting lost animal consultations. However, you can follow this link to a list of interspecies communicators certified by Nancy Windheart that includes individuals who are available for lost and missing cases.

https://nancywindheart.com/professional-certified-animal-communication-practitioners

I also recommend you employ all of the following measures that are available to you.

• Utilize local online listings like NEXTDOOR, CRAIG’S LIST, and local FACEBOOK pages for Lost and Found Pets
• Communicate frequently with local shelters
• Distribute POSTERS and FLYERS throughout the area
• Investigate NATIONAL LISTINGS for missing animals
• Contact a Lost Animal Search Professional

You can find additional resources and links on my Lost and Missing Animal Resource Page. https://interspeciesweavings.com/about-resources

(*Please note that inclusion of a resource in this blog and on my Resource Page is not an endorsement.)

I want to emphasize the importance of CHECKING LOCAL SHELTERS not just once, but every couple days. I have personally found lost dogs along the road on three separate occasions in my life. Each time I immediately notified the area shelters. In all of these cases, the dogs were reunited with their families because the owners also got in touch with the shelters. That’s three out of three happy endings!

JESSIE’S STORY

FLYERS AND POSTERS were the key to finding my dog, Jessie. Terrified of thunderstorms, Jessie escaped one day while I was at work. An immediate door–to-door search of the surrounding area yielded a sighting and a possible direction she might be running. First, of course, I notified the shelters. Then, since I lived in a very rural area where internet was not yet established, I focused on hanging posters and flyers. The posters and flyers were placed at stop signs, larger intersections, the post office, gas stations, convenience stores and anywhere else it was possible to post them. Unfortunately, at this point in my life I had never even heard of animal communication so I was not able to take advantage of this service.

On the third day of searching, there was a phone call! Jessie was alive and still traveling in the suspected direction. As the search progressed, the flyers provided a means of tracking her progress. Every call helped confirm the direction of her movement. More posters and flyers were then distributed outward from the area of the most recent sighting.

The search continued by vehicle, on foot and by flyer for 10 days. Unfortunately, we experienced thunderstorms every single day, keeping Jessie frightened and running. I listened to an intuitive feeling to turn down a particular dead-end road. I posted the last flyer in my possession at a group of mailboxes and returned home to make more flyers. That evening I received a call from the last home at the very end of that dead-end road. That was the property where she was finally recovered.

Jessie’s story reveals some of the frustrating aspects of searching for a lost dog. It is typically suggested that you approach a lost animal slowly and quietly and use food to attract them to you. This is because if they are frightened and in survival mode they may not even recognize you! I took Jessie’s own food bowl and food with me to the property where she was sighted. I was hoping she would recognize the sound of food being poured into her own bowl. From a distance, she watched me pour the food but then she retreated into the woods. As a backup plan, I brought my other two dogs along. I thought she might recognize the dogs even if she did not recognize me. This plan also failed and it began to thunder and rain again. Terrified of the storm, Jessie ran farther into the darkness and the trees. I finally returned home, planning to try again the next morning.

On a return trip to the same property at 6 am the following day, Jessie was discovered sleeping in a ditch near the road! The car door facing her was quietly opened. When she heard her name called very softly, she woke up and immediately recognized the car!!! Jessie calmly walked to the vehicle and climbed in for the ride home!

HOW I FOUND ERNIE

Finding a missing feline can require different methods than looking for a dog. My own experience looking for my missing cat, Ernie, certainly supports the common belief that a cat may be more likely to be found closer to home than a dog. Ernie’s story also reveals the kind of challenges animal communicators can face.

It was winter and the temperatures at night were below freezing when my elderly farm cat, Ernie, failed to come home for dinner. I had completed a beginning workshop in Animal Communication, so I decided to try to connect to him. I successfully communicated telepathically with Ernie and he showed me a visual image of the inside of a rundown old shed or out-building. He indicated he was injured and could not get out.

The following morning, holding this very clear visual image in mind, I began searching on foot investigating every old, dilapidated structure I saw on the surrounding rural properties. I connected with Ernie telepathically multiple times and always got the same visual image, even when I asked if he could show me a picture of something else close by. On the third day, I received a strong intuitive feeling that he just had to be closer to home. I started over and searched outward from my home again. Thankfully, this time I found him!

Ernie was hiding in a tiny, dilapidated shed that I already investigated on the very first day of my explorations! In my initial visit to this shed, I called for him and got no reply. I even looked inside the structure but just did not see him hiding there. The outcome was different on my second visit. I immediately heard him meow when I called his name. He was alive but his injury prevented him from jumping back out through the broken window. I asked Ernie why he did not answer me the first time. He explained that he jumped through the window to escape a tough feral cat that was chasing him. Ernie was afraid the feral cat was still around the shed. As you can see, although I was immediately able to connect with Ernie telepathically it proved very difficult to actually find him physically.

My heart goes out to anyone who suddenly finds they are in a missing animal situation. I hope my stories help you prepare for the ups and downs and the frustrations of the search process. I am sharing my stories of successful recovery of my own missing animals in the hope that they will inspire anyone who is faced with this challenge. Here are a couple of my own suggestions too:

• Every situation and animal is unique. Therefore, it is important to remain flexible and change your strategy if you find you need to.
• Follow your own intuition. You are the one connected to the animal and this connection can be a source of intuitive guidance.
• Be PERSISTENT. Keep trying. Get the support you need to help you keep going!
  
  Here is the link to my Lost and Missing Animal Resource Page for more helpful information. https://interspeciesweavings.com/about-resources

By Sandy Zoumbaris

I recently learned that the Global Sanctuary for Elephants in Brazil uses Green Hope Farm Flower Essences to assist the elephants recovering from the trauma of years of captivity.  I was glad to see these wonderful flower essences being used to benefit animals around the globe.  This prompted me to share about one of my favorite tools for helping animals.  I have been using essences from the Green Hope Farm Animal Wellness Collection with my animal family for years. These are my favorite flower essences because they are stabilized without alcohol in a gentle, non-toxic, red shiso base produced at Green Hope Farm.

The Animal Wellness Collection consists of 22 essences created to support the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of animals.  These flower essences were developed to help animals with the challenges they face in today’s world.  They can be given to domesticated and non-domesticated animals and even humans.  Essences can be taken along with conventional medications and work in a manner complementary to veterinary care.  I feel safe using them and have taken them myself and given them to my animal and human family members for more than two decades.

The Green Hope Essences website has a lot of useful information about the Animal Wellness Collection and the general collection. You can search for the essence that best suits your needs and find instructions about how to administer them to animals. There is even an extensive list of common concerns for animals and the recommended essences for those concerns.  You can also contact the helpful and knowledgeable staff for assistance with selection.

I usually have a few items from the Animal Wellness Collection on hand for my fur family.  Animal Emergency, Digestive Woes, and Recovery are typically in my animal first aid kit.  I have found Run & Play and Senior Citizen to be helpful to my seniors.  Essences that might benefit animals rescued from shelters include Abandonment and Abuse, Anxiety and New Beginnings.

I have never had a problem administering the Green Hope flower essences to animals. They seem to just know these essences support their well being.  My cat loves them and gets excited when he sees one of the cobalt blue bottles in my hand.

To learn more about the Green Hope Farm Animal Wellness Collection visit their website here. Click this link for more information about the Global Sanctuary for Elephants.

By Sandy Zoumbaris

Many of us appreciate the opportunity to discuss care options as well as end of life wishes with our beloved elderly animal companions.  Although these conversations can be emotionally very difficult, they can bring peace of mind to everyone involved. My intention is to provide my clients with compassionate telepathic translation and a safe container in which to hold these heart-to-heart discussions with their special animal relatives.

Although commonly referred to as the “end of life conversation”, this type of consultation can also be useful prior to surgery, at the beginning of a treatment protocol or at the time of any major change in an animal companion’s life situation including illness or even the loss of another family member.  A check-in with an elderly animal can provide information about how they are feeling or if there have been any recent changes and how we can help them deal with the physical and other effects of aging. This service provided by telepathic interspecies communicators can be a valuable supplement to traditional geriatric and palliative veterinary care.

My own experience with an end of life conversation with one of my own animal family members provides an example of what this type of consultation can be like. When my 17 year old cat, Rusty, was diagnosed with terminal cancer I was overwhelmed with emotions.  I reached out to an individual who provided me with animal communication services for many years and was very familiar with our special relationship.  The end of life conversation took place just days before Rusty’s transition.  The memory of this consultation remains very precious to me. 

We discussed Rusty’s wishes regarding treatment.  He said he did not want a war going on in his body and preferred that we just let the cancer be.  Rusty requested that I continue the energy work I had been doing with him because it made him feel more comfortable.  Eating was becoming a problem and he thanked me for my efforts to help him eat.  Rusty also told me exactly what he would do to let me know when it was time for euthanasia so I would not have to make the difficult decision.

With the assistance of our compassionate translator and friend, we also recounted some of the highlights and special moments of our 17 years together.  For example, we recalled the events of the day I found that tiny five week old kitten in the middle of one of the busiest roads in town at the height of rush hour.  Rusty said he had been waiting for my vehicle and scolded me for being late for our appointment with destiny.  Rusty was adamant that I continue the interspecies communication classes when he was gone and said he would be supporting me from the other side.  His final message to me was not to worry because we would “play together” again.

Rusty informed me when he was ready to transition, just as he said he would.  Knowing that I was doing exactly what he wanted gave me the strength to get through that day and a feeling of peace when he was gone.  This beautiful end of life conversation inspired me to become an interspecies communicator so I could provide this special kind of assistance to others.

By Sandy Zoumbaris

Is your animal family member suddenly exhibiting destructive behavior?

Are two animal family members just not getting along?

Is your animal companion getting on in years and you want to ask them how they are feeling and if they are experiencing any pain or discomfort?

Your rescue animal has some unusual behaviors and you want to learn about their life before the two of you met?

These are a few examples of situations where a telepathic interspecies communicator can be helpful.

Behavior-related problems are a common reason people reach out to a telepathic interspecies communicator.  I am not comfortable sharing about actual cases I have worked with, so I am going to share about my own experience with a behavior problem that illustrates how helpful animal communication can be. Years before I began offering this service, I personally engaged the assistance of an interspecies communicator regarding a behavior issue in my own animal family.  My gratitude for the aid I received in this situation and my desire to help others in the same way were primary motivators in my decision to become an interspecies communicator.

A serious emergency situation arose for me when one of my dogs, Velvet, began experiencing seizures.  Seizures can be a frightening situation to witness. Even more frightening to me was the behavior of my other dog, Faith. Faith began attacking Velvet whenever she was having a seizure.  Not only did I have to worry about preventing Velvet from harming herself during the episode, but I had to prevent Faith from harming Velvet!  I could not understand why Faith would attack Velvet!  How was I going to protect Velvet from Faith if a seizure occurred when I was not at home? Would I have to find a new home for one of my dogs? I really did not know what to do so I reached out to an interspecies communicator. 

The communicator connected telepathically with Faith and learned that when a seizure was underway, Faith no longer recognized Velvet!  She felt some stranger had taken over Velvet’s body.  Faith believed this bizarre acting strange dog was a threat to her family that she needed to eliminate!   

The interspecies translator explained to Faith that during these episodes it was still our Velvet, not some other strange dog.  Velvet was ill and not a threat to me or anyone else during the seizures.  I was trying to help Velvet recover from this illness.  Through the communicator, I asked Faith to help me by standing back so I could attend to Velvet during these times.  Also, if I was not home, Faith’s job was to protect Velvet, not attack her.  The negotiations were lengthy, but successful.  Faith finally understood and agreed to stop attacking Velvet during what Faith described as Velvet’s “storms”. 

This incident is a great example of how an interspecies communicator can help with a behavior problem.  I don’t know what I would have done without that assistance.  This experience also illustrates another way telepathic interspecies communication can be of aid.  I asked the communicator to inquire about what Velvet was experiencing during the seizures.  Velvet replied that sometimes she felt out of sorts just prior to an incident, but often the seizures came on without warning.  Velvet described terrible pain and a feeling of intense pressure inside of her head as a seizure began.  She then saw a blinding light and usually lost conscious awareness.  Once the seizure was over and she regained consciousness, she felt confused and disoriented and actually was blind for quite some time.  This description made sense to me in terms of what I was observing.  The translator did not diagnose or prescribe anything in this situation, but the information received telepathically from Velvet helped me to better deal with what was happening.

This experience from my life also shows how an interspecies translator can help in multiple ways during one consultation.  It was a tremendous relief to me that we were able to convince Faith to change her behavior.  I also received valuable information that helped me to understand what Velvet was experiencing as a result of her illness. Conventional and alternative veterinarians were consulted in this case, but the interspecies communicator helped me in ways that were complementary to the veterinary care.

In future blog posts I will share other personal experiences that illustrate how telepathic interspecies communication can help you and the animals in your life.