Animals and EFT

Helping Two Cats with Declawing Issues

I have recently been involved with two cats who live in the US (I am currently living in Johannesburg South Africa). Their owner wanted me to do an EFT ‘overview’ on them to see if they had any issues that needed sorting out.

She sent me pics of the two cats, Paddy and Tiger*** and a bit of background info on when she got them, how old they were etc.

I did an overview on them and discovered that the biggest issue for both of them was that they had been declawed many years previously and were still carrying around lots of emotional ‘stuff’ regarding this.

It was agreed that I would then do individual surrogate sessions with each of the cats and I muscle tested to find out which cat to work with first as during my initial evaluation they were both extremely emotional about the declawing.

I was ‘told’ to deal with Tiger first, so I did.

I usually do my EFT surrogate sessions while out walking as I find I can tune out any distractions. I start by saying I am doing this for XXX… I am doing this for XXX. Then I think about what to say for the set up and take it from there.

I begin by muscle testing to see what is the primary emotion I need to deal with – and for Tiger what first came up was anger. I started to tap on even though I am angry that … and got no further as there was too much emotion and Tiger could not let me say ‘declawing’ – it was far too emotional a word. We then settled on ‘this terrible thing that happened to me…’ and he seemed OK with that.

So… even though I am angry that this terrible thing happened to me I am a great cat. No way! Tiger ranted at himself saying how could he be a great cat… he doesn’t have any claws… how could he call himself a great cat… how could he be named Tiger when he didn’t act like a Tiger… couldn’t act like a Tiger…

I just tapped around my face points and kept tapping on the collarbone point while he calmed down a bit. Then out of the blue the word ‘guilt’ leapt out of my head and I burst into tears. I was so upset (or rather Tiger was so upset) that I couldn’t stand up. I thought I would have to sit in the road as I couldn’t breathe, was sobbing so hard I couldn’t see where I was walking.

I just kept tapping my collarbone and after a few minutes I/Tiger had calmed down enough to talk through the tapping points. I was amazed that he felt guilty. I would have expected him to feel angry or depressed perhaps but not guilty that he hadn’t stopped the declawing.

If anyone thinks that when doing the surrogate EFT you use your own thoughts, then this ‘guilt’ should help them understand that I just tune into the animal. There is no way I would ever have thought that a cat would feel guilty; in fact I think guilt would be the last emotion that would ever come to me!

We tapped on it was not my fault… I didn’t know what they were going to do to me… my mommy thought it was the right thing to do at the time… lots of rounds on it was not my fault and I forgive myself even though I couldn’t do anything about stopping it.

After several rounds of that, Tiger calmed down and we were able to mention the DC word. We worked through his anger at the vet that did the op… and anger at his mommy for not thinking more…

Eventually after about 20 minutes of tapping we got his anger down to zero for his mommy and himself and his guilt down to zero. He would not forgive the vet though and it took another session (the next day) to get him to agree to say I am open to the possibility of being open to the possibility of forgiving that vet. But not yet.

The next day I tuned in to Paddy about the declawing. He was depressed, not very angry. We did set ups of ‘even though I feel life is not worth living, after that terrible thing that happened to me, I am working through this’. He also could not say he was a great cat… as he felt so down about himself.

We did rounds on what is the point of living… I have no claws… I am not a real cat…. I see no point in eating… and eventually we got more positive and he decided that he liked his life.

As the depression lifted, anger came to the fore and we had to do several rounds on that… even though I am so angry with that vet for telling my mommy it would be a good thing to take my claws away, I AM a great cat… in fact that is what you must call me, the Great Paddy… and I am working through this.

He forgave himself for not stopping the op. I found it interesting that both the cats felt that they ‘should’ have done more to stop the declawing.

Paddy also was not open to forgiving the vet totally. He also needed some positive reinforcement after we lifted the depression. He told me that his self image was at a 7 out of 10 but he wanted it to be a 10! So… even though I still have some issues with my self image I am a great cat, I am the Great Paddy and I am working through this.

Two rounds later and he was at a 10 and feeling very confident!

The next day (I allow one day for the changes to be assimilated) he was feeling fine but still not open to forgiving the vet. He said he was happy to have that bit of anger still there for the time being but did think eventually he would forgive the vet.

Feedback from their mommy has been that they both seem more confident and less depressed after doing the EFT. There are other issues that we can work through such as their jealousy of each other (‘jealousy… what jealousy’ said Tiger snippily. I have no issues with jealousy although others might…) but are letting the declawing settle a bit first.

I work with people and animals and have to admit a sneaking preference for cats – we have five of our own plus a lodger cat, Splodge, whom I have written about in another mail.

It is really wonderful that I can help so many animals however far away from me they are physically, thanks to EFT!

*** names have been changed

A Changed Cat!

My husband and I have five cats living with us, all from shelters and adopted.
We moved to a new town house complex some months back and found to our delight that there were cats living in most of the houses. I think there were two dogs living next door who were the only dogs around!

We found a ‘stray’ cat who used to terrify our cats and seemingly everyone else’s cats here… attacking them, coming in for food etc. and spraying all over the place.

Being cat lovers, my immediate neighbours did not want to get rid of Splodge as I named him (due to his being a white cat with splodges of black all over…) but were prepared to club together to get him neutered and fixed up in general.

Problem was that there was no way to catch him. He would descend on a garden with fur flying and then disappear. Everyone shouting and chasing him did not help I am sure!

Anyway… I decided to see if EFT could help him. I had used EFT on several of my cats with physical ailments, swollen paws, etc. and also fear of thunder with great success.

I tuned into Splodge and what I ‘found’ was that he was desperate for a home. He was jealous of the other cats as they had beds to sleep on and unlimited food etc.

He said he didn’t want to attack them but he couldn’t help himself and he hated himself for his behaviour. We did some more surrogate EFT on him/with him and it was very emotional… I cried lots of tears on his behalf. He eventually realised through the EFT that if he wanted any shot at a home he would have to stop this behaviour, and he would have to learn to trust at least one person.

He agreed to give it a try… and I also started to put food out for him… slowly would approach him if I saw him sleeping in a bush etc. After a few days of doing this, he would let me approach him. Then I did some more EFT on him/with him and he agreed to try a bit harder to trust. He said his resolution for 2007 was to get himself a loving home. He is focussed on that.

He then allowed me to touch him and feed him and brush him. Virtually overnight from then on he became the most friendly trusting affectionate cat you could ever wish to meet!

People in the complex would stop me and say what a great cat… where did he come from? Other people would stop and pet him and he loved every minute of it. Last week we got him fixed. No problem to put him in the cat cage… he just sat in the cage in the car while we took him to the vet. The vet said he was a ‘sweetheart’ of a cat and gave us a discount on the op!

We are now looking for a great home for Splodge as I simply cannot add another cat to our household.

EFT definitely came through for Splodge!

Stress-free lives for animals?

In all the rushing around we do with our hectic lifestyles, do we ever stop and wonder if our pets and animals around us are stressed?

Companion animals are great stress relievers themselves. Our cats come and sit on our laps, purring with content when we stroke them. Our dogs look up at us with loving eyes when we pet them or take them for walks… Do they themselves become stressed at times?

Taking them to the vet for example. Wouldn’t it be great if the vet came to you instead of having to transport your beloved feline or canine friend in (possibly) a cage, in a car, through the traffic with lots of noise and external stimuli? Unlikely for this to happen so how about helping them become less stressed and more calm.

Using a therapy called EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) you can help your companion animals relax. You can also help them heal themselves. You can truly make a difference in their lives in many ways using this easy and drug free therapy.

Here are some examples of what can be achieved using EFT.

Frisco is a large golden retriever who hated thunder and loud noises such as fire crackers. He would literally go berserk when a storm approached, hurling himself through screen doors and ripping moldings from walls, smashing windows… the only way to reduce his fear was by using drugs to calm him down.

After one session of EFT he became calmer and his owners no longer had to drug him to survive a storm. He now can be taken outside when it is raining and thundering and basically shrugs his doggy shoulders and has no negative response to the noise at all.

Another golden retriever Jake (he lives with Frisco) kept getting benign lumps all over himself. Drugs, natural remedies… nothing helped. I did some remote EFT for him and we found out that he was sooooooo jealous of Frisco as Frisco got everything first. He got more love, more treats, and all Jake was worth (he felt) was to get lumps because at least then he got attention. The fact that this was not actually true was immaterial. It was how Jake perceived things that we needed to find out and then fix. Now Jake’s owners take them out for walks separately, feed them separately and the lumps have disappeared.

One of our cats, Snowball, had skin cancer, due to his life in New Hampshire in the USA where he would lie for hours in the sun, even in the snow! We only realised that his ratty looking ears were not the results of various fights he got into but were evidence of skin cancer when we took him for a check up when we had moved to South Africa (of course the cats came with us, jet-set travelers from New York!) We took him for radiation therapy with our wonderful vet, Georgina Crewe, and he was deemed to be fine. A daily dose of high protection factor sun screen on his ears was the on-going prescription. We took him for regular checkups and after a year the cancer had returned, albeit in a small area.

More radiation therapy. While we were at the clinic waiting our turn, I saw several cats in bad shape… stages 3 and 4 cancer. One big ginger cat was in so much pain he continually rubbed his nose with his paw, causing it to bleed all over the place, even though he was heavily sedated. I now had EFT to help me! That night I did some remote EFT on O’Malley. It was very emotional – the thoughts that he sent me were that he was fearful that he would be ‘thrown away’ now he was ugly with his skin cancer. I tapped for him and eventually he calmed down. When I saw him the next day at the clinic, I could hardly believe what I saw! His nose had healed a great deal; no more bleeding… he was much calmer.

Another cat, Lillywhite, had skin cancer on her nose and ears and also had a growth on one of her paws that the vet said was unheard of in cats. The only solution was to remove the arm/front leg up to the shoulder to prevent the cancer from spreading. That night I did some remote EFT with Lillywhite and it was amazing to hear her say to me I am waving my paw in the healing light. She said that over and over again. She seemed in full control of her healing. She still had more treatments to undergo but at the last check up with Snowball I asked Georgina how she was doing. Much better I was told. Finished her treatments and the growth was removed – but she kept her paw and arm.

Back to Snowball… Now I had the experience of EFT I did some on him. He told me that the reason he got the skin cancer in the first place was that he didn’t really like having other cats living with him. We currently have five including Snowball, all refugees from shelters and one who adopted us when he had been abandoned by his previous owners.

With tapping he realised that if he didn’t get so stressed he wouldn’t get the skin cancer coming back. That would mean he wouldn’t need to have that pesky sun screen rubbed on his ears every day. He made a decision to allow himself to be more relaxed around the other cats in return for which I would not put the sun screen on his ears. His ears now need to be seen to be believed. They look better than they have in years – I can stroke them and he doesn’t flinch. He is much less stressed around the other cats and looks years younger and actually rejuvenated.

I have tapped on Mango (one of our black and white cats) when he came limping in to the bathroom… a quick round of tapping for his front paw and he trotted out on all four paws, no sign of a limp. A few weeks back he appeared to have a blocked tear duct and dirt was collecting in his one eye. A round of tapping… everything back to normal overnight.

EFT benefits are not only for companion animals… I have done remote tapping for horses and even birds, all with great success. I have done EFT for animals I have never met!

So before you decide to trade in your companion animal for behaviour you can’t tolerate, try some EFT… you will be pleasantly surprised!

My cat was allergic to its food

We have six cats – I have used EFT on all of them at various times with great success.

But… my big ginger cat, Uti (so named as he has a kink or u-turn in his tail) still seemed to have issues.

I used EFT on his abandonment issues (he was taken to a pet shop at a very young age), his embarrassment issues (he didn’t know how to wash himself as the other cats do and consequently slurps loudly when washing himself), his inability to dig holes when using either the indoor litter tray or outside in the garden (he would go sitting on top of the litter and then spend many minutes vainly trying to cover it up, getting agitated in the process).

All the issues above were sorted by using EFT.

When we first got Uti he was used to eating fairly cheap dry cat food and seemed to have no problems with the food. My cats all eat premium dry food and all are thriving on it – apart from Uti.

He started pooping in the office, in the bedroom, in the bath, anywhere but where he should be going. To be blunt, the smell was appalling – as was the texture.

I did EFT on his digestive system… seemed to help. Then the pooping got worse… every single night he would go in my husband’s bathroom… the smell was so strong that it woke me up at 3 or 4 in the morning!

Husband threatened Uti with leaving the household… I did all the clearing up but that was not the issue.

I was very puzzled… every other time I had used EFT on my cats (as well as with other cat and animal clients around the world) EFT was successful.

One early morning after another cleanup, I was lying in bed wondering what else I could try… then suddenly ‘allergy’ came into my head. Once I was up and about that morning, I went for my daily walk. I tuned into to Uti and he said that he was definitely allergic to the food. He wanted the cheap stuff back as he was fed up with his insides gurgling plus the fact that he felt unloved by my husband.

I did a couple of rounds on ‘even though this food is too rich for me I am still a great cat’… nad then one on ‘even though I am allergic to this rich food I am still a great cat’.

I heaved a big sigh… went back home and looked at Uti. His eyes seemed calmer and he was looking very sprightly… he didn’t hide under the dresser as he usually did.

That night before I went to sleep I did some EFT on me, in case I was focusing on what I thought was going to happen… ‘even though part of me thinks that Uti might poop in the bathroom again tonight, I now know that he is fine’.

Next morning… nothing in the bathroom! Uti was up and about, went outside… ran up a tree (unheard of for him) and generally seemed much calmer and peaceful.

Over the next few days he stuck up for himself more, didn’t run and hide under the dresser if one of the other cats looked at him – in fact he batted a couple of them himself, just with one paw as if to say ah so this is how it feels to stand my ground.

I waited for a few days and then we had another incident in the bathroom. This time it didn’t seem to smell so bad… and when I got up to investigate, Uti was sitting in the bathroom as if to say ‘here… check it out… much better!’ And it was. No more nasty liquid, normal stools in form and smell.

That was the last time he has pooped in the house. I leave all the room doors open now – he goes everywhere. He has lost some weight, plays a lot more, stays out sitting in the sunshine or under a shady tree instead of just spending all his time asleep on our bed.

It is now two months since I did the allergy EFT on him – I wanted to make sure that I had finally got to the core issue regarding the food.

EFT actually saved Uti from having to leave our house. My husband is happy with him again and most important, Uti is happy with himself.

My cat is dying!

This consult was done entirely via e-mail for feedback and surrogate EFT for help. So that makes the process (reading about it) a long one. I will do my best to put in the relevant info and as much about the actual tapping as I can. I feel that this is a great example of the bonding between owner and cat… The more I work with animals the more I find that issues are linked.

My cat client was in Montreal, Canada and had just turned 19. Her mommy, Martha (not her real name), wrote to me asking if I could check out Hot Spice (not her real name) as she thought the move to Montreal had stressed Hot Spice out as well as her own stresses were being picked up by HS (Hot Spice).

I asked her to send me info on HS, background, history etc. which she did. Before I could even do the overview, I got an urgent e-mail telling me that HS was not doing well and please to help her any way I could.

I immediately tuned into HS and was shocked to hear that she had had enough of this life… she was ready to go over the Rainbow Bridge but was very worried about leaving Martha as she thought she would not be able to cope without her. She was feeling very depressed about how she felt and overwhelmed in general.

I asked HS if I could help her pass without pain and if so could we do some tapping for her. She agreed to that so we started with EFT on the dehydration and constipation and lack of energy.

Our set ups were along the lines of ‘even though I have no energy and all I want is to go over the Rainbow Bridge, I am open to the suggestion that I could have more energy and go peacefully and without pain’.

We sent lots of healing light to her kidneys to help them improve – also asked for more energy to her whole body so she could drink more and get her appetite back.

Even though my kidneys are not working well yet, I ask the Universe and my body to send lots of healing light and energy to my body to help me.

After several rounds with many tears, she/me gave three or four big sighs… which means she was releasing past stress.

We then sent lots more healing energy to her – she then said she was feeling better and that at 19 she is not old and not yet ready to go over the Rainbow Bridge… she said she wanted to be around for a lot longer – she said she and her mommy make a great team . She thought 22 was a good age to go.

She said she has an appetite now and was looking forward to eating. She was also going to drink more to stop the constipation and also the dehydration. She definitely seemed a lot more cheerful to me when we finished.

I sent this feedback off to Martha, hoping that I would get some good news back. When you are working with animals in other countries you cannot see the improvement that you work on. It is not up to me when an animal is going to die, I just do what I can using EFT to help.

Here is what Martha sent me: Praise the Lord! and praise again for sending you our way Maureen…. what a difference it made knowing you were there, even if it seems so far away, but not really, we’re indeed very close…

She is better and the timing is right: I felt you working with us, I saw the tears, it was 2 a.m. here. We had a long night. She was passing urine with blood. So I kept checking each time. She drank lots of water and then her appetite came back, just as you described. The bleeding gradually stopped.

It’s 9 am here and she is sleeping right now, her breathing much more relaxed and deep. I’d like you work with her kidneys/intestines/bladder/digestion/appetite if you feel it still needs more healing till she is ’safe’. God bless your heart.

The next day Martha took HS to her vet. She says: I visited with the vet at 11 a.m. (I had to do a bit of EFT on me before going in – I realized how much the underlying voice of defeat and hopelessness takes over, for me and for HS. I’d like to work on that with you, but more on that later).

The vet insists all symptoms are signs of a very stressed kidney. Of course, he tells me her age, which I understand, and tries to prepare me for the worst.

She is calm now, and after I fed her (she ate a little bit) she went back to sleep. I feel that’s good since the bladder is not urging her and when she curls up, I feel she is comfortable and relaxed.

The next day Martha wrote that HS started to be more herself at 1.30 am. She ate her breakfast. She took HS to the vet and he was a little surprised. He acknowledged he thought she would ‘look’ much worse.

I tuned in to HS again to see how her kidneys were functioning. She told me only one of her kidneys was working when we started. We worked on that and now she says her left kidney is functioning at 46%. The right one (that we didn’t really do as much work on) is currently functioning at 73%.

She was chuckling at the vet’s surprise when he saw her. She says she is going to drink lots more water as she doesn’t like having the water injected. I also checked out her bladder and sent lots of healing light and energy to it. She says she can now pee like clear crystal light, easily and often.

More feedback from Martha: HS was diagnosed with insufficient renal function few years ago, what the vets call ‘normal’ in older cats. I did not know all the details about the reasons why cats eventually ‘develop’ renal problems. Thank you for working with her kidneys. I’m smiling at her ‘chuckling’… Maureen, she seems much more herself this morning, although her face is alternating relaxed, happy, than sad and heavy. Please let me know what you pick up on the constipation – could you test her to see if at this point a pro-biotic + enzymes added to her food would help with the constipation. I don’t want to add anything that might overstimulate her gut as she is trying to get better.

Since yesterday she started to pee freely as you described – clear, beautiful bright yellow. And she responded every time I took her to the litter box. Today she is doing it on her own. Thank you for working with her kidneys.

My comments to Martha: I worked on her bowel movements this morning… she got very emotional and said she had so much ‘bad’ stuff that she needed to keep it inside her as she couldn’t face it if she allowed it to come out. Please remember that oftentimes this is not actual truth but a perception (which is then of course the ‘truth’). We worked on allowing the sadness to come out… that it was easy for her and safe for her to let this all out. We also worked on her not eating too much at once… to let the stuff inside her come out easily and in a relaxed manner.

She said she was feeling much better and was now OK with not keeping stuff inside her and getting all stuck and bloated. I have no idea what the ‘bad stuff’ was – as it is not really important once excess emotional attachment to it has ceased.

She says she is going to eat more slowly and allow the food to flow through her easily now.

Muscle tested and I get the feeling that you should just watch her for another 24 hours and see if you perceive any improvement. If not then add the pro-biotic. She says she wants to see if she can do this by herself. Quite a strong willed cat you have there!

Martha’s feedback: HS has been improving slowly, thank Goodness. Bowel movements improved over the weekend and I had decided, as you suggested, to wait for the probiotic.

You gave me important information – her sadness, holding in etc. Yesterday I was able to relax for a brief moment and reconnect.

I then sent these set ups to Martha for her to work through on herself. I told her to read through all of these statements and then choose the ones that have the most relevance for her.

Even though I feel rejected by my husband at times, I am still a strong and capable woman.
Even though I have to compromise and it makes me angry, I am still a strong and capable woman.
Even though I am tired of the struggle at times, I am still a great person, strong and capable.
Even though I feel stuck at times and not able to move forward as I would like to, I know I can do whatever I want to regardless of what is going on between my husband and myself.
Even though peaceful and nourishing relationships seem foreign to me at times, I know I can have perfect loving relationships if I choose so to do.
Even though I still have negative thoughts towards my mother at times, I now can release all of them and forgive myself for carrying them around for so long.
Even though my inner child, little Martha, still needs lots of love and attention, I know that I can now go to her and give her all the love she never received as a child any time she needs me.
Even though I feel guilty at times for putting HS through this move, I know that she understands and it was her soul choice to come with me and I can easily let the guilt go now.
Even though I will never have the mother-daughter relationship that other women have, I know it was my choice to experience this during this lifetime.
Even though parts of me still feel overwhelmed at times, I trust the Universe (God/my angels… whatever is most appropriate for you…) to send my body all the energy it needs at all times.

Feedback from Martha: thank you for checking in to see how we’re doing… and sorry for the delayed answer… HS is holding well. Dr. G thinks she is out of danger. She is going to see him again next Monday.

More from me: HS said she was taking on your negative energy as she thought she was stronger than you at the moment. We worked through that… and now she knows that the best thing she can do for you is to stay strong and that will show you that you too can be strong.

I also tapped with her for the cold drafts. That should be better now. She also said she doesn’t like her current food and it is making her constipated? I have no idea what she is eating but she said she wanted her old food back? Then I felt very sniffly and had to blow my nose. Muscle testing said she was sad. She said she is sad for you… so we did a bit more on her being strong and that is going to help you the most. She said she is drinking enough water at the moment. So please let me know if there is any improvement. Martha said there was improvement and the HS was drinking lots of water again.

I heard nothing else from Martha and Hot Spice until the New Year. Here is her latest feedback to me:

Maureen, I’ve thought of you often and always with immense gratitude. God sent you my way via EFT newsletter for support and I thank Him and you for that. HS has been doing well. I’ve tried as much as I could to avoid any extra stress for her.

My brother and sister in law came to stay with us for Christmas and that’s wonderful. HS is happy about that too.

There were times I was afraid to believe you about HS. The veterinarian did not believe himself she would make it. I think he said she might only live for a month or she could go anytime. I did tell her I wanted what was best for her that was OK if she felt it was time to go home. She proved to be strong and willed as you described… God bless you Maureen and thank you again for your help and support. HS is here and I told her I’m writing to you…. I told her, you speak to her your own way…