On grief, trust, and learning to let go when an animal’s path diverges from ours.
Have you ever had to rehome an animal? Has one of your fur babies ever become lost – maybe permanently, or even stolen? Sometimes our animals leave us for various reasons, and it can also leave a giant, painful hole in our heart.
Let’s dive into this experience, why it happens and some healing advice. Because in the world of sensitive animal lovers, this is a tricky – and often painful situation that can leave us with a lack of closure.
I’m going to share a couple of my own experiences, and what I’ve learned as an animal communicator and intuitive guide for animal empaths. First of all, know that you’re not alone.
There was a point where my life seemed to implode. My marriage traumatically came apart shortly after moving into a house with several acres. We had five horses (two mustangs, a thoroughbred, a Morgan and a mini.) We also had other animals including goats, chickens, dogs and a cat.
Because of the divorce, the property needed to be sold, and I was left with the realization that I had no choice but to re-home the horses; as I couldn’t take them with me. It was beyond heartbreaking.
But in the midst of all of the divorce trauma and grief, I managed to find homes for all of them. I did the best I could to find the right person for each one. But of course, it didn’t make it any easier.
Because the truth is, we’re always left wondering: Will they take proper care of them? Will they receive the love that I gave them?
Then months after I rehomed them and moved, I decided to go check on the thoroughbred because I happened to be in that area. The property her new human had was 16 acres with a beautiful mountain view.
I got there and looked around at the horses on the property, but didn’t see my Angel. (I gave the former racehorse that name because of her sweet disposition, and she was my first horse.)
Then the person that I sold her to came riding up on horseback. I could tell by the look on his face that it wasn’t good.
It turned out that only three months after rehoming her, she was being chased by another horse. She fell and broke her leg and didn’t survive.
So in spite of doing the best I could to give her a good home, something went wrong. I cried on the two hour drive back home.
And I was left asking: Should I have gone to look and see how she was doing? Would I have been better off NOT knowing what had happened? Would she still be alive if I had been able to keep her?
It was obvious that her new person felt bad about the situation, so my going there to see how she was doing added to his pain as well. (Clearly he avoided contacting me because of what had happened.)
Grief, self-blame and sheer sadness filled my heart. Knowing what had happened opened up a “Pandora’s box” of questions in my mind. I also knew that searching for the others and how they where doing, wasn’t necessarily the best course of action.
Who knows what I might find, and would I have the power to change anything? Once an animal leaves us, it’s out of our control – and we’re not meant to know everything.
And everything happens for a reason, no matter how bad the situation might seem. The truth is, life is filled with “soul contracts”.
These contracts are agreements we have in life to go through various experiences and learn from them. For example: Perhaps I needed to learn to let go. Maybe Angel’s new human had to experience the loss, tragedy and guilt that I could see on his face as his own lesson.
It’s through these lessons that we learn the most. After all: What do we learn when things are easy? Not much.
Another part of the divorce story was that after I moved, my cat got outside into the back yard, and somehow managed to scale a six foot block wall and disappeared.
Her story was that she was a scraggly kitten with an infected paw when I found her on a country road. After taking her to the veterinarian, giving her food and tender loving care, she blossomed into a beautiful cat.
She had long white and grey hair, and beautiful green eyes. When I’d put my face near hers, she would touch her nose against mine, as if to give me a kiss.
After I discovered that she had disappeared over the wall, I went searching for her. I went around the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen her. Then after intuitively tuning in, my instinct was that she had been hit by a car and was no longer on this earth.
And even though our soul knows what happened, we can still be in denial. Because I knew in my heart that I needed to let her go and not continue to wonder. (I felt I was being protected from even more pain.)
The truth is: That entire experience of divorce, rehoming animals and loss was a lesson in letting go. Finding peace in the destiny of life is part of the lesson.
As an animal communicator and healer, I can’t change what’s meant to be. That’s out of my control.
And I’ve been asked to locate animals, bring them home, etc. But that’s not my job. I realized that I’m not meant to interfere with sacred soul contracts, and change the destiny that’s part of this life we’re living.
Above all: My understanding from the animal realm is that animal communication is a sacred tool that should be used to heal from life’s lessons, and as guidance to get unstuck and on the path that’s right for us.
It’s not meant to change the outcome that’s all part of a greater plan. So if you’ve had a similar experience, know that it happened for a reason, and you may never know why in this lifetime.
Perhaps your time with that animal came to an end, and they needed to move on to impact another person’s life. Or maybe it was time for them to leave this earth without you knowing about it. They may have wanted to save you from a tragic loss, because your plate was already full.
So our job is not to question. Our job is to learn the lesson, do the healing work and make an impact through our own gifts and wisdom from those experiences.
Know that as a sensitive animal lover, you have so much to give. So immerse yourself in the love that’s around you now, knowing that the animals you’ve had in your life loved you then AND they still love you now.
We’re all on this wild and crazy journey in life that’s filled with twists and turns. The key is to avoid staying stuck in the grief, and to move forward on your own path while keeping all of your beloved animals in your heart; because that’s where they’ll ALWAYS be.
If you’re carrying grief, confusion, or an open-ended goodbye with an animal — please know you’re not alone. While we can’t always change what’s happened, we can choose how we hold it, and how we heal from it.
If you’re ready for gentle guidance and intuitive clarity, I invite you to begin with a complimentary Clarity & Purpose Call. In this one-on-one session, we’ll explore what your heart most needs right now — and you’ll also receive a channeled wild animal message, offering deeper insight and spiritual support for your path forward.
You don’t have to navigate this journey alone.
Click here to book your free Clarity & Purpose Call
