Visitations From Our Departed Animals’ Spirits

January 18, 2010 · Filed under Case Reports, The Afterlife · Tagged Animal Ghosts, Animal Spirits, Departed Spirits, Ghosts, Rainbow Bridge, Seeing Ghosts, Visitations

Have you ever seen or felt the spirit or actual ghost form of any of your animals who have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge?

If so, you are not alone. And, contrary to what some skeptics would say, if you think you did, you did.

A recent comment on one of my blog posts prompted me to write on this topic. The author and her daughter had both seen their departed cat in the house a couple of weeks after his passing. Each sighting was very brief — just a mere glimpse out of the corner of an eye. They wondered if they really did see their cat or if they just missed him so much they imagined it.

My opinion is that they surely did. Many clients have reported similar experiences, usually not long after their animal’s passing. Most common is a visual sighting, always brief and unexpected. Sometimes they will feel their animal walk by them, perhaps the tail feathers of their Golden Retriever, or the whiskers of their cat. Smell can be involved as well, as can hearing the animal’s movements in the house in a familiar way.

I won’t say we might not conjure up such impressions out of our devastation and grief, but, as someone whose profession is animal-related and who hears countless stories about these kinds of things, I believe they are far too common and frequent to all be written off as wishful thinking.

So many animals I talk to after their passing tell me that they visit their people regularly. Some even choose to stay there for long periods of time, well aware that they can go to the light, and knowing they will some day, but they simply are not ready to leave their families yet. Is it any wonder that at least a few of these become obvious in some way, shape, or form to family members?

I had my own such experience several years ago, and it took a unique form. My precious black cat, Seka, passed away from a cancerous tumor, so it was a somewhat lengthy and very sad process for all of us. Seka always slept on my bed, on top of the covers, on the right side of my feet. She always hopped up there after I was well settled, had finished reading, and had the lights out.

A few nights after her passing, up she hopped, and went through her usual curling up motions against my right ankle. I could feel her weight when she landed on the bed as well as how she pressed the covers down when she settled up against me.

The first night it felt completely normal to me . . . until I roused enough to remember that Seka was gone. Even though I felt hopeful and excited that it might be her,  I just figured it was one of the other cats (I had two others). I was, however, surprised that they would jump right up in what they knew was Seka’s place so soon after her departure.

After lying there a while I finally had to look, to see who it was. And, of course, no cat.

This continued to happen several nights in a row. I promised myself I would not look again, but would let Seka rest in peace where she always loved to sleep. But about the fourth or fifth night, the sensations were so strong, her weight so heavy and real, that I just couldn’t resist checking one more time. So I did. I raised up and looked, she wasn’t there, and then I felt her spirit just whisk away. She never returned — at least that I perceived — and I was heartsick that I had somehow made her leave by doubting her presence.

So don’t doubt. Just trust and accept. These sightings and sensings always occur when you’re not looking for them to, and hopefully they will bring you feelings of a joyful, if brief, reunion with your loved one.