Animals are masters at covering up their illness and injury.

They tell me it is a sign of weakness in the animal kingdom. By the time we notice something is wrong it can be too late.

Dehydration can be an indication of illness or injury and in some cases lead to death.

This simple test can provide early detection and even save lives.

1) Gently pull up on your animal’s skin on their back near the shoulders into a ‘tent’.

2) Release the skin

If the skin stays in this ‘tent’ position after you have released the skin or it is slow to return to it’s normal place then your animal may be dehydrated and you should call veterinarian as soon as possible.

If the skin returns to it’s normal place quickly this is an indication that your animal is properly hydrated.

Cats can become dehydrated quickly so perform this test on a regular basis so you know what ‘normal’ is like for your animals.

I never know what it going to happen during a session.  Usually the animals are very excited to talk and share all kinds of intimate details with me even before your appointment time arrives.  I’ve even had a few anxious loved ones wake me up very early in the morning in anticipation of your session.

I am not a morning person so please don’t encourage this behavior!

Some messages don’t make sense right away…

Some of details are recognized right away and other times some thought needs to go into the messages. John Edward calls this ‘psychic amnesia’. I love the term because it really identifies what happens in just about every session I have.

Animals are usually excited to share their messages…

It is fair to say that the more excited you are the more excited the animals will be.  While I cannot control the content of what animals or your loved ones in spirit form will share I can ask them to be specific and give detailed information that only you could possibly know.

This is what is referred to as being an evidential psychic medium.

What is evidence?

According to The Collaborative International Dictionary of English, the word evidence is defined as:

Evidence \Ev“i*dence\, noun

1. That which makes evident or manifest; that which furnishes, or tends to furnish, proof; any mode of proof; the ground of belief or judgement; as, the evidence of our senses; evidence of the truth or falsehood of a statement.

If you don’t have enough evidence…you don’t have a case…

As a former deputy sheriff, evidence has always been very important. In law enforcement, if you don’t have enough evidence you don’t have a case.  I feel the same way about my sessions.  If I don’t get enough evidence I do the best I can to obtain details that only you or your animals would know.

Jason contacted me from Germany to do an email session for his beloved family dog, Willy who had just recently transitioned (passed away).

Since Jason lived in Germany he decided an Email Session would be best due to the time difference.  Below is the letter Jason wrote about his experience.

Jason and Willy’s Story-

“I just had my first email reading with Karen and I was (and still am) so impressed with her work. She contacted my deceased dog “Willy” who died last month. Karen described Willy exactly as he was when he was still on earth. Friendly, outgoing, lively and happy.

Willy told her that he is able to walk again and that his heart and lung aren’t aching anymore where he is now. That was what he died of. His heart and lung were damaged and he couldn’t walk anymore. I had never told Karen anything about that.

Willy also mentioned my other dog “Fini” whom he loved very much. I had never told Karen anything about Fini.

And then Willy told Karen that he was happy that he didn’t have to continue his diet in heaven. Willy was a bit overweight and my mother had put him on a diet when he was still in his body. Again, Karen didn’t know anything about his diet before he told her.

Another thing that amazed me is that Willy told Karen about a very vivid dream I had where he appeared to me. The dream was so vivid, that I wondered if he had actually come to visit me in that dream to communicate with me. Karen proved that to me, though I had never told her anything about that dream. She said Willy mentioned this very vivid dream I had and said he was indeed trying to communicate with me through it.

Yet another remarkable thing is that Willy used to sleep directly next to my bed in his basket. There was no space between my bed and his. After he died I always had the feeling that he was still sometimes sleeping next to me in his basket and I kept saying goodnight to him and sleep well. Karen didn’t know about that and yet she heard Willy say “I’m right by the bed and still around my dad”. He kept mentioning his basket. And that he still loves to sleep. Willy loved to sleep.

Then Karen asked Willy to tell her something only I would know to prove to me that he was indeed talking to her. He then mentioned “Lipton Ice Tea” which is my favorite drink. I have started drinking it since his death and I have several empty bottles of it standing in my room.
He also said that he was oblivious to pain and didn’t complain about his pain, which was so true. He was in so much pain before he died, but he never complained about it. He never made a sound.

Willy also told Karen that he was planning on reincarnating and gave her several clues as to how and where I will find him in the future.

But there’s more. Along with Willy came several other spirits to give Karen messages for me. I had just two days before the reading asked my deceased grandparents for a sign that they are still with me. The spirits Karen described where my grandparents and they told her to tell me that they are with me and bring me blessings. She gave me the first letter of each of their names and they were all right. She described my grandfather as a laid back person who repaired machines. My grandfather was indeed very laid back and he did repair machines as a job. She said that my grandmother was with Willy and taking care of him. My grandmother was a pet lover when she was still on earth. My other grandfather she described as very stern which was so very true. Of course, Karen didn’t know anything about my grandparents. Not even that they were dead.

Karen even knew that I have a cousin in Mississippi. (I live in Germany).

Karen is such a loving and caring person and she treats you like a friend. She is truly a God-sent angel and I highly recommend her. ”

When 7 year old border collie mix Duke transitioned (passed away) earlier this year Kathy and her family were devastated.  Duke had been a huge part of the family and helped raise both of their children.  Even though Duke told Kathy in a past session that he was happy and doing just fine on the Other Side, Kathy needed to hear more.

As I was waiting for Kathy to call me, Duke began chatting with me. He proceeded to tell me how frazzled his mom, Kathy was and that her work schedule was insanely busy.  I saw a tornado of swirling energy around Duke’s mom as he relayed this message to me.     

Kathy’s appointment time came and went.  No call from Kathy.  I tried to contact her to make sure she was okay and could not reach her.  Almost a half an hour later Kathy finally called for her session.

“I’m so sorry!” she said, “I’ve been going nuts at work and totally forgot about our session!”

Duke gave me one of those, I told you so looks.

Kathy explained to me while holding back tears that in the last week or so she was experiencing some strong indications that Duke was very present in the house and wanted to know more.

“I just miss him so much,” She softly cried, ‘He was my best friend, we connected on such a deep level.”

We got started with the session and Duke proceeded to leave Kathy speechless.

The first thing Duke showed me was a child’s tooth or some kind of tooth issue.

“Oh my gosh,” Kathy gasped, “my daughter just fell and broke her tooth! Duke was always so protective of the kids I’m not surprised at all that he was there.”

The next thing Duke showed me was someone getting a new hair cut. It looked like a bad experience and someone was not very happy.  When I asked Kathy about it she replied, “That’s my son! He just had to get his hair cut really short for sports and he

is NOT happy about it!” 

Kathy was right, Duke was very much watching around her and over the family he loved so much.  His detailed messages about what was happening in their lives gave Kathy that deep sense of peace and reassurance that even though Duke is physically not here anymore, his energy and love continues on.

I had to share this story with you.

This dog is very old and is still helping humans at the end of their lives.

A layer of mystery surrounds the idea of the reincarnation of humans but what about our animals?

Do they reincarnate?

Will they come back to us in this lifetime or in another lifetime?

How will we know it’s them?

The answer to these questions can often be found in sessions with the animals themselves.  In case after case, the animals show us that they are coming back to us.  Some even returning in this same lifetime.  I have selected a two recent examples of how our animals return to us. Some names have been changed for privacy but the situations and photos are unchanged.

Frank came to me when his beloved dog, Captain, also known as ‘Lil C’, died unexpectedly at the age of 4.  Frank and his other dog, Doobie were beside themselves with grief.

Frank felt that he could barely move through his pain when he arranged an appointment to connect with his deceased dog.  Doobie, Frank’s other dog was also feeling the loss and was lethargic and refused to eat after Captain died.

Captain

I connected with Captain and was able to describe the death experience to Frank from a third person perspective. Much to Frank’s relief, Captain’s transition (passing) had been quite a lovely experience and Captain was in very good spirits.  Among many loving messages that came through, Captain mentioned that he planned on returning to Frank one day and proceeded to give us several clues. Here they are in random order:

1.  Captain told Frank he would find him on a Wednesday

2.  Captain mentioned a beautiful human girl/female who would have something to do with him.

3.  Captain mentioned the letter “T” as having significance.

4.  Captain said there would be a ‘very obvious sign’ that it was him and kept mentioning the letter ‘C’ as in ‘Captain’.  Frank often called him Little C.

It was many months later that I received an excited email from Frank with a photo of this pup who had a very obvious sign right on his head.

Look closely….do you see the letter ‘C’ on his forehead?

Little Cash -Note 'C' on forehead

Here is Frank’s message to me:

Dear Karen,

As I was write this tears are in my eyes but they are tears of joy.

Everything Captain said happened.
I found him on a Wednesday.

A beautiful woman had the pups

As for the letter “T” having to do with finding him.. her name was Toni.

The real kick was the sign on his head that is in the shape of the letter C. Talk about “a sign”

I just want to let you know Captain’s ( Lil “C” ) passing and his return this has change my life for the better. I am very grateful for your help in bringing Captain back into our lives, especially mine. You truly have a gift. I’m so happy I’m on cloud nine, you truly are a Godsend.  Thank You so Much!

Lots of Love,
Frank, Doobie, & Cash

To my amazement there was the letter “C” right on the pup’s forehead!

What is even more surprising is now that Cash is almost a year old, the ‘C’ has completely vanished.  Even when you look beneath his fur there is no longer an indication of the letter “C” which is what led Frank to him when he first saw him.  It is apparently no longer needed.

Cash

The Return Of Meeper Do!

Kim scheduled a session with her deceased cat, Meeper Do!  Meep had recently transitioned (passed away) at the age of 19 and only one month shy of his 20th birthday.  Needless to say, Kim was devastated.  Nineteen years is a virtual lifetime and now he was gone.  The pain, sorrow and feelings of loss overwhelmed Kim.  The first session we had back in October of 2008 brought many wonderful and important messages.

Meeper Do! Age 19

Meeper Do! was just like Kim remembered him.  His loving, funny and articulate messages helped Kim realize he wasn’t really gone.

Meep was still around watching his mom go about her daily routine. In one session, Meep told me to tell his mom to ‘Watch the pots!‘.  I had no idea what this was and I almost didn’t mention it but Meep kept urging me to tell Kim about the pots.

Kim laughed out loud when I told her to ‘watch the pots’and explained that right before that very session she had put a pot on the stove to hard boil some eggs.

In her haste, Kim forgot about the pot of boiling water and it almost turned into a kitchen disaster. So again, our animals show us they see what is going on in our lives even when it comes to something like hard boiled eggs.

When I asked Meep if he would return to Kim he provided a very long laundry list of clues.  Kim was a bit overwhelmed but determined to find her beloved boy Meep again.

Here are some of the clues he gave in random order:

1. Meep kept showing me rain or some kind of showers.  We think this was to signify a springtime return

2. Meep mentioned an alternative form of transportation was involved, like metro rail or train

3. Meep said, ‘The miracle will happen on a Wednesday.”

4. A “K” or “C” name had something to do with this

5. Meep said he would return looking much the same as he was before, a little orange and white male tabby, his face would be similar

6. Meep showed me how small he would be when Kim found him again, he looked like a kidney bean 

7. Meep kept talking about an open space or park-like area that was near where he would be

Many months later, in the spring, Kim sent me a very excited email:

Dear Karen

I found Meep!

I had to take my car in to the shop and wasn’t looking forward to taking the bus. So instead I took the underground rail system.  The rail stops about 1 block from my veterinarian’s office and a park.  I decided to stop in and let them know I was looking for a new kitten and then walk home through the park.

When I walked in the gal in the office told me they had been trying to call me for weeks but I had recently changed my home phone number and the old one was disconnected.  They had a two kittens being fostered because the mom wasn’t taking care of them.  The kittens would be brought in at noon.  It was 11 AM.

There was a male and a female kitten. The male was a little orange and white tabby and the female was a brown striped tabby.  They were 4 weeks old (and looked like little kidney beans) born on April 1st, which was a Wednesday!

The kitten even makes the same ‘meep meep’ sounds that Meeper Do! made when I found him. The woman who is fostering the kittens has a last name starting with a “C”.

The deal was sealed when I picked up the little kitten and he gave me an eskimo kiss right on the nose. Just like Meeper Do! used to do!

Thank you so much Karen!

With love,

Kim and baby Meep!

Baby Meep returns

In these troubling times it’s hard to remember all of the blessings we have in our lives.

I hope after watching this video you hug your mom, your children, your spouse and all your other loved ones and tell them how much you love them.

The video is about a woman named Lis’ Kristof who fought breast cancer for 8 years. Lis’ was given three weeks to live on this earth, so she decided to leave the hospital to run her Chinese Crested, Diva just one more time.

Against impossible odds, not only did she stay on her feet for the whole run, but also she got the last qualification necessary to win Diva’s Agility Dog Championship title!

When you watch it keep in mind that Lis’ had been given 3 weeks to live. It will move you.

Update: on the evening of May 6, 2008, Lis’ Kristof left this “wonderful earth” surrounded by her mother, dearest friends, and beloved Chinese Crested dogs.

Breast cancer can be treated and lives can be saved if it is caught early enough.

My own mother, Ursula,  is now a 13 year breast cancer survivor.

We celebrated that victory on March 13th, 2009.  My husband and I are flying to Los Angeles in May to spend Mother’s Day with my mom.

Please remind the loved ones in your life to check regularly for breast cancer and get regular mammograms.

For more info on how to prevent this preventable disease to go the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer website

This Mother’s Day I pay tribute to my mom, Ursula and all the others who have suffered from or conquered this disease.  Mary A… you are in my heart always.  May God bless you and your family.

Mom you are an inspiration to me.

I also want to send love to both my grandmothers who have passed on, Henny and Jean.  I love you and miss you both very much. Thank you for being a constant supporting, loving presence in my life.

For last month’s Free Book Contest,  I asked my newsletter subscribers to submit their story of what they learned from the loss of their animal companion.

Over 350 entries were submitted and hours were spent reading through each of their amazing, personal stories.

There were so many wonderful stories deciding on a winner was very difficult.  Ultimately, it was a story submitted by Kit Jagoda from Spokane, Washington that captured the essence of losing an animal.

What I Learned From The Loss Of My Animal

“Dear Karen,

There is nothing that compares to losing a beloved animal who has given unconditional love.

After I lost my dog River in 1999, I told myself I would never let myself feel that close or attached to another animal again.  He had been my constant companion across state moves and he had been there during my ups and downs.

It was the hardest loss I had ever gone through.  But just three months after River had crossed over I had a great blessing in my life.

River

While at the Mind, Spirit and Body Exposition in Spokane I  had a reading by John Edward at which time he communicated with my grandmother who was with River.  River was thanking me for wearing a piece of jewelry that my husband, Peter made that was holding some of his cremated remains.  River also communicated that he was happy.

The communication was so clear and left me with a deep sense of peace knowing that River’s spirit was very much alive and happy and that I would see him again someday.

About a year later, we adopted an 8 week old puppy from the shelter and to this day we feel River’s presence in him.  They share remarkable characteristics. We named him Cisco and he brings us so much joy.

I find myself feeling as close to Cisco, but in a different way.  Maybe because of my reading from John Edward I am reassured that there is an afterlife and the fear of not knowing or uncertainty is replaced by some inner peace.  I feel lucky to have Cisco as a part of our family and knowing that he would be here on earth anyway, how much more fortunate that makes me.

Being involved in rescue we have said goodbye to many animals over the years as they have crossed over or been adopted out.  It is never easy.  But knowing how many thousands of animals in our own community are put down at shelters due to lack of homes it becomes easier to let go of our fears of loss  a little bit more.

By providing a home for an otherwise homeless animal makes the focus more about giving them a second chance.  There is a delicate balance between attachment and acceptance of what their lives offer us.

When I hear people say that they don’t want to have another animal in their life because it is too painful to lose them it makes me sad.  I think of what a wonderful home they could offer for an animal waiting in a shelter or at the end of a chain or in a backyard hutch.

So in answer to your question:
Yes, I would go through all the pain again and hope that others will too, for the sake of the animals.”

Kit Jagoda

Thank you Kit for your beautiful story and the gentle reminder that even though losing an animal companion is one of the hardest things we have to do there are so many others that need a home and someone to love them.  We need to open our hearts and homes to love again so that other animals may find their Forever Home.

I admire your devotion to all animals and taking the steps to start your own animal sanctuary.  You are an inspiration to all animal lovers and animal rescuers.

Kit and her husband Pete founded the non-profit 501(c)3 Animal Rescue in honor of River

River’s Wish Animal Sanctuary

Molly, 10 yr old Yorkie/Shih Tzu mix

After the session Kelly wrote, “Wow, that (session) was great!  John and I are thrilled that Molly is feeling good, happy, and still funny/sassy, that’s what we love about her!”

Is There A Life After Death For Our Animals?

“Your book really helped me to confirm that there is life after death.  I always pray to god, and hoped there was, but your book really brought peace into my life.

I was going through a rough time with a lay-off after 12 years of service.  Your book really made me happy and being able to talk to Molly and know she is in a better place and happy is beyond words.  Thank you so much!!!  Kelly”

Kelly's new dog Nicky-Lynn - And two orbs, one on the right side of the beige part of the dog bed and the other in the upper right hand corner

There comes a time in all of our lives when we must say goodbye to a loved one.  Whether we lose and a human friend or family member or have to say goodbye to an animal friend, our hearts ache and we find ourselves on an emotional roller coaster.  

Click here for a beautiful tribute to those who have passed                                        

Honor the time you shared with your loved one

Do Not Weep 

       Healing takes time…

There is no time frame for our grief or how long it will take us to recover.  For some, the grief may be overwhelming and make getting through each day extremely difficult.

For others, the grief may be pushed back to the far corners of your mind so you don’t really have to deal with it.  In any case, losing a loved one is hard and I truly believe we don’t ever get over it, I think we just get through it.

    The holidays can be a difficult time if you have lost someone special…

If you have lost a loved one this year my heart goes out to you.  The holidays can bring up all kinds of raw emotions and memories of the past.  If this is your first holiday without your loved one then you know the kind of pain I am talking about. 

    Honor the loved ones in your life…

Our loved ones in spirit (deceased) have told me that they love it when we say their names and talk about them as we remember them best.  They say it’s like music to their ears to have us share favorite stories about them.  They want us to share good memories and happy times and never have us focus on their passing or how they died.  This goes for both humans and animals, they all feel the same way. 

 If you have had to say goodbye to an animal friend I would like to share this poem with you:

               The bonds of love never die…

You will always be connected to those in spirit through your thoughts and your prayers.

Their messages may be subtle

Click here for a beautiful movie to inspire you Natures Inspiration

There is no time frame for healing.  Grief affects us all differently.  Be kind to yourself and allow yourself to feel your pain.  It is through that pain that you can begin to see the light once again.

Be thankful and grateful for each and every day you have with your family, friends and animal companions.  

You never know how long you will have them in your life.