Huck and the Power of Positive Energy

Thirty months ago, we adopted Huck, a large (13 pounds!) gray tabby with beautiful light green eyes. He was approximately 1 1/2 to 2 years old and was turned in to a local shelter as a stray. Since he was no longer a kitten, he was almost euthanized twice, but kind people who saw his sweet spirit kept rescuing him. He was finally taken in by a rescue group and unfortunately contracted the Corona Virus. The cat who infected him died shortly after from FIP. Huck also had Giardia...a nasty parasite. So, when we adopted him, he was a pretty sick boy. The vet told us that he had a 50/50 chance of making it...but he did and he got rid of the Giardia and the following year, his white blood cell count was perfect...but his red cell count was just a little off. On retesting, he was fine.

So now, a year later, we have his annual exam and his red blood cell count is way off. It should fall between 30-35, but he had dropped to 19 which means that he was pretty anemic. Cats are very different than we are and you can't just give them iron, etc. His vet said that if his red blood cell count dropped much further, he would need a transfusion. The only option seemed to be a hormone that could tell his body to make more red blood cells (he wasn't making any at the time). Unfortunately, this option can help 70-75 percent of the cats treated with it, and it can cause a horrible immune system reaction for the other 25-30 percent of them leading to no read blood cell production and death. Needless to say, I was very worried about my boy Huck and didn't know what to do...without the hormone, he might continue to decline and die and with the hormone, he might decline and die. I really didn't know what to do...then I came back to my yoga...centered mind, deep breath, inward focus.

When I'm teaching a yoga class, I always remind my students that we have all of the answers within...we just can't always hear them clearly due to the noise of our thoughts and emotions. So I tried to rid my mind of my fear of losing Huck and found that quiet place within and asked the question, "What should I do?" Now the important thing here is to not let the mind race to find an answer...once the question is asked, we need to be quiet and listen. When I quieted my mind and asked the question, the clear answer that I received was to wait and try energy work with him.   So, I asked my yoga friends to surround Huck with positive healing energy and I performed Reiki on him for 5 minutes each day...that's about all he could handle.

His doctor was out of town, but we spoke on the phone and I told her about my plans. We agreed to give him some time without the hormone and to draw some blood upon her return. But if he was worse, we'd have to start the treatment. On Thursday (9/26) she examined Huck and said that he just didn't look like an anemic cat...his gums were pink, his heart rate was normal...and believe it or not, his blood results went from 19 back up to 30....he's back to normal. So Huck went from not making any new red blood cells at all back to normal with the healing energy of Reiki and our yoga friends surrounding him with beautiful energy.

Huck is a member of our family and brings happiness to our lives every day. Please support organizations in your community that save these sweet beings who just need to find the right home...and please spay/neuter your pets. There are healthy, wonderful animals that are killed daily because there aren't enough people who are willing to bring them into their families. Compassion for all beings is a very important component of our yoga practice. Remember that our thoughts, words, and actions impact every being around us.

Please add your comments and stories.  I'd love to hear about your experiences as well.

Peace and love,

Donna