Transitions
Written by Renee McDuffy, Animal Whisperer
About animal whispering

Moving can be stressful. Whether you and your family are moving from one home to another or someone is moving into or out of your home (as with marriage/divorce, birth/death) everyone will agree: it can be stressful. Studies have shown that including your pets in the process has proven to be helpful in a number of ways.

In the case of someone moving into your home, such as with marriage, birth or renting a room, explaining to the animal what is about to happen can short circuit many problems.

Sarah called me because she had decided to rent out a room in her home after her last child had gotten married and moved out. She felt she’d found the perfect house mate and wanted to know what to do to make sure everything went smoothly for her 12 year old Siamese cat Samantha.

Samantha, who had been a very social cat until recently, explained how she was very much enjoying the peace and serenity found in this home with just the two of them living there and was reluctant to the idea of another person intruding on this serenity. The concept was explained, the prospective house-mate’s living, working and travel habits were shared with her and the questions were asked to determine Samantha’s preferences with regard to the common spaces of the home. Once Samantha realized that her needs were going to be met she opened more and became willing to meet the possible house-mate.

Sarah followed suggestions regarding the introductions, held get-to-know-you sessions and Samantha eventually accepted the new person. The new house-mate moved in, continued to respect Samantha’s requests and over time the two became friends.

Barbara’s oldest son was about to go off to college and she wanted tips on how to help the family dog, who was very attached to this child, handle the transition. Charlie is a German Shepard who rarely let Nathan out of his site when Nathan was at home. Barbara knew this separation was going to be difficult for Charlie. We included Nathan in on the conversation with Charlie and explained to Charlie the steps of growth and development for children which included school, and now college, in Nathan’s case.

Charlie became very sad to learn that months would go by before he would see Nathan again. Nathan also admitted how empty he felt life would be without his beloved Charlie so we devised a plan, which worked for everyone, where Nathan and Charlie would still be in contact with each other visually and audibly by using the video camera program installed on the computer that Nathan would have at school as well as the one remaining in the home. Nathan and Charlie are both feeling less of the sense of loss they had originally felt since they are able to see and speak with each other.

Consider speaking with someone who speaks with animals if you are faced with situations such as someone moving into your home as in getting married, a room-mate moving in or the birth of a child; or if someone is moving out of your home as in getting divorced, a child going off to college or the death of a family member to make sure the pets are heard and their wants and needs are met. It also takes the guess work out of knowing what the right thing is to do for them. Ask them, they will tell you.

Moving from one home to another can be tricky business for animals especially if the move is to another state. There is much to know and do to make sure all variables are covered. I’ve written a book on this which will be out soon, until then communicate, communicate, communicate. Explain to your pets what is about to happen, remember to include them during the process and keep them with you at all times. If it is a move to a distant location that requires travel always send the “stuff” and travel with the pets. Do not ever ship the pets and especially never ship them by air. As “easy” as it is, it is also potentially very dangerous on many levels for the animals. Including the pets can take a lot of the stress and guess work out of the move and can add a fun element to a sometimes challenging event.

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