Hallo, insightful viewers, and welcome to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. On today’s program we present the second of a three-part series featuring Sonya Fitzpatrick, one of the most widely recognized and respected telepathic animal communicators in the world.

She has worked with clients from around the globe, including Hollywood actress Tori Spelling and vegan talk show host and actress Ellen DeGeneres and is the author of several popular books including “What the Animals Tell Me,” and “Cat Talk: The Secrets of Communicating with Your Cat.” Ms. Fitzpatrick also hosts a weekly call-in radio show called “Animal Intuition” on Sirius Satellite Radio and previously hosted a series on the television channel Animal Planet called “The Pet Psychic.”

The UK-born Ms. Fitzpatrick currently lives in Texas, USA with five dog and 12 cat companions as well as a family of frogs. Why might our animal companion suddenly display inappropriate behavior? Sonya Fitzpatrick now discusses some of the reasons.

You’ll have a cat that will suddenly start to urinate all over the house. To the human companion, they don’t even understand why there’s a change in behavior but there’s always a reason. So now, I’m talking to animals almost every day. And this particular reason is they're emotional. Animals feel. They have very deep feelings. And they sense this and they know everything. They’re very smart. They know everything.

And what happens is, we use a lot of chemicals, people do in their homes. They don’t go green with their products and they see all this advertising on TV. “Oh spray this and it’ll be better. It’s animal friendly.” None of those chemicals are animal friendly. In fact they’re killing our animals. By spraying all these toxic fumes, using bleaches, different floor cleaners, our home becomes a vacuum of poisons.

And also, animals will put down their scent. I mean I had a lady the other day, she said, “But my cat’s been urinating all over the bed.” Well those covers hold the scent. So I say to go green with everything. Vinegar and water is a great cleaner. Baking soda is great. So if you do that, that can often stop your cat from urinating on the floor. Or some people even rinse out their litter boxes with bleach. Cats' sense of smell is much stronger than ours.

If you can smell it, believe me, it’s unpleasant for your animals. If you can go into your home, you may have a cleaning company and they used it so that you can say, “Oh that smells nice!” To you! But those chemicals aren’t doing you any good and they’re doing even more harm to the animals.

And lots of vets don’t understand sometimes why cats die. Any chemical is not good for humans or animals to be inhaling all the time. Be very, very careful about what you use in your home. And don’t take any notice of advertising. And people today, they’ve gotten to be fanatical about cleanliness. And bleach in a litter box! Can you imagine! You can smell it!

Some of them will not use the litter box. And they’ll go outside of the litter box because they can’t stand the smell. Sit down and really think about what you’re using in your home for the animals. Because animals will suddenly stop eating through having been poisoned by chemicals. Then the next thing, they suddenly can almost go paralyzed where they stop and they’re not walking and they suddenly will again.

And eventually they’ll die because those poisonous gases they're inhaling are going through all their organs. Animals are very small. They’re very close to the ground. And it kills a lot of our animals. People don’t even realize what’s wrong with them. So really be careful when you are cleaning your home. Anything chemical, don't use it.

Through the years, Ms. Fitzpatrick has communicated with thousands of cats. She explains another common mistake people make when caring for their feline friends.

A lot of people just don’t know what is best, because they take their veterinarian’s advice. And another thing that vets always advise here, which is a horrendous thing to do, is declawing your cat. I never heard of that until I came to America. Declaw your cats? It’s so painful! And people worry about their furniture. You can train a cat. Get a scratching post. Put catnip on it. Put two-sided tape on the back of your sofas. I mean, you’re literally doing a terrible, terrible thing.

And you're mutilating your cat when you take out her front claws. And they can grow back. And it’s very painful for the cat. And the cat knows. And they will often revert to biting. And if they do get out, they can’t climb a tree, they can’t protect themselves. And it’s the most painful thing, and it’s the most terrible thing that you could do to the animal you love. It’s just that people don’t understand that. And I talk about it all the time.

Cats are very sensitive in another way in which few caregivers may be aware.

I had a client this week, and she couldn’t understand why her cat suddenly started to attack her. And she said, "Every time I stroke my cat, he turns around and bites me." Well, what they don’t realize is that animals have a network of nerves under the skin, some are near to the surface. But when you do this to a cat, and some people do rough up their cat, they don't just do it gently. People go like this. When you do that, you can cause static. So the cat will turn immediately.

The cat thinks, “Why is my mother doing that to me? And how dare she!” And he will turn around and bite. So often the biting is caused through something unseen, which is static. And it’s builds up when you keep doing this. So I tell to people, “Scratch him on the head.” So that was the reason why the cat was biting his mom. And people just don’t understand that animals are much more sensitive.

Though it may not seem significant to us, even being left alone for a few hours is more than some animal companions can bear. They may let us know their unease through different ways.

So one of the reasons that people call me is that their cat has a change or urinating outside the litter box. And there's lots of reasons. If people go away, cats and dogs get emotionally upset. And how else can they tell us than by just making a mess on the floor, or not going outside? They will actually be making a mess in the house to say, "Hey I’m hurting."

So I always say to people, "Tell your cat that you’re going away. Tell your dogs you’re going away.” They understand. Tell them you’ll be back, and talk to them while you’re away, because you have a direct contact. And people will say, "Well I don’t know how to talk to animals like you do." I said, "You’re doing it but not recognizing it. So you talk to them. They know.”

And what about introducing another pet into the home?

I think with dogs particularly; there’s a way of doing that. I think you need to ask the dog and cat's permission if you can bring another animal in. Even if you don’t hear the cat or dog's answer, at least you're acknowledging that you’re including him in this particular process. So always ask them. And tell them how good they are and how now you need their help in looking after the animal that is coming in. Because then that makes them feel good.

But when you are going to bring a new dog into the home, do not bring her straight into the house. Make sure you bring your dog outside when you bring the other dog home. Take them both for a walk together. That's the first thing they must do, because that's a pleasant experience for both of them.

And then when you come back, bring them both in together, so that you do not bring the other dog into that dog's territory, which is going to be possessive. And make a big fuss, of the other dog and walk them, and be happy together. And then they come back and they're coming into the house together, and you won’t have that territorial thing.

Thank you Ms. Fitzpatrick for providing these highly useful tips to make our animal companions’ lives more comfortable and safe. Surely the animals thank you for your kind advocacy on their behalf.

For more information on Sonya Fitzpatrick, please visit: www.SonyaFitzpatrick.com
or follow her on www.Facebook.com
Books by Ms. Fitzpatrick are available at www.Amazon.com

When might our animal companions get frustrated with us? Do animals know whether or not we follow a plant-based lifestyle? What made Sonya Fitzpatrick decide to adopt a family of frogs? To find out, please join us again tomorrow on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants for the conclusion of our interview with Ms. Fitzpatrick

Thank you smiling viewers for joining us today on our program. May we all make a new animal friend today!