Colorado pet owners seek help talking to their animals, both dead and alive

Josh McGirk was skeptical about animal communicators The south Denver resident loved his four-legged family members and was at his wits end after adopting a new cat Amelie who his two other cats were terrorizing He heard mixed reviews about people who claimed to be able to communicate with pets but Amelie s separation anxiety and the continued fights with Olivier and Sebastien eventually convinced McGirk to call Denver animal communicator Marianne McKiernan to schedule a Zoom call I was astonished at her ability to not even be in our household and pick up so multiple cues from me my husband and our three pets he noted McKiernan gave the couple practical advice about setting up their home to reduce conflict and insight into their cats personalities So when McGirk and his husband adopted another pet a inadequate years later a white Siberian husky named Keesa who seemed intent on eating their beloved cats for dinner they again called McKiernan She gave us so much specific feedback about her personality where to take her for training and how to teach her not to kill the cats and that they re not food they re family he mentioned It s been as vital to us as having a vet Once considered a fringe woo-woo practice a growing number of Coloradans are seeking animal communicators to improve their relationship with their pets or to find answers and closure with those that have died There s been a definite wave of people treating animals as if they are family especially for those who don t have children announced Gillian Edwards a Littleton-based animal communicator As the world gets crazy people are turning to Where do I find love And you do get unconditional love and compassion from animals That s where we get our sanity Josh McGirk at his home with Amelie one of his three cats in their living room in Denver on Feb Photo by Helen H Richardson The Denver Post It s kind of wacky McKiernan is aware that her job is a little odd She tries to avoid the term pet psychic which she commented conjures up images of a lady in a loose flowy outfit with lots of beaded necklaces and when people share their skepticism she readily agrees I ll say I agree it s kind of wacky I think it s strange and I m the one who can do it I m thrilled I can do it but I agree she announced snickering McKiernan started taking classes to learn how to communicate with animals years ago and started doing it professionally in She now works with dozens of clients each month through her business Telling Tails Animal Communication But talking to animals started much earlier in life she remembers sitting under the dining room table as a child talking to a mouse while her mom narrated her to come eat breakfast We can all do it as kids but everyone just attributes that to kids having a vivid imagination she explained As you get older you don t want to be the weird person talking to animals so you gradually stop listening Edwards who owns Four Paws Holistic Therapy explained talking to animals is a lot like talking to a person She starts each session with a photo of the animal and asks their human to think of what questions they want to ask You break the ice a little bit treat it like a relationship with an interactive back and forth Edwards disclosed I m just the translator in the middle Edwards communicates with animals using all of her senses so she may feel pain in a certain part of her body or smell something that the pet is trying to share Pet owners usually want to know about their pet s strength and behavior or if they ve died how they re doing on the other side of the rainbow bridge Edwards revealed One pet owner contacted McKiernan after her dog died suddenly while she was out of town The dog was saying I was trying to hold out but my body just gave out ' McKiernan explained He verified that they were in touch they had a very strong heart connection and then he sent me a picture of a green tennis ball Once McKiernan shared that image with the dog s owner the woman sighed in fond exasperation Her pup was known for littering the house with green tennis balls and McKiernan sensed there were plenty of green tennis balls in the afterlife too Countless of their interactions with pets seem random before Edwards and McKiernan share them with the owners One owner who met with McKiernan needed her dog to know the family was moving to a house with a lot of land around it The dog explained Does that mean we re getting a cow McKiernan commented And the owner was very serious and she stated Yep we re getting a cow He s got a thing for cows and we don t know why It s those oddly specific moments that reassure animal communicators they re on the right track Edwards stated That s what I say to skeptics You may not know the answer right away but the animals don t lie she declared Once you hit on that one thing the skepticism just goes away Josh McGirk left sits at his home with Amelie one of his three cats and his dog Keesa right in their living room in Denver on Feb Photo by Helen H Richardson The Denver Post Pandemic brought increasing interest accpetance Both Edwards and McKiernan have noticed more interest and general acceptance of the idea of talking to animals They both attributed various of the increased interest to the COVID- pandemic when people were forced to stay at home with their pets for extended periods Related Articles This weekend Denver s fanciest Kentucky Derby parties Cinco de Mayo and more Denver s canine bandit Park Hill Dave finds forever home Greeley City Council passes ordinance aimed at stopping puppy mills in city limits Housing bills up for votes an affordability hearing and final budget forecast in the Colorado legislature this week Englewood dog rescue s license suspended after rabies scare failed inspections People spent more time with their animals and maybe they were paying attention in a different kind of way McKiernan announced The dog was at their feet while they were doing Zoom calls at their computers and maybe they started feeling that connection more Animal communicators have also gained traction on social media with videos on TikTok and Instagram of people hearing from their pets both dead and alive racking up millions of views These days everybody is on board Edwards reported They re looking for help Years ago there was a lot of skepticism they would test me or ask me a silly question they would know the answer to But the last years people are seeking me out because they need help or they want closure When McGirk gets raised eyebrows when sharing his experience with animal communicators he often encourages people to just give it a try I almost believe it s better for someone to be a skeptic when they see an animal communicator because with that skepticism it s more of a journey to either see oh there is something to this or see right off the bat that it s not for you he commented Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter