Of all the questions I’m asked, this one comes first: what exactly is animal communication?
In the simplest terms, it’s a way of connecting with an animal through thought, feeling, and intention rather than spoken words. Many people call it telepathy. I think of it as listening with more than my ears.
What is telepathy?
Telepathy is the transfer of information from one mind to another without speech, writing, gestures, or any of the ordinary senses. It sounds mysterious, but it shows up in a few familiar forms:
- Thoughts and ideas. One mind shares a thought or an idea with another. This is sometimes called cognitive telepathy.
- Emotions and feelings. Joy, worry, comfort, or sadness pass from one to the other. This is sometimes called affective telepathy.
- A quiet sense of knowing. A more subtle form, often experienced as a gut feeling or an instinctive understanding of what another being is going through. This is sometimes called intuitive telepathy.
Animals communicate this way naturally, and so do we. Most of us just stopped paying attention to it.
How the messages arrive
Here is something that surprises people: telepathic information doesn’t always arrive the same way. Each of us has channels that are more open than others, and what we receive can vary with the situation, our level of sensitivity, and the connection we share with the other being. If you’ve read The Three Channel Types, you’ll recognize some of these. Here are some of the ways messages come through:
- Mental images. Scenes, symbols, or pictures that appear in your mind, often suddenly, and often with a sense of certainty. This is the experience of seeing, or clairvoyance.
- Spontaneous thoughts. A clear idea that doesn’t come from logical reasoning. It can feel like a thought that came from outside of you and slipped into your mind. This is the experience of simply knowing, or claircognizance.
- Physical or emotional sensations. Sometimes the body acts as the receiver. You may feel joy, discomfort, or emotional pressure that matches what your animal is feeling, with no apparent cause. This is the experience of feeling, or clairsentience.
- Internal words or phrases. Some people mentally hear a specific word or short phrase, clear and internally spoken.
- Tastes and scents. Messages can even arrive as a taste or a smell. Some people notice a scent or a flavor with no ordinary source, and it is often a familiar one that reminds them of their animal, like the smell of their fur.
- Dreams. Messages can also come while we sleep. These dreams tend to be vivid and easy to remember when you wake.
You might receive through one of these or several. None is better than another. What matters is learning which ones are most open for you.
How it works for me
When I connect with an animal, I don’t hear English or any other language. What comes through is closer to impressions: a picture, a feeling in my body, a sudden knowing, sometimes a few words that arrive in my mind. My job is to translate what I receive into words you can understand.
What animals share
Animals have a great deal to say. They share how they feel, what they enjoy, what they’ve been experiencing, and what they’d like their people to understand. It might be how they feel about a change at home, or what could be behind a sudden shift in behavior (I explore this in Understanding Your Pet’s Behavior Through Telepathy).
Animals can also share how they feel physically, such as pain or discomfort. That can help you understand what they are experiencing in their body, though it never replaces a veterinarian’s care (more on that below). Often, though, the message is simply love.
Why distance doesn’t matter
People often assume I need to be in the same room as the animal. I don’t. Whether your dog is curled up beside you, your horse lives on a farm across the country, or your cat is on the other side of the world, the connection feels the same to me.
Here’s how I understand it. Everything alive carries energy, and every animal has an energy that is entirely their own, as individual as a fingerprint. When I connect, I’m not listening for a voice that has to travel through the air. I’m tuning in to that energy: the personality, the feelings, and the love that make your animal who they are. I think of it like tuning a radio. The music is already playing, and my job is to find the right station.
A voice fades as the distance grows. Thought and feeling don’t work that way. Think of a time you were missing someone far away and sensed that they were thinking of you, too. Distance didn’t weaken that moment, because that kind of connection was never traveling through space in the first place.
What I need is focus, not closeness. That’s why I ask for a photo of your animal before a session. It gives me a clear place to begin and helps me be sure I’m connecting with the right animal. From there, I set my intention, quiet my mind, and listen.
The bond between you and your animal matters, too. Love creates a connection of its own, and it doesn’t switch off when you’re apart. That bond is part of what makes the conversation feel warm and clear.
It’s also why sessions work so well by phone or by email. You don’t need to bring your animal anywhere, and they don’t need to be in the room.
It works exactly the same way when your animal is on the other side. Whether your companion is across the country or in heaven, in this world or in spirit, I connect with them in the same way. That’s where my work as a medium comes in: animals who have crossed over can still share messages of love. Their energy, their personality, and their love don’t end when their body does. Heaven isn’t as far away as it sometimes feels. It isn’t a distant place beyond the stars, but a higher frequency of light that our physical eyes aren’t tuned to see. So there is no gap for me to cross, and a session works the same way. The bond you share with your animal is real, and it does not end.
Being together in person can be lovely, but it isn’t required. Distance doesn’t matter.
Staying open to receive
Almost everyone asks, “Is this real, or is it my imagination?” It’s a fair question, and doubt is normal. I explore it more in Is It a Message or Imagination.
What helps most is staying open. Let go of expectations about how a message should look or sound. Because information can arrive as a picture, a thought, a feeling, a few words, a taste or scent, or a dream, it may not look the way you expected. If we brush it off as too small or too simple, we can miss what’s right in front of us. So receive first and question later. Slow down, take a breath, and set aside the need to get it right.
Strong emotions, especially doubt, worry, and fear, can get in the way, too. When we’re afraid of what we might hear, worried about getting it wrong, or doubting every impression as it arrives, our own thoughts can grow so loud that they drown out the quiet message coming through. That can happen to anyone, and it is completely human, especially when your animal is unwell or missing, or when your heart is heavy with grief. It doesn’t mean you can’t do this. It simply means the channel is crowded. Notice the feeling, take a slow breath, let it pass through you, and come back to stillness. Your animal will still be there.
If you’ve ever tried and walked away feeling like you failed, you’re not alone. I wrote about that in When the Connection Feels Blocked. Often the moment we relax is the moment the message comes through.
What it isn’t
Animal communication is not a replacement for veterinary care. If your animal seems unwell, please see your vet. A session can help you understand how your animal feels, but it works alongside medical care, never instead of it.
Try it yourself
This isn’t a rare gift reserved for a few special people. It’s a natural ability most of us were never taught to use. I’ve done this work professionally for over 23 years, and I still believe anyone can begin.
Start with stillness. Take a slow breath, soften your attention, and invite your animal to share something with you. Then notice what arrives, without judging it. Was it a picture, a feeling, a thought, a word, a scent? Write it down. Short, regular practice helps, and I walk you through it step by step in How to Ask Your Animal Companion a Question.
Whether your companion is beside you or in spirit, learning to listen deepens the bond you share. Your animals have been talking all along. Learning to listen is the beautiful part.
Listen2Animals.com
Debbie Johnstone
