Reiki

Case Studies on Animals

Case Study #1. 

Recipient:  11 Year Old Thoroughbred Gelding

History:  Preliminary Grand Prix Jumper, originally started and galloped at the race track, but never ran a race.  At the level of competition this horse was being ridden, he was consistently jumping three to six foot obstacles during the course of his training for a period of approximately 2-3 years (I'm guessing) .  Story has it he had to be tranquilized on occasion for his rider to get on him.  The trainer ultimately culled him from his training barn after resolving that this horse could not be turned around or put to use for his intended purpose as a show horse at that level of competition.   I bought him for myself as somewhat of a "rescue" project.

Primary Complaint:  Emotional anxiety, washing out in foamy sweat at any reaction to stress or change in his environment, severe back pain as a result of a badly fitting saddle for an extended period of time.  History of running away with the rider and being very fractious and difficult to control, crashing through fences or jumps as opposed to jumping them,  and running through obstacles.   Very difficult animal to handle overall, very easily agitated into a panic state of mind and commonly would "check out" as a coping mechanism which became very dangerous for the riders who attempted to handle him.

Results of Treatments:  This was my very first attempt at Reiki treatments on animals.  Since he happened to be my own, I had access to being able to administer repeated treatments.  

My first observation what that this particular horse was incredibly sensitive to the Reiki treatment, so much so, that he would immediately experience a deep altered state of consciousness in an incredibly short amount of time.  At one time the animal was near completely asleep and so obviously "altered" that I was initially very surprised, even shocked.  He appeared to fade in and out of consciousness very much like a drowsy person dozes off to sleep then catches himself and starts awake again abruptly.  This occurred repeatedly through several sessions.   The eyes would glaze over and clear alternately as if his focus was constantly changing.  At one point during the treatment he was totally asleep, with nothing holding his head up except the cross ties attached to his halter.  After treatment he would display a mild type of ataxia (lack of proper motor control) or otherwise appear very "spacey" because of a very relaxed state and appear to walk as if he was drunk, dragging his toes and looking uncoordinated in general.  This corrected itself very quickly within a half hour of treatment as he "came back to" proper waking consciousness. 

It is very difficult to isolate what the most beneficial bodywork treatment was for this animal in this case study.   He was seen by an animal chiropractor on a monthly basis for chronic stiffness in his back joints, and he was also given one acupuncture treatment, combined with a completely different training regime then what he was used to.   Many many factors went into the change in this animal's overall condition.  I do think the Reiki treatments were very effective in inducing deep relaxation states so that his body was able to reestablish a healthier balance in its own time.  I am convinced however that in this individual case, his first acupuncture treatment was what produced the most radical changes that could be seen relatively quickly in comparison to the other therapies being administered.  This horse had to be approached very holistically since there were so many different problems going on with him that required different kinds of attention. 

The acupuncture treatment to my observation was most useful in creating a change in his nervous system which almost totally stopped his white lather foam sweating within a week.  It has never come back again.   I began to see sweeping changes after that over a period of time in his behavior, and in his ability to handle stress or change in his immediate environment.  After several more Reiki sessions combined with proper training techniques, he became a great deal more "present" and in his body.  His eyes no longer glazed over out of focus like they had before and his behavior became more cooperative.   The combination of bodywork therapies assisted a great deal in the process of re-training him and dealing with his behavioral "issues".  The majority of his behavioral issues were a product of coping with or responding to physical pain and fear and anxiety in my personal opinion. 

During one brief Reiki session where he was tossing his head manically ,where I was working a point along the poll behind his ears, he violently reacted and released something I am assuming of an emotional or anxiety related nature.  Ran backwards very quickly, scared himself slightly, and seemed a great deal more at ease after it was over.  It is hard to say exactly what the experience for him was... a person would no doubt have a violent physical sensation or muscular release of some kind, or its possible a recovered memory of a traumatic nature came back to him... there is no way of knowing for sure.   What is known is that with consistent training and repeated treatment, his progress was visible.  I believe that if the bodywork therapies were not given to him that the training alone would not have produced as satisfactory a result as quickly.   Even with the combination however it was not a quick fix, and will possibly be an ongoing healing process. 

The horse that three years ago could not stand still to save his life without being somewhat of a danger to his rider or handler can be ridden bareback with a halter in the arena now with a relative amount of ease in a very relaxed but playful state of mind. 

Case Study #2.

Recipient:  4 year old Thoroughbred Gelding.

Primary Complaint:  I was asked to do a treatment on this horse as a result of a manic head shaking habit which appeared to be the product of an emotional anxiety issue of some kind.  This horse was unpredictably spooky and jumpy and difficult to handle for no apparent rhyme or reason.  His breeding was such that the typical behavior of this line of horses was notorious for their difficult if not sometimes outright mean or slightly psychotic behavior.   Some of his behavior traits we believed to be genetic. 

Result of treatment:  During Treatment:   This was a very difficult horse to work on in contrast to case study number one.   Within five minutes the horse above could be easily induced into a very receptive and altered state of consciousness.  This horse however took me about two hours in his first and only treatment to even get close to achieving a state of mind where he could be receptive to the treatment.  He was incredibly trying of a handlers patience (including my own) which was also the other complaint of his owner.  

It was very difficult to know where to start on this animal's body.   He was incredibly resistant and very blocked and the majority of places I put my hand felt very "dead" in terms of the energetic field.  I ended up working almost primarily on his face and neck in the end.   I started above behind the poll since the complaint had to do with shaking his head incessantly.   In the process of standing there for a very long time trying to keep my hand behind the ear while he constantly tossed his head, my hand slipped down the side of his face to the throat area where I suddenly felt a very strong "zinging" of energy or a hot spot which I found quite by accident.  Surrendering to this area instead of behind the ears I began to work the energy here and within a short amount of time I suddenly began to see the first signs of a willingness to receive the treatment and the mild signs of a shift in his consciousness.    Gradually the head tossing lessened... his head and neck would lower and be still in conjunction with a glazing over the eyes... and then he would "wake up" again and begin shaking his head.  We went on thusly for many minutes alternating between quiet receptive half asleep moments and wide awake head tossing moments... possibly 20 minutes or so until I felt he had shifted his consciousness enough and had achieved a satisfactory relaxation state if only for a very short period of time.  I felt that with the level of anxiety this horse was carrying two hours was probably plenty for a first time session as it was not intended to have been that long in the first place.    At one point his nose was almost touching the ground and I quit with him there and let him wake up gradually on his own time, standing quietly beside him and monitoring him.    I did not tie him for this treatment, but rather let him walk circles around me  in his attempt to "get away" from my hands for the good hour and a half in the beginning.  It was a matter of "outlasting" this horse patiently instead of attempting to discipline him to stand still which previously had failed anyway. 

About two hours after treatment his owner came to me very alarmed and asked me, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HORSE?   I asked her what on earth do you mean?   His lymph glands had swollen to an alarming degree on each side of his throat.   I told her I had no idea.   We were both a little concerned and decided to watch and see what happened in an hour or two and call the vet if necessary.   She decided that whatever I had done in the course of a Reiki treatment had woken something up in his system that needed to be cleared out and that it possibly just needed to get worse before it got better.   Within two hours the swelling was gone and the horse was back to normal.  She reported after the fact that his behavior seemed improved for a very short time and the head shaking had decreased its violence but had not stopped entirely for a couple of days, but it did not last long and soon he was at it again.

I was not able to see this horse again for a repeat visit due to the fact he had been an "out of town" visit and belonged to a friend of mine I was staying with while on vacation.   This was an interesting case to post here however due to the information I was given as a follow up afterward.

It was discovered approximately three months after his treatment that this horse had been given a special fly control grain mix in his feeding program.  A class action law suit against the company had been filed from many different people due to the discovery that this chemical fly control feed was responsible apparently for creating a combination of health problems in horses.  Primarily these problems were abnormal conditions in the fertility and reproductive tracts, as well as lameness and coffin bone problems.  Also included in these abnormalities were behavioral problems in some horses.   

When the horse was taken off of the fly control grain mix, the behavior changes and improvements were drastic.   The head tossing almost totally stopped as well as his lameness problems for a short time.  He had had his coffin bones injected on at least one occasion before I administered a treatment to him.

It was speculation ONLY, but we theorized that the swelling in the lymph nodes may have been due a high degree to toxicity build up in the horse's overall system.  The Reiki treatment had most likely "flared up" the toxins in the system which may have been causing some kind of congestion in the neck and throat area creating a discomfort and the resulting head tossing.   The head tossing obviously would not have gotten any better for any length of time after the treatment since he was still being fed a feed mixture with toxins in it on a regular basis for sometime after the treatment.  

What is interesting to put forth as a consideration is that the alarming side effect of the swelling of the glands after treatment  could very well have been a red flag of sorts to alert the owner that some deeper problems in the horse's body needed to be addressed.  I do believe that Reiki can assist in the alleviation of some symptoms in some cases, but the intention is not to claim that it can heal or diagnose.  The intention is to state that it can be a pointer to other possible problems in some horses that require further follow ups from other specialists depending on the individual case.  This could be anything from training to veterinary procedures or a variety of other possibilities.  Had this side effect NOT occurred after treatment, no thought may have been given to any further investigation of what may have been ailing the animal.  His behavior may possibly have been considered a strictly behavioral problem which required further discipline techniques.  This was obviously not the case with this horse all said and done. 

Case Study #3:  

Recipient:  one week old kitten.

Primary Complaint:  The mother kitten had suddenly abandoned this little one, moving the entire litter away from it, and then showed signs of extreme aggression toward it which included:  biting violently at the kittens abdomen and acting as if it were trying to kill it.   The kitten was very distressed and crying in a way that indicated it was in some extreme discomfort or pain.  The kitten belonged to a somewhat detached owner who had a limited budget and was not inclined to spare an expense on a week old kitten at the vets office that might include expensive IV fluids and anything else of an extravagant nature.  She was sad but content to leave it to its fate.   Neither one of us had much hope of its survival and we assumed it would simply be a waiting game until it died.   Since it was not mine to make the executive decision, I called around everyone I knew who might have some advice on how to help it, and got mostly nowhere.   As a last resort, I decided to take it out to my room on a hot pad to keep it warm and attempt to administer Reiki to it as a last resort.   I had very little hope of it working to be perfectly honest.

Result of treatment:  Astounding !!!!!! 

I had to sit in meditation with this one because of the very disturbing crying of distress it was doing.   It was difficult to concentrate and work on this little patient without being in tears myself.  Achieving as detached of state a mind as possible I sat in meditation, kitten between my palms.... and remained thusly for about 15 minutes administering... nothing was changing.  I felt no indications that anything I was doing was making any difference. 

I surrendered to the fact I was probably simply going to have the poor thing all night and watch it die.  I carried it with me over to my computer in defeat, so I could try to do some work at my desk, I remained giving it Reiki on its little heating pad,  with one of my hands while the other was busy doing busy work. 

Suddenly I felt a very intense tingling sensation in my palm... a zinging, hot swirling feeling... then it went away... the kitten immediately stopped crying... and quietly fell asleep breathing normally.   I was shocked.  

Within two hours after that... we had replaced her back with the other kittens and mother, who accepted it without question and it was nursing happily.  

It is unknown whether or not the kitten would have returned to normal on its own or died.   It is known that because the mother had abandoned it and attempted to kill it initially  (and may have succeeded if we were not there to interfere) its chances were not looking very good in the beginning.  The distress lasted for probably a good three or four hours before quieting and returning to normal. 

The temperature had dropped severely.  If this alone had not been attended to, it might not have survived as it was becoming very cold to the touch and felt very close to death in my opinion.   I had resorted to a make shift heating pad by putting some rice in a sock and micro waving it for a one minute, then placing a towel between  the kitten and the sock and monitored the temperature carefully  so that it wouldn't be burned on the heating pad.  I reheated the rice as necessary and tried to keep it warm. 

I had a suspicion the problem may have been something digestive such as severe gas pain or lack of bowel movement or something else similar.  That is obviously not known for sure since its owner had not taken it in for a veterinary examination of any kind due to limited funds and no great attachment to a baby kitten that practically speaking may not have survived the veterinary treatment anyway at that young of an age.   Recalling the actions of the mother cat it is assumed the pain the kitten was experiencing was in the abdominal area as that is where the mother cat was biting aggressively at it, trying to puncture its abdomen with its teeth. 

It is now living with its new adopted owner, one of the friends of my then room-mate's daughter.