My pet's lost, what now?

For me, being an animal communicator, is like being my favorite fictional character, Nancy Drew 🕵️‍♀️ Meanwhile, for those who don't believe that animals can communicate nor have thoughts of their own, animal communicators are still subjected to questions that make it sound more like it's for parlor tricks.

Personally, I prefer to answer questions that lead to a life change. When medical science can't answer your questions, I'm here to bridge that gap. My mind is still blown, and my heart is still filled with gratefulness and awe, when an animal communication session saves lives and relationships blossom!

However, this isn't the real world scenario, especially not in the Philippines. With more people still left uneducated regarding proper animal care, and putting care and compassion into practice, most of the readings are left to finding lost pets. Honestly, this makes me sad.

How pets usually get lost

Most of the reasons pets get lost are related to extreme emotional or environmental changes that they struggle to cope with. In some cases, they don’t actually get lost at all — they intentionally run away.

Emotional distress can happen when there’s a shift in family dynamics. It could be something as simple as their primary caregiver leaving for school, getting married, or welcoming children into the home for the first time.

Adding new pets to the household can also create a huge emotional wave for animals. 😲 Maybe they strongly prefer being the only pet, or perhaps a dominant male has already established his place in the home. 😼

And then there’s the dreaded trip to the vet to get neutered. 😅 This one always gets me. Some animals genuinely seem to want offspring of their own. They may carry a strong instinct toward parenthood. A simple trip to the vet for surgery? Trust me — they know something is up. And when they are absolutely against it, it can trigger a full-on Mission Impossible escape attempt! 😄

A tale of the boy who ran away

I've been doing animal communication readings since 2021, but I opened up my services to the public only in 2024. One of the first cases of a lost pet I encountered was with this male cat. His mom, came to me asking for help.

During this time, I haven't talked to a lost pet before. Most of my communication sessions were always with pet guardians seeking to bridge the gap between their pets and their behaviors. Seeing how my guides always push me to my discomfort for growth, I took upon this challenge and connected with the cat pro bono.

I opened up the communication highway for this cat, let's call him, Ricky 😼 I made sure he felt comfortable reaching out to me for a chat anytime he needed me. This way, he would be more open and I could talk to him beyond the 30 minute window we have allotted for a normal communication session.

Ricky, was just one of the male cats of the household. He wasn't neutered at this time. Their little family was moving to a new home and in the few weeks before he got lost, along with his siblings, they were left at the house of their guardian's mom.

Connecting with Ricky for the first time, he expressed his disagreement with the move that was currently in progress. He said he was uncomfortable with moving, and that his temporary stay with technically his grandma was stirring up how things are quite painful for him to accept at this time.

Ricky grew restless at the care of the grandma and found an opportunity to sneak out. When he did, his mom said, he would usually just come home immediately. But not this time. When he got out, what he expressed was liberation– a breath of fresh air for him. In the first few days, he told me how he felt his power was dwarfed at his current life situation and that now, he felt whole. A feeling of success, or completion.

His mom has been worried sick for him because in the last few weeks, it has been raining hard. On several occasions, Ricky and I talked, he described to me that it was grueling for him to scavenge food because the usual food scraps that were edible on the floor, get washed out by the rain. This left him with scavenging for food in drums of trashes. He became thin as he showed me; but his spirit was still strong.

I received multiple visions of his whereabouts and his mom was diligent enough to chase these locations to find him. The visions were accurate. They found the tree that he temporarily lived in before he found a colony to join. I started to realize the problem, when he would give me different images of places he can see. He was moving about! I realized, we were dealing with a roaming animal who would only stay put in one place if it meant food for survival.

Soon after, he told me he found a man who fed their colony, but not in a consistent routine. Sometimes the man had something to give them, and other times, he's absent. The colony didn't really liked his presence, but with them, he found the love of his life. He found a mate! Ricky was diligent enough to report to me from time to time. However, towards our last few conversations, he introduced to me his ginger mate. With that, convincing him to come home became more difficult.

And with our final conversation, he asked me to tell his mom to not worry about him, and that he's decided his life would be with his mate, in the streets.

But my pet has never done it before!?

Our animals are incredibly sensitive to shifts in energy and environment. When they sense that the energy around them no longer aligns with their own, they instinctively seek ways to protect themselves and preserve their sense of safety.

This is why sudden behavioral changes can sometimes appear out of nowhere. The key is to stay observant — not only of changes happening in your own life, but also within the environment your pets live in. Unlike humans, animals don’t usually cling to familiarity simply for comfort. They naturally prioritize what feels safest and healthiest for their well-being.

In many ways, it all comes down to energetic shifts and evolving emotional needs.

If your pet is not fixed, the situation can become even more challenging. Their natural instincts often take priority above everything else. Sometimes, it may take a while for them to return to their usual behavior after fulfilling those instincts first.

More often than not, indoor pets who suddenly experience the outdoors may find it incredibly stimulating — even addictive. Imagine the thrill of chasing birds whenever they appear, running after other cats in the streets, sniffing every intriguing scent they encounter, or doing endless zoomies without the limitations of four walls.

For indoor pets discovering the vastness of the outside world for the very first time, those first few days can feel like the ultimate adventure — almost like a free vacation outdoors.

What can I do now?

It's panic time!!! 😵‍💫

My baby needs his medication. He can't eat so and so. He's allergic to heat. He might X, he might Y, he might Z.

It's true, pet care these days are a gamut of complicated routines and supplementation. We pamper them just like how a human kid can be pampered. 😌 However, we must never discount the wiring of an animal's mind, their instincts and their animal support system.

We believe that because they grew up in a household that runs the A/C 24/7 is that they can't survive the heat. We think that because we serve their food from cans, that they don't know how to hunt anymore. While it's true that living so closely with humans has somehow impaired their perspective and mindset, they are still able to come back to how their DNAs are wired. They are able to bounce back to being an animal in a snap of the finger.

The story of Moon

Moon was an indoor cat all his life. I was able to connect with him in the early days when he got lost. His energy started from being afraid, to being "I'm not lost now, just not yet ready to come home". I had to think of ways to suggest where he can find food because he was so scared that he looked at his surroundings and all he saw were plants.

However, as time went on, and I had the privilege to continue connecting with him, his energy became more confident. From the boy who told me he was looking for food from the gutters of the sidewalk to, "Look, I'm able to catch mice now!". I saw this boy come out of fear and discover his own strengths.

At some point, he had too much fun, and forgot that good food sustenance is also needed to sustain good health. He described to me the animals that he saw, and the cats he became friends with. His mom saw these animals nearby, so we know that he was close, but he just wasn't ready to come home.

When eventually, he was ready to come home, his body was so weak that when I tried to connect with him, he was in the spirit world. I later learned that this was proof that animals can walk in and out of their bodies to conserve energy as needed. 🫢 When he was ready to quit his outdoor vacation, he went home on his own. He did look emaciated, but he was home.

Prevention is better than cure

As with everything else, I strongly encourage you, the pet guardian to always be vigilant and prepare for these worst cases. Here are some tips I can recommend for you, to prevent losing your pet:

1. If you have frequent trips outside, like going to the park, etc. Don't ever leave without collars. Even better, have your pets microchipped; or equip them with tags and trackers.
2. At home, escape-proof your place. Add grills, screens and locks to doors and windows that can easily be opened. My female cat is able to open door handles, to the extent that I had them replaced with electronic door locks! Animals are smart, and they've grown smarter from living with us humans.
3. Take note of their special fur markings, birth date (to approximate age), current weight and temperament (shy, extroverted, etc). Always have clear photos of your pets, including:
   1. front facial shot
   2. right side body,
   3. left side body and,
   4. top photo of body.
4. Practice vet trips. Expose your crates / bags to playtime and treats. This way, they associate their crates / bags to more good things than just the trip to the vet.
5. If your pet is adverse to travel, prepare calming medications, or pheromones. GABA, anti histamines and calming sprays are great options to start with.
6. Have them fixed. Spaying / neutering your pets if you have been set on not having them procreate is a great way to preventing them from straying to satisfy their natural instincts. If you're unsure if your pets want to have their offsprings, we can always ask them.

What to do

First thing is always, don't panic.

Panic severs energetic connection. Your pet needs you now, more than ever. What you need to do, is sit down, and tell yourself you trust your pet, and you trust that your relationship was founded on a good bond.

If you lost a cat, don't put out their litter box unattended. The key difference is that if you leave it unattended, it can be used by stray cats and defeat the purpose. Put it out only if you can monitor it at night, and return it back home before you sleep. I would recommend putting out a used clothing of their human. Their favorite human's used clothes is more than enough scent to for them to trace their way back home, especially in the first few hours to days of getting lost.

If you lost a dog, because dogs are diurnal, find time in the morning to call out their name while carrying their favorite food. If it's a cat you lost, the best time to look for them is at dusk, or at dawn because they're crepuscular animals. Again, carry their favorite treats while calling out their names.

Meditate. When you breathe in, say that you're breathing in. When you breathe out, say that you're breathing out.

Focus on the good happy memories. Keep thinking of them, but not with sad emotions. Emotions have frequency. If the frequency you're sending out is sadness, worry, anger, guilt, etc. These are more than enough to sever the connection with your pet. Your pets are telepathic, and so are you. Imagine the days when you were a child. Say you ran away, do you want to go home to an angry parent? You would be more eager to come home to a parent thinking good thoughts about you. It's reinforcing the thread of connection.

Imagine, visualize, your heart is glowing with light (any color would do). Picture a thread coming out of this glowing light and it reaches out to your pet. Visualize your pet sitting in front of you with their own heart glowing. Your thread reaches out to the heart of your pet. Once you've seen this connection, say your message. Trust that your pet has received your message. Continue with sending your pet images of your happy memories. Imagine them coming home to you, feel the happiness of that future moment of reunion.

Otherwise..

If you have difficulty doing any of these things on your own, I can connect with your lost pet. I have a few more things I'm able to do for your pet. Reach out for a booking, I'm always here to help.

A word of caution though, our animals have their own mind and consciousness. When one has decided not to come home, I can only try to convince them; and other times, even when they're ready to come home, the connection may have been lost and they need to energetically re-establish themselves first before they are homeward bound. And even more importantly, the journey back home isn't always linear. They can still be disrupted by attempts to find food, hide from environmental threats, resting, etc.

In the end, don't lose hope. Trust in your animal's strengths. Trust in the Universe and don't underestimate the power of prayer. 🙏