What Your Pets Are Really Thinking

We first reached out to Tim Link after hearing an amazing story from a friend of goop who’d lost her cat (stay with us). The friend in question got news that her cat had ran away while she was out of town, and came rushing back home to look for him. After an exhaustive search and still no cat, someone recommended she call Tim, an animal communicator based in Georgia. Doubtful but desperate, she followed Tim’s instructions carefully, emailing him an image of the cat and taking diligent notes as he provided an address for a townhouse in the West Village (as well as a visual description of what the cat was seeing). Surprised at his specificity, she knocked on the door to find a kind woman who said she’d never seen the cat before, but that she’d keep her eyes open. Two days later, she got a phone call from the townhouse, where the cat had been hiding under the floorboards.

Needless to say, we had to investigate. Below, we tap Tim to understand how animal communication works, and what our pets have been secretly thinking about us.

A Q&A with Tim Link

When did you discover you could communicate with animals?

I learned that I could communicate telepathically with animals in February 2004. Until then, I had no idea that I had this ability.

The journey to this discovery began when my wife asked me to attend an Animal Communication workshop with her in the Atlanta area as her birthday present. It was an all-day workshop taught by a long-time practitioner of animal communication and included several other participants. During the workshop, I began to notice that I was receiving accurate information from the animals with which we communicated. Of course my first reaction was, “Am I really ‘hearing’ what the animal is saying or, is this just my imagination?” When the information that I received from the animals was confirmed by the participants of the workshop, my confidence grew.

Over the next several months, I used my ability to communicate with my own pets and the pets of friends and family. As my gift continued to grow, I began helping others within my church with their pets, as well as animals at the local animal rescue organizations.

My gift is much stronger and flows more easily than in the beginning. It brings a lot of joy to me to be able to bridge the communication gap between animals and their human companions. Being able to enhance the human/animal bond by giving animals a voice is truly a blessing.

Is it all species, or just some?

The broad definition of interspecies communication (commonly referred to as animal communication) is the ability to communicate telepathically with animals of all types. For me, this involves establishing a telepathic connection with any type of animal by either being with them or through the use of a picture of the animal. Once a connection is made, I ask the animal questions and provide their responses. Some animals can be very talkative, while others are not. But, I have not encountered an animal yet that has declined my request to communicate with them on behalf of their human companion. In fact, most welcome it as a way to let their human companions know what their preferences are—or if they are not feeling well.

When you’re communicating with an animal, what is the experience on your end?

When I have a conversation with an animal, it’s much like when I have a conversation with a person, except that it is done telepathically rather than verbally. I ask the animal questions on behalf of their human companion and they reply. Their replies can come in the form of words, images, emotions, smells, tastes or a combination of these methods. In simplest terms, I like to think of connecting with an animal telepathically much like looking for a specific radio transmission. If you knew that your favorite country music station was FM 101.5, you wouldn’t tune to AM 750 on your radio to hear it. The fact is that every animal, just like every person, has a unique energy frequency much like each radio station has its unique location on the dial.

Is it a voice in your head?

When I converse with an animal, if they communicate their replies in words or sentences, I do not hear their replies in my head. Instead, I hear their replies outside of my head. Just like a normal conversation with a person.

More of a feeling?

While I am also a Reiki energy master and I am empathic, both of which allow me to feel what an animal feels both emotionally and physically within their bodies, this is different than communicating with an animal telepathically.

Can you do this over the phone or do you need to see the pet in person?

The majority of the consultations that I do are done over the phone using a photo of the animal and their name. If a photo isn’t available, I ask for a very detailed description of the animal instead along with their name. Either way, I am able to connect with the animal’s unique energy in order to converse with them.

How do you find lost animals?

A lost or missing pet situation can be a very stressful time. These feelings are understandable; your pet is part of your family, you sincerely want to be reunited with him/her. The most important thing to do is to remain calm and implement a well-thought-out plan to find your lost pet. That’s where my years of experience in working with missing dogs, cats, and any other type of animal, can be of assistance.

In order for me to assist in locating a missing animal—anywhere in the world, and without being at the location—I ask owners to provide me with specific information. This includes the missing animal’s name and photo, the home address, the address from where the animal went missing, the date the animal went missing, and the locations of any possible sightings.

I then use this information to do the work associated with a lost animal consultation: I first determine whether the animal is still alive. If he/she is, I then ask the animal a series of location-specific questions and use map dowsing in combination with animal communication to assist in determining, as close as possible, their location.

I have been fortunate to be part of many amazing stories about furry friends which were reunited with their families with my assistance. These include Madison, the cat who jumped from her fourth-story apartment window and, after being on her own for three weeks, was reunited with her family. Then, there was Sam, a yellow tabby cat who was missing for 14 months before being reunited with his family. And BB, a two-pound, eighteen-year-old, blind Yorkie, whose family found him in a barn that I had pinpointed.

A significant amount of the lost animals—including Madison, Sam, and BB—are located either because of the information I relay from the pet to the human companions, or the pet returns home on its own with the instructions I’ve relayed to them.

How does your process differ when you’re speaking to a deceased animal vs. a live animal?

Energy is energy. The only difference between communicating with an animal that has made their transition (passed on) versus an animal that is still in-body is the way their energy “feels” when I form a telepathic or energetic connection with them (using Reiki). An animal that is still alive and in-body has energy that “feels” very grounded. On the other hand, an animal that has already transitioned has energy that “feels” very light or floaty. I attribute this difference to the fact that they are no longer attached to a physical body.

What are your recommendations for pet owners?

There are, of course, many recommendations that I have for pet owners. But, first and foremost, realize that animals understand everything. That doesn’t mean that they always choose to listen. But, they do understand. So, if you are going to go on vacation, or you are bringing a new family member into the house (a baby or an additional animal), or you are changing anything about their daily routine, be aware that they want to know how it is going to impact them.

Are there any mistakes you see over and over?

Yes, there is one big mistake that I see over and over: lack of communication between animals and their human companions. Animals, like anyone else in the household, appreciate knowing what’s going on in the household. If you leave the house, let them know where you’re going, when you’ll be back, and what they should do or expect to occur while you are away. Face it: you wouldn’t like it if your child or spouse left the house without telling you where they were going, when they’d be back, or what they’ll be doing while they’re gone.

How can you prepare for a major change in your pet’s life (getting another pet, having a child, etc.)?

While it’s always exciting to bring a new baby into the family or even a new pet into the household, I always recommend communicating this type of impending change with all of the animals in the household. Keeping in mind that animals understand everything, they know when a major change like this is inevitable.

When a woman is pregnant, animals can sense the additional energy from the baby while it is still in the mother’s womb. Or, if you are discussing getting another dog, cat, or other animal, they hear these conversations and understand what’s being said.

Any significant change like this can obviously impact the animals in the household. Not only will routines be disrupted for a period of time with a new baby or new pet, but there’s one more person or animal in the house that needs your attention, care, and feeding.

So, my advice is to communicate as early as possible with your animals about the impending change, communicate frequently with your animals as the day approaches, and introduce them to each other early and carefully. The sooner you can let your animals know that a significant change is inevitable, the more likely it is to cause them to behave in an uncharacteristic way and will help to reduce unnecessary stress for your animals.

What common signals do our pets send us, and how can we best respond?

If your pet begins to exhibit behaviors that are uncharacteristic to him/her, and your veterinarian has ruled out a health-related issue as the culprit, stop and ask yourself, “What’s changed?” For example, if your cat begins to urinate somewhere other than their litter box, and there isn’t a urinary tract infection or other type of illness in play, what changed? Did you relocate the litter box? Did you get a new litter box? Did you start using a new type of litter? Any of these could cause your cat to exhibit undesirable behavior as a way to call your attention to their displeasure. In this case, put things back their original state and see if that solves the problem.

What’s the best way to calm down an anxious pet?

Anxiety in pets can be caused by many things, including unexpected loud noises, separation from family members, unfamiliar people coming into the house to do repairs, or any type of significant change to their daily routine. Thus, calming them down should include reassuring them that they are safe, everything will be okay, and communicating with them about the cause of their anxiety.

As an example, when my dog becomes anxious from hearing loud, unexpected noises (i.e. thunder, lightning, fireworks), I wrap one of my T-shirts around him, apply a drop of a calming pet essence to his inner earlobe, and reassure him in a calming voice that he’s okay and that the noise will end soon.

As another example, if you’re going on vacation, let your pet know if they are going to go with you or not. If they are staying home, let them know if a pet sitter will be coming by to take care of them and how often. If they will be boarded, let them know what to expect while there. Most importantly, let them know when you will be back.

If they get to go on vacation with you, let them know how you’ll get to your destination, how long it will take to get there, what to expect while they are there, and when you are going to be going back home.

What advice do you have for people with pets approaching the end of their lives?

When I am contacted to communicate with someone’s beloved pet about whether it’s time to help their pet transition or not, I always recommend that people trust their own intuition. Of course the animal can tell me whether they are ready to go or not. But, that may not be that instant. Instead, it may be in a few days, a few weeks, or longer. When it is time, it’s the human companion of the animal that will know on a deeper, intuitive level.

I have had many animals during my lifetime and even before I was able to communicate with them as I do today, I always knew when it was time to let them go. One such instance that I wrote about was when I lost my Schnauzer, Buzz.

We all have a special heart connection with our animals. That connection is an intuitive one. Much like twins that are miles apart knowing when something is wrong with the other, you will know on that same intuitive level when your animal is ready to make their transition.

You must see pets with all kinds of stories—any particularly interesting or funny ones that stand out?

Sometimes, animals converse with me in somewhat cryptic ways. When this happens, I relay the information exactly as it is presented and then the human companion and I “peel back the onion” to determine exactly what the animal is trying to convey.

I once communicated with a horse that had stopped eating and drinking for several days. After the vet ruled out any medical issues as the cause, the owner called me and asked me communicate with her horse. The horse initially provided me with two words when asked why he wasn’t eating and drinking, “green water”. Of course this wasn’t much to go on. But, I relayed what he said in hopes it would have meaning to the owner. Unfortunately, it did not.

So, I began asking the owner additional questions in an effort to determine what “green water” may mean. I asked her if there was a pond on the property that may contain green algae. There was not. I asked her if there was a trough that contained water that may have some algae in it. There was not. Finally, she remembered that the horse used to drink and eat from green buckets that hung in his stall. She went on to say that she replaced both of them about the same time the horse stopped eating and drinking.

I suggested she remove the new buckets and replace them with the original green buckets. Once she did, the horse resumed eating and drinking normally. Suffice it to say, the horse liked what he liked and didn’t want new buckets!