Every dog or cat owner has looked at their pet at one point or another and wondered, “What are you actually thinking?”
Are you happy? Just daydreaming about squirrels? When behavioral problems or health issues arise, being able to ask your pet what’s going on would make matters so much easier. We spoke with trained animal communicator Martha Malone to learn all about her unique career in helping people understand their pets.
Dr. Doolittle wasn’t a real person, but there are plenty of people today who specialize in connecting with animals on a deeply emotional level. Malone was trained by a well-known animal communicator, Val Heart, who’s often referred to as “The Real Dr. Doolittle.”
Animal communicators like Malone and Heart, quite simply, talk to animals. Their connection isn’t verbal, but intuitive. Animal communicators, sometimes described as pet psychics, empathically connect with their furry and feathered clients to glean information that their humans are dying to know.
According to Malone, her connection with animals can take a few different forms. Sometimes, it’s through words. Other times, it’s through sounds or images. All of it is telepathic — felt by connecting with the animal’s energy on a level most of us can only imagine.
For the process to work, a deep sense of trust and respect is a requirement. “I cherish all the conversations and connections I have with animals,” Malone says. “All the animals I’ve ever communicated with, I do my best to try to help them. There is the money factor, but it’s also about the animals. Helping them with whatever they need my help with.”
She prefers not to call an animal’s human companions “owners.” Animals, even the ones we train to sit and stay, have free will. When asked if it was possible to instruct an animal, say, a bird trapped in the house, to perform a certain action, Malone shared her thoughts: “All bodies, whether it’s a cat body, dog body, person body, pigeon body, has a soul, and all the souls have free will. So, I could ask a bird to please go the other direction, but whether or not the bird would or wouldn’t is another story.”
In other words, animal communication isn’t intended to “fix” any behaviors pet owners hope to change but to understand the root causes behind them.
Since dogs and cats are the most popular pets to keep, Malone works with them frequently. Animal communication isn’t limited to canines, however, or even domesticated animals. Animal communication is possible with any type of animal. Malone has personally worked with rabbits, chickens, horses, pigeons and even a goat named Big Nose Kate.
Ever tried talking to a mountain lion or whale? Malone has, plus seagulls, dolphins, turtles and a number of other creatures out in the wild.
Pet owners seek out animal communicators for a number of reasons, but what they learn in a session is sometimes surprising. Animals sometimes volunteer information their human wasn’t even looking for, like their past experiences, health-related information or personal philosophies. According to Malone, your dog has opinions of their own, and they might even share their feelings about otherworldly experiences, like reincarnation or the spirits of deceased loved ones. Before you brush it off as nonsense, Malone’s human clients often confirm the accuracy of the information she discovers from their pets — information that she had no feasible way of knowing.
And animal communicators don’t pretend to be anything they’re not. They aren’t vets and never promise to treat or cure any ailment, but they can sometimes pinpoint things that are causing an animal pain or distress. This allows owners to take action by changing a pet’s diet or working with a vet to find the right medication or dosage to help them feel like themselves again.
Every pet communicator operates differently, but many of them offer their services virtually. Malone, for example, offers readings over the phone or Zoom. Sessions are usually between 30 to 60 minutes in length. To start, the pet’s owner shares a photo of them with a clear view of the animal’s eyes. This allows Malone to establish an energetic connection with them. After confirming with the owner that she’s connecting with the right animal, the session begins.
Sometimes, owners have specific questions they’d like answered, like how the pet is feeling, if they’re in pain or why they’re behaving differently than usual. Other times, she allows the animal to take the lead, asking what they’d like their owner to know. Whatever thoughts, images, sounds and emotions come through, Malone passes on verbally to the owner.
Most of the time, Malone can help answer a concerned pet parent’s questions. Connection, however, goes both ways. Animals are often happy to share their viewpoints and have the opportunity to share a message with their humans. Sometimes, it’s as simple as encouraging their favorite people to have faith and take a deep breath. It seems dogs are just as positive on the inside as their wagging tails look on the outside.
Aside from specific messages, the most common reaction from pets is a deep sense of gratitude. Malone believes she can connect with not only living pets but also those who have passed on. When communicating with animals who are no longer here in a physical sense, the response is often one of love and reassurance. For grieving pet parents, just knowing their dog or cat is still with them in spirit is enough.
Unsurprisingly, not everyone is sold on the concept of animal communication. Psychics, energy healers and anyone else claiming to have a gift that defies the conventions of modern science are bound to be met with a heavy dose of skepticism, even disdain.
Many skeptics aren’t possible to win over, but to those who are on the fence, Malone’s message is poignant: “Animals deserve for their parents to know what they have to say. They have various things to share, and sometimes, it’s very important. For those who don’t believe, I think it’s very sad — for the animals and for them because they miss out on getting that kind of meaningful connection with their animal.”