This Side of the Bridge - Pain
Your dog has been off lately. Maybe your cat has stopped sleeping in her favorite sunny spot. Maybe your horse refuses a jump she's cleared a hundred times, or your rabbit has gone still and watchful in a way that doesn't feel like rest.
You know something is wrong. You just don't know what.
Animals feel pain, fear, confusion, and grief just as deeply as we do. But they can't tell you where it hurts in words. So they show you, through behavior, through withdrawal, through the quiet ways they try to get your attention.
Before you assume it's behavioral, try something simpler first.
Ask them.
Find a quiet moment. Sit with your animal, your dog, your cat, your horse, your bird. Take a few slow breaths and let your mind settle. Then, silently or softly out loud, ask: What's going on? Where does it hurt? What do you need from me right now?
Then wait. Don't force it. Don't analyze. Just notice what comes, a feeling in your body, a word that drifts into your mind, an image, an emotion that doesn't quite feel like your own. Animals communicate in impressions, not sentences. The answer may be subtler than you expect.
You might be surprised what you already know when you stop to listen.
This kind of quiet check-in won't replace a vet visit. But it can deepen your awareness of what your animal is carrying — and remind them that you're paying attention. Sometimes that alone shifts something.
Your animal is always communicating. The question is whether we're still and quiet enough to receive it.
Listen2Animals.com
Debbie Johnstone
