The Practitioner's Corner
Essays By and About Practitioners

Paws For Reiki: Reiki and Natural Pet Care

By Caroline Nudelman, Reiki Master

People look for alternatives for their animal friends when conventional veterinary treatments do not seem to work.  Reiki is a non-invasive treatment that uses a series of gentle hand placements over key areas of the body and seems to work well with animals as well as humans.  It can work to alleviate stress and anxiety, promotes healing for physical injuries and illness, and also reduces pre and post-surgical trauma. 

I practice Reiki on people and pets.  Four years ago, when I decided to focus my Reiki practice on animals, I searched the web for sources to help me transition.  I found very little information.  There were websites of Reiki practitioners who worked with animals, but no ‘how-to’ books.  There were many sources that referred to other complimentary modalities for animals such as homeopathy, raw food diets, flower essences, supplements, acupuncture, TTouch, as well as other energy modalities, but little on Reiki.  I subscribed to the Wellpet email list, attended the Tufts Animal Conference in 2000 and 2001, purchased many books and started reading about many of the modalities mentioned above. 

Although I’m not a veterinarian or a veterinary technician, I’ve become more than a Reiki practitioner, somewhat of a whole health educator regarding animals.  During my initial conversations with clients, I gather a great deal of information about the condition of their animal, look at my sources, and if relevant, I’ll photocopy pages from one of my books about their pet’s condition.  Sometimes, I’ll suggest a specific diet if there is material regarding that.

One of my patients, for example, is Lily Rose, a 4-year old yellow Labrador retriever who was in kidney failure and had a bleak prognosis when I met her.  She had no energy and her coat was shedding in my hands.  I researched kidney failure and found specific diet recommendations in Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide To Natural Health For Dogs & Cats by Richard & Susan Pitcairn and I shared that information with Lily’s human.

Once I started to practice Reiki on Lily, she lay down next to me very relaxed, clearly soaking up the treatment.  Afterwards, she got up and started looking for her toys as she was much more energetic than when I first walked in the door.  I offered Reiki to Lily's human, who was quite worried about her pet.  After her brief treatment, she understood why Lily liked her Reiki experience so much. 

The next day, Lily was scheduled to see the vet to have her blood levels checked.  Lily's blood levels improved by nearly 50% that day.  Additionally, all her subsequent blood tests improved.  Later that week, I gave Lily another Reiki treatment.  By the weekend, Lily was acting more like her old self, able to run and play.  The following week, when Lily's kidney functions were checked, her levels had improved by 50%.  As a result, Lily's human was able to cut the administration of subcutaneous hydration treatments in half. 

A couple of weeks later, Lily received another Reiki treatment.  When I arrived at her home, she was energetic, and acting like a typical 4-year-old Lab.  Her coat was shiny and gorgeous.  At Lily’s next test for kidney function, her levels were 100% normal and she no longer needed the subcutaneous fluids at all!  The vet was very surprised, as most dogs in Lily's initial condition often don’t survive the illness. 

In the example above, I used Reiki on Lily and her human, recommended a diet change, and supplied some written information on kidney failure in dogs.  When I gave Lily’s human the information on kidney failure, she commented that it was more information than her vet provided.  By supplying more information to people, I’m helping to educate them about alternatives that are beyond my scope of practice. 

I have also noticed that an animal will often relax once their person is calmer.  Therefore, practicing on the people animals live with has become an important part of my routine. When people stress about their sick pet, the animal picks up a lot of that stress.  Using Reiki on people helps animals to heal because it assists in breaking the stress cycle. 

Whether it’s a recommendation of where to find a holistic vet, diet change or the Reiki treatment I provided, I hope to alleviate the stress of the animal as well as their people.

Caroline Nudelman is a Reiki Master Teacher and is currently in training as an Animal Communicator. She received massage therapy training at Muscular Therapy Institute. Caroline has a mobile Reiki practice that allows her animal clients the comforts of their own home when receiving treatment.  If you know of an animal who might benefit from Caroline’s approach please contact her at 617-719-9174, PawsforReiki@cs.com, or visit her website, www.PawsforReiki.com