Zen the Cat's Story: Special Delivery for You Mom

Losing one of your animal loves can be painful enough. But what about when another one of your pets is responsible for the loss? Incidents of aggression between pets is one of the biggest causes of relinquishment and, often, euthanasia. Animal communicator Shannon Cutts shares the truly remarkable story of one interspecies family who went through this hell and came out the other side with fresh insight, hope and closeness.

Kristen was happy and busy planning her upcoming wedding. She and her fiancé belonged to an interspecies family that included Zen and Rumi, an adopted feral cat and her kitten, six additional kitties, and Roadie, a cat-loving canine with piercing blue eyes and a gentle yet protective demeanor towards all.

Then one night all that changed.

In a split second, Zen's spirit departed her body. When Roadie emerged from the shadows a few moments later, his blood red jowls told Kristen everything she needed to know.

Or so she thought.

Of course, I didn't know any of this when Kristen asked me to tune in with Zen. She felt bereft, she explained, and not just on her own behalf but for Rumi, Zen's feline son. Kristen told me she wanted to reconnect with Zen, to ask for wisdom, to share news of Rumi. And to apologize, although she didn't tell me why.

In all this, Kristen also told me nothing at all about Roadie - not even that he was a member of their family. Nor did she say anything about the other six family cats.

The next morning, I connected with Zen in spirit. I shared a bit about who I am, the work I do and the reason Kristen had asked me to talk with her. I asked Zen if she would be willing to talk with me and to show me how she died.

And then it all got very strange. I suddenly knew Zen's transition had been swift. I got a feeling of a sudden accident. There was a moment of intense physical disruption and discomfort and then....calm.

Then Zen showed me two small puncture marks.

When I asked her to elaborate, she showed me the two puncture marks again. And again. And again.

Clearly, that was all the elaborating Zen was willing (or able) to share.

I received no sense of animosity, regret, just a vague sensation of forgetting. And then remembering.

Remembering what? She wouldn't say.

We moved on. I asked Zen about her life now on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. She showed me a beautiful place, luminous, cloudy and yet filled with light, and told me her new home's name. Lumeno City. Luminosity.

The next image she sent me was even stranger than the puncture marks. I saw Zen with wings and a beak flapping through the air (yes, exactly like a stork except....not). I could see a package tied to her beak and she was on her way to deliver it. I asked her to show me what was inside the little bundle and she showed me a tiny kitten.

Rumi. Her son.

When I had the chance to jump on a Zoom with Zen's human, Kristen, the information Zen shared with me began to snap into focus.

I shared about the puncture marks. Kristen burst into tears and explained about Roadie. She told me she just couldn't understand how or why or any of it. Roadie had always been such a gentle, loving soul.

So I asked Zen about it.

Right away, Zen showed me a soul contract. She explained was meant to depart her physical body that night, and Roadie was meant to help her do it.

Then she showed me a scene the low evening light had prevented Kristen from witnessing....Zen goading Roadie with a swift claw to the nose and reminding him to do what he had agreed to do. The moment of forgetting and then remembering she had showed me earlier - this was the context only Zen knew.

And this was also why no one in Kristen's little family could believe what had happened. Roadie was such a staunch champion and protector to all the cats (eight in total!). They could crawl all over him, do anything, he just loved them and took great care so as not to harm any of them. Why would he do such a thing?

Because. Zen and Roadie had a soul contract. They were, are, part of a soul family.

Why would Zen need to depart at that precise moment?

Here, only Kristen had the context to make sense of that question.

(And while I need to omit the specific details to protect this precious family's privacy, suffice it to say that Zen needed to pass in order to for Rumi to make his way to his new person, someone who needed him more than words could ever possibly explain.)

It was a match made in heaven at just the right moment and for all the highest and best reasons.

Kristen then shared a bit more of the back story to all this. She told me the amazing story of how Zen, a fearful feral momma, kept hanging around their house. Slowly and surely, Zen got a little bolder. And then a little bolder. One fine day, she walked right up onto Kristen's chest. And left behind a tiny fur bundle Kristen named Rumi.

A package. Hand-delivered from the Zen-stork herself.

Our pets have the most miraculous, jaw-dropping, deep and impactful lives going on right under our noses. They are so aware, so alive, so keenly connected to the lives being lived all around them. They feel their bonds with us and with the other animals in their lives so deeply. They have soul families and soul contracts, both with these other animals and with us, their people.

Our animals have explanations for the mysterious, whether it is heartbreaking, sublime or somewhere along the spectrum in between. But if we want to know the truth - not just our mind's version of it, but the whole truth - we have to ASK.

Do you have questions only your pet can answer? I can help!