Can your dog or cat that has passed away make contact with you from the hereafter?

[dynamo]

About 4 years ago, we had to put our 13 yr.old Yorkie down due to a tumor that grew out of control.
It was one of the hardest decisions to make in my life but he was obviously suffering too much and having difficulty breathing.

Long story short, he was euthanized around 3:30pm.
Around 10pm that evening, I took our Shih-Tsu (she was around 5 years old at that time) out in the backyard to do her duty while I enjoyed a tea and thought about my now-lost Family member, best friend and companion.
Our Shih-Tsu gazed into my eyes, wanting to be lifted into my lap.
As I held and petted her, tears flowed out of her eyes..I mean like Niagara Falls!

I had never seen her tear before, especially to that extent.
At that moment, I realized that she was AWARE of what happened to the Yorkie!

For a few years, she was not as playful or as willing to go for walks as before her mate passed.
To this day, I still have lucid dreams quite frequently (perhaps a few times per month) of walking and playing with our beloved Yorkie!

[Ron Mauer Sr]

The decision to end suffering is hard, but it sometimes is a better choice that to let the suffering continue.
Sometimes we treat our loved animals better than people we love.
I still talk every day to dogs who left 10 years ago. I thank them for sharing their life with me, for sharing the love, for sharing the laughter.
And the tears still flow. I notice that I am smiling. Tears of joy, not sorrow.
I wonder if they can visit or hear me.

[onevoice]

Posted by pyrangello (here)
One voice, I'm going to have to digest the Buddhist path that was taken , as I have not fully researched the budda , is there ever a time where growth of a species along with evolution and knowledge would play a role in decision making ? I'm sorry about your cat fluke ,I truly am. But my good friend who works for a crematory for deceased animals mainly cats and dogs stated to me it is the trust and unconditional love that these species put in us to make decisions for them as they cannot verbally talk to you about how they feel and what's going on with them and having access to advanced medical knowledge of their condition reinforces the decisions we make for them. Such as if you have a headache, you can just get in your car if you choose and drive and get some aspirins to relieve that pain where as your dog or cat cannot make that choice.

pyrangello, perhaps I should have been more clear in my first post. First of all, I respect your decision to put down your two dogs to sleep, and in no way am I criticizing your decision or anyone else who also chooses to do so. Also our Buddhist belief does not mean to not interfere with whatever care you feel necessary to deliver to your pet. The Buddhist belief only means to not put your pet to sleep. My wife over 25 years ago had to put down her german shepherd dog on Thanksgiving day due to finding huge mass on the dog's abdomen. We had been keeping the dog at a friend's house, and when we took the dog to the vet, the vet said the dog has terminal cancer and there was not much we can do to help him. So we did put that dog to sleep.

Believe me, my wife and I both agonized over the decision to not interfere with Fluke's last days. It was very painful to watch him get progressively worse, he could barely walk, needed assistance to go to the litter, bleeding all day, wheezing, etc. Toward the end it was very difficult to let nature take its course and not interfere.

The decision to put the animal to sleep or not is one we all should personally make based on the particular circumstance, and I am not advocating that we should all follow what we did.

[pyrangello]

One voice, were good, but did you know the Delhi lama wears prescription glasses?

[onevoice]

Posted by pyrangello (here)
One voice, were good, but did you know the Delhi lama wears prescription glasses?

I've always seen Dalai Llama with glasses on. I didn't get to meet him, but my wife and many close friends saw him get his honorary doctorate degree in Theology from the Florida International University in April 16, 1999. He has won other numerous awards:
https://www.dalailama.com/the-dalai-...nors-1957-1999

Despite the solemnity of the occasion, on that day in FIU, Dalai Lama was like a kid, giggling and playfully playing hide and seek upon the stage before the event officially started. Which indicated to me that Dalai Lama was communicating with us the importance of being in the moment in joy. His actions spoke louder than words.

There are three main branches of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Dalai Lama teaches the Vajrayana. I follow the Mahayana Buddhism, which is prevalent mostly in China and Taiwan. Although I don't follow the Vajrayana Buddhism, I have great respect for the Dalai Lama.

The Chinese Zen master Shen-yen that I've followed for almost 2 decades has passed away in February 3rd, 2009. He has written scholarly and pragmatic books that fill more than a book case. Despite being enlightened, he passed away due to renal failure. So enlightenment doesn't necessary mean that one can skip the death experience. However, he has vowed to reincarnate and come back to Mahayana Buddhism (specifically to the Dharma Drum Mountain organization that he founded) to continue to serve humanity.

If anyone is interested in understanding the differences between these main branches of Buddhism, here is a short summary of these branches:
http://www.important.ca/three_branches_of_buddhism.html

One popular misconception that many people have is that Buddhism is a religion. Quite the contrary, it is more of a philosophy, a practical educational system and a way of life that when practiced diligently can alleviate lot of mental suffering most of us experience in everyday life. To my knowledge, no one in the Mahayana Buddhism tradition worships any Buddha. Many Christians may think that we are idol worshipers. In our service, what may appear to be worship is actually paying homage, respecting Buddhas and being grateful for all their teachings. I would say Christianity has many statues and symbols and it could be said that some Christians worships idols as well.

In my view, any deity or supreme being that demands to be worshiped would have a big ego and conditional love, and therefore not in alignment with the true nature of the Cosmos.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Here's an interesting 2017 film: A Dog's Purpose. The hero is a dog that reincarnates through a number of different doggie lifetimes, until (you can see this coming!) he eventually reconnects with his beloved master of old.

It left a few critics rather bemused, but it's lovely to see if one's a dog lover — or has ever lost a pet.

I sent the movie just now to a friend who has recently lost her beloved dog.

For anyone who may be interested, here's the WeTransfer download link: (1.2Gb mp4 with subtitles, valid for 7 days)

• https://we.tl/t-nUT5sz6bgN

[Patient]

It has been a tough spring/summer as we lost both our Boston Terrier earlier and recently our pig Chewy.

Still hard to even post about it - but almost everyone in the family had a dream about Chewy the night he passed.

Chewy was special to us and really connected - there were some strange things going on in the house in his last days. It was as if we were being called to his side with lights going off or on in the direction to where he was, strange sounds and even some animal toys seeming to suddenly move on their own.

I suspect that there were/are other entities here all the time. I had specifically asked for my animal spirit guides to be here for him. I guess they were.

I have had many pets but Chewy was something special. Nuf' said.

[Michel Leclerc]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Not quite the question you asked! But remember... animals reincarnate, too.

Yes Bill.
And people reincarnate into animals – to be close to their loved ones into the animals they have.
Partial reincarnation exists (into more persons than one), so they may also partially reincarnate into an animal.

Actually before we die we try and distribute our belongings to our loved ones, and after we die we watch over what they do with the inheritance meowing and barking.

[Michel Leclerc]

Posted by Chelseab (here)
I can say with all honesty that I've had several of my furry friends make contact. (...) she is waiting for you when you cross, as are all the others. (...)

Thank you, Chelseab.

[onawah]

I have a psychic friend who is a "pet whisperer".
She's retired now, but used to talk to pets and they would tell her all kinds of things which she would relate back to their humans.
She said the pets would tell her lots of insightful things about their humans which would totally flabbergast the humans with the accuracy.
They would sometimes tell her about past lives when they were with the same owners, and past lives of their owners when the pets were with them as well.
So apparently it's very common for the same animal souls to spend many lifetimes with the same human, and to know them very well indeed.
She said they are not at all afraid of death, but they don't care for pain anymore than we do, so they are grateful if we assist in letting them go when their bodies are of no use to them any longer.
Animals are so much wiser than we give them credit for, and domesticated animals seem to be on a very different path than their wild brethren, being helpers to the human race.
They deserve our gratitude and devotion.

[Ravenlocke]

Hello Pyrangello,
I just found this thread, and I am truly sorry for your loss, and thank you for asking what I have asked so many times as well.
My deepest sympathies to everyone that have “lost” their wonderful, loving pets.

To answer the question, I believe so yes they do make contact after they pass, at least they have for me through dreams but my Willie, my cat came to visit me in the middle of the night, not a dream. I was wide awake and sitting on the couch in the livingroom. He “visited” me and stayed for almost 30 minutes. It was an experience I will never forget. There was a soft glowing light where he used to sit that I couldn’t tell where it came from. It didn’t come through the ceiling, and yet it shone to the floor even through a small table that was under the shining light. I even put my hand on the floor where it shone to see if it was real and there was no shadow. Willie was so beautiful and so energetic! What a striking difference it was to the Willie that had been ill before his passing. He even told me that “in setting him free he had freed me”. ( I had to put him to sleep, hardest thing to do..). I still tear up remembering this which is good because I never want to forget him. Wilie was a kitten rescue when I got him and he was only a 6 ounce baby kitten with a fever and an infection in his left eye. The vet told me he would die if he didn’t gain weight, and I bottle fed him for the first few weeks and was his surrogate mom. But he lived and grew to be a beautiful 18 pound white fluffy Maine coone with a black spot on his nose and a white streak in the black that looked like a tear running down from his eye. And he loved ice cream when he grew up!

Yes in my view animals are very special and knowing and a blessing to share their time with us.

This night episode happened within three weeks after he passed.

But a week before he came to visit me, my husband talked me into going to visit our favorite horse rescue ranch to try and cheer me up. So I reluctantly went with heavy sadness in my heart, I didn’t even notice or appreciate the beautiful countryside drive with the first colors of spring everywhere which I normally loved to see. Funny when we arrived there the place looked empty no one was around, nor any other visitors, but there was a “paint” horse in the coral near the parking area. As I got out of the car, the horse ( whose name I found out later was PJ) started whinnieing and beckoning me with his head and kept saying, “come here, come closer”. I was so surprised , I questioned what I heard and I turned to look sideways both ways, no one was there but me, my husband was sitting in the car.
So hesitantly I pointed my hand to my chest as in you mean me and PJ whinnied and said, “yes you, closer”. So I slowly walked up to the coral fence and PJ just laid his head on my shoulder and gave me the warmest, comforting hug and he said, “it’s going to be alright you’ll see”. I thought my heart was going to burst right there, and I couldn’t believe what I had just heard and felt. How could PJ who I had never seen before know about my Willie and my grief? ( I’m in tears as I write this….). I ran back to the car to tell my husband what had happened, I think I was in a stupor that whole afternoon but the grief felt different. I noticed the drive home, the sun was out, and I had a glimmer of hope even though I was still so sad and heartbroken. This incident took place almost two weeks before Willie came in the night to visit me.
The night he came I woke up around 2am and wide awake which is very unusual and because I was awake I got out of bed and went to sit on the couch, and I started thinking about Willie and then I noticed the soft glowing light. Then I saw Willie, he came, he was really there and he kept showing me how alive he was. I’ll never forget, it really helped ease my heartache. I feel blessed that I got to see him one last time and not sick but happy and beautiful and free! I hope one day I’ll get to see all the animals that I’ve loved in this lifetime and with Willie’s visit it gives me a comforting hope that I will see them again some day.

[Brigantia]

What amazing accounts there are on this thread.

I've already written here about my cats Sammy, who died in 2020, and Freya who is still with us.

I was absolutely gutted when Sammy died, it was a visceral pain that lasted for weeks. It wasn't just losing an amazing cat with a huge personality, but he was my mum's cat before he came to us and that felt like a link to her that had gone.

A few days after he died I went to a yoga class. At the end, during savasana I fell into a deep state, and into my mind or consciousness, Sammy appeared to me in a shadowy form. He said to me, "There is no separation - only love".

Well, that was it - everyone else was deep in savasana, I was trying - not very well - to contain the sobs and tears. The yoga teacher asked me at the end if I was ok, so I told her what had happened.

The amazing thing is that Sammy appeared to me with two ears; he'd had an ear burnt off through cruelty when he was a kitten. His spirit form was whole again.

[TomKat]

Posted by applepie (here)
Bill
According to Meher Baba in God Speaks, reincarnation begins at the human level. Animals do not reincarnate.

Not even slightly rue. My cat PROVED it was the reincarnation of my previous cat. I really hate people writing books from theoretical or religious teachings. If you have no personal experience, then don't go writing books Baba Boomba! And it's not a great idea to go quoting these fake experts, either!

[onevoice]

Posted by TomKat (here)

Posted by applepie (here)
Bill
According to Meher Baba in God Speaks, reincarnation begins at the human level. Animals do not reincarnate.

Not even slightly rue. My cat PROVED it was the reincarnation of my previous cat. I really hate people writing books from theoretical or religious teachings. If you have no personal experience, then don't go writing books Baba Boomba! And it's not a great idea to go quoting these fake experts, either!

I also experienced our present cat was reincarnated from last life. Prior to him coming into our life for the 2nd time, we had several manifestation that he was contacting us. The first day he came into our life for 2nd time around, I knew instantly he was our previous cat. That afternoon, we played many games that only he and I played in his previous lifetime. So I'm quite certain that our cat reincarnated.

[Johnnycomelately]

I am glad to see this subject broached.

My avatar pic is of a ‘feral’ cat who I cared for, who disappeared after ~2 years. I called him Buddy. Pic was cropped from one of him gathered on my window sill ( ~10” above ground level), technically inside the room. I was not allowed to take him in, my rental sharing central heating with two other flats, concerns about allergies.

I don’t miss him, nor have curiosity about how things have been for him. Am only thankful for that relationship every time it comes to mind. Related: I once heard that souls can be bound to Earth by (at least in partial effect) the calling of (by) Earth-living ‘loving’ ones. And I have noticed that in reports of Earth-bound souls, ‘ghosts’, they are rarely if ever happy.

I have heard the expression “part soul”, meaning the essence of (what I call) a critter, who is IMO well on in their spiritual evolution to becoming what we are, the children of the unfolding creation/heaven. I’m willing to affirm the idea that cats can be that, feels right. Would make sense that they could reincarnate. Other critters, simpler ones like bugs, are said to be kind of a collective, part of a community-consciousness, not as individual in their identity or responsibility (yet with a true encompassing identity, like a being). The above-quoted Mr. Baba may have been refuting, too strongly, the Hindu idea that people can reincarnate as bugs or anything.

Posted by onevoice (here)

Posted by TomKat (here)

Posted by applepie (here)
Bill
According to Meher Baba in God Speaks, reincarnation begins at the human level. Animals do not reincarnate.

Not even slightly rue. My cat PROVED it was the reincarnation of my previous cat. I really hate people writing books from theoretical or religious teachings. If you have no personal experience, then don't go writing books Baba Boomba! And it's not a great idea to go quoting these fake experts, either!

I also experienced our present cat was reincarnated from last life. Prior to him coming into our life for the 2nd time, we had several manifestation that he was contacting us. The first day he came into our life for 2nd time around, I knew instantly he was our previous cat. That afternoon, we played many games that only he and I played in his previous lifetime. So I'm quite certain that our cat reincarnated.