Review: There Are No Sad Dogs in Heaven

If you've ever felt bereft and heartbroken after the death of a cherished animal companion, Sonya Fitzpatrick's latest book, There Are No Sad Dogs in Heaven, is for you.

Based on her actual consultations with people whose pets have passed into spirit, Sonya's stories are tinged more with compassion and hope than with sadness.  Like many communicators, she talks telepathically with animals in spirit, and because she recounts their thoughts with uncommon clarity and respect, we eagerly believe every word she says.

Many of her clients come to her wracked with guilt and regret, blaming themselves for what they perceive is their animal's untimely death.  We have all been in that tortured place.  To them, and to us, Sonya offers comfort:

"People think they need to apologize when they lose an animal.  But. . .animals love their humans no matter what, and there's never any need to apologize. . .Even when an animal's death seems premature, it has come for a reason, at the proper time for the soul that is leaving its body.  It's we who are left saying, 'He died too soon,' but for the one who is crossing over, it is never too soon."

On the subject of reincarnation, Sonya wisely counsels her clients that she can't always tell them whether their animals will come back, or when.  Sometimes, she can only say that "they will be with you in this lifetime."  Or not.

In Sonya's experience, there are many ways in which an animal can reincarnate; when they do, they don't always come to stay.  She describes a phenomenon whereby an animal's spirit appears to go in and out of another animal's body.  Or, it will inhabit the body of another animal it knew well in life:

"Many times, when there is a death of the physical form, animals will use one of the dogs they have lived with to experience living in the physical form again.  When that happens, you'll see many similarities between the dog that has passed over and the one that is still living."

In her work with grieving clients and callers to her weekly radio show, Sonya Fitzpatrick comes from a place of love and kindness.  She wants to soothe--not to shock--and she does so without sticky sentimentality.  She preaches a message that we all desperately want to hear:

"What I want everyone to know is that our animals are always happy in the spirit world.  It's a place where there is no sadness, no loneliness, no fear.  And they don't have to miss us because they remain with us even when they are no longer in their physical bodies."

Like Sonya Fitzpatrick, I have been privileged to connect with animals in their "energy bodies," and I can attest that what she speaks of is real and true.  Still, I felt a lot better after I read There Are No Sad Dogs in Heaven, and I think you will, too.

Ghost Cats: Human Encounters with Feline Spirits

What is it about cats that so captures our imaginations when it comes to the paranormal? According to author Dusty Rainbolt:

"Our cats seem to live in that mysterious realm between the natural and the transcendental, betwixt the living and the dead."

Cats do seem to dominate the literature about phantom apparitions, and if you're endlessly fascinated with their uncanny--and sometimes eerie--appearances as translucent beings, then Ghost Cats: Human Encounters with Feline Spirits is for you.

Unlike Kim Sheridan's Animals and the Afterlife, which chronicled afterlife visitations from dogs and cats who came back to the people they knew and loved, not all of the emphemeral cats whose stories are documented in Ghost Cats are known to the people who see them. Some inhabit hotels and public places, and the author even includes a list of "locations that may have ghost cats," in case you'd like to go in search of them. According to Ms. Rainbolt:

"There's a mystery and a tension that comes with cat entities when you never knew that cat in life. I selected these tales for their strangeness. In most cases, the people featured in the stories were visited by ghost cats they'd had no connection with. Why die these cats come back? Did they select the people to haunt, or were they simply trapped in their place of death?"

Often, the spirit felines are encountered after a family moves into a new home. The cats' previous human companions may have vacated the premises, but these kitties aren't going anywhere. Some of them may not even have realized that they have passed into another dimension: they continue to play with living cats and dogs and jump up on tables and beds, and on occasion, even make distinctive mewing sounds that can be disconcerting, indeed.

Most of the people whose stories are told in this enjoyable volume had no prior experience with ghosts or spirits. They are not psychic, they don't possess special powers, and they seem to have "an easy acceptance of the occurrence." Ms. Rainbolt notes that:

"Few people felt threatened or disturbed by the dead kitty's appearance. People usually felt blessed and happy about their cats' spiritual return, while they might have gone into a complete panic had a dead parent or spouse shown up instead."

Having recently lost my beloved cat, Casey, I've been hoping that she might reappear--even fleetingly--to reinforce my belief that she continues to live on another plane, albeit one where I cannot see or touch her. Ms. Rainbolt's deep understanding of the bond between cats and their people is what gives Ghost Cats its power, and what prevents it from being just another compilation of scary stories:

"During their lives with us, cats act as our companions, caretakers, nurses, counselors, and even entertainers. And after that all-too-short life comes to an end, their absence leaves a huge hole in our lives. Nothing will ever be the same. You feel incomplete, empty.

But that spirit who loved you so unconditionally in life continues to love you despite that vast invisible gulf that divides you."

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I'm thrilled to announce that Dusty Rainbolt will be my guest at the inaugural "Conversations with Animal Authors" Teleconference, on January 29th!

More details will follow!