A couple of weeks ago, my cat Fritz began talking to me. After a lifetime of silence, his comments were surprisingly ordinary: among other things, he mentioned that he’s not very fond of the kibble he eats on a regular basis and would prefer to be on a more nutritious diet. He also said that he would appreciate it if I got him a better scratching post, one that he could really stretch out his back on.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that Fritz was not speaking directly to me, but through Maleah Jacobs, an animal communicator who specializes in two-way telepathy with critters. For $100 an hour, Jacobs will "check in" with a pet to see how it's feeling, what it's thinking about, and help it work through any special behavioral issues it might be dealing with — all over the phone.
If only Fido could talk ...
If you’ve ever wondered what Fido or Fluffy would say if only they could talk, you’re not alone. As people’s obsession with their animals continues to grow, thousands are turning to pet psychics or animal communicators who are cashing in on the craze.
The popularity of Animal Planet’s “The Pet Psychic,” starring Sonya Fitzpatrick, which debuted in 2002, is just the tip of the iceberg. A quick Google search turns up a bevy of Web sites offering psychic phone consultations for animals and their owners. Got a passive aggressive Pekinese who won’t stop going to the bathroom on the living-room rug? How about an angry parrot that screeches obscenities at every guest who enters the house? Or what about a crazed retriever that attacks fellow canines at the dog park? Maybe a chat with a pet psychic will do the trick …
Or maybe not, depending on who you ask. On the one side of the issue are devoted clients thrilled to finally get a glimpse into the private world of their pets. On the other side are skeptics who say pet psychics are no better than the average fortune teller out to make a buck. In the middle are the vast majority of people who think it’s all just a bit too kooky and don’t know quite what to believe.
'Not a pied piper'
Regardless of the strange looks she gets when asked what she does for a living, Jacobs takes her work seriously and appears to genuinely believe in what she does. The daughter of a veterinarian, Jacobs, 36, has a background in counseling and also worked in advertising before she went full-time as an animal communicator five years ago. Now, she does phone consultations with clients around the world and teaches animal communication workshops.
Jacobs also does occasional consulting work for zoos and animal sanctuaries, and has "talked" to a range of animals from elephants, zebras and dolphins to gorillas and grizzly bears. She says her telepathic abilities are "not a gift" but something that anyone can do if they only quiet their minds long enough to hear what their animals are saying. "I'm not a pied piper ... I'm not special or anything like that."
So how exactly do animals communicate with her? According to Jacobs, they use pictures and images as well as physical sensations. "When I close my eyes, I'll see an image of the animal in my mind's eye and they'll show me whether or not they like their food, where they might be hurting. They'll show me the people in their lives, scenarios, situations, and then typically all of those things will be paired with some kind of emotion."
A routine session usually begins after the pet owner first e-mails Jacobs a photo of the animal along with basic information, such as the pet's name, age, sex, breed, how long the animal has lived in the home and other pets it lives with. She also asks the main reason for the consultation, usually a behavioral or health problem.
Telephonic telepathy
Like most pet psychics, Jacobs makes very few house calls. Instead, these telepathic consultations usually take place with Jacobs lying on her bed at home where she says she can work better. "When I'm alone on the phone, I'm much more centered and grounded and can get the information clearer and quicker."
Jacobs says that just like people, different animals have different communication styles. Some, such as dogs, cats or birds, have a more rapid pace of communication while "cows and the slower-moving animals more typically have a more grounded type of energy" and can take longer to pass along information. In contrast, zebras tend to be more aggressive. Go figure ...
Like many animal communicators, Jacobs has built up a loyal following. Amy Chang, 34, and her dog, Mica, met Jacobs at an animal shelter fundraiser in Seattle. "I realized that my dog all of a sudden had a lot to say to her," says Chang. "Mica started talking to her and she offered a free session. [After the consultation], it took me three days to process the information because it was so uncanny and accurate and she didn't know us."
After several more sessions, Chang learned that Mica was profoundly unhappy with the apartment where they were living, which was under construction, and wanted to move. "After that, I started looking for other places to live," says Chang, who recently relocated to a new building where she thinks Mica seems more relaxed.
An elaborate psychological ruse?
While clients like Chang swear by Jacobs' telepathic readings, others say pet psychics are simply performing a new version of an elaborate psychological ruse that's been around for centuries.
Pat Linse, co-founder of the Skeptics Society, says psychics use a skill called "cold reading" to convince clients they have some sort of supernatural ability to know things or predict the future.
"Cold reading" relies on the fact that most people generally want to believe on some level that the psychic actually has telepathic powers. Through a complex routine, the psychic subtly coaxes information and cues out of the client, and offers the material back in the form of insights. The client, who doesn't recall offering the details, is amazed that the psychic seems to know so much about them.
Researchers who study psychics generally divide them into two categories: open-eyed psychics and closed-eyed psychics. Open-eyed psychics have no illusions that what they're doing is nothing more than a psychological routine. In contrast, closed-eyed psychics are usually highly intuitive types who genuinely believe they have telepathic powers. They've learned how to do cold readings without consciously trying.
A little unnerving
During a consultation, most people more often remember the hits and forget the misses or vague references, research shows. For instance, Linse explains, "The psychic says, 'I see water.' This is really vague. It could be anything — a river, a lake, the ocean, a glass of water. But the person says, 'That's weird. My Uncle Mel drowned last year.' They walk away thinking, 'How did the psychic know about my Uncle Mel?'"
According to Linse, animal communicators have an added advantage over ordinary psychics. "Pet psychics work like regular psychics except that it's easier. There's never any disconfirming evidence because the animal can't talk."
Whatever method is being used, Linse says, readings by pet psychics usually turn out to be more about the owner than the animal. That was certainly the case for Fritz and me. According to Jacobs, my little black cat was sending her all kinds of information about my life and the various people in it. Fortunately, most of it was good, but it was still a little unnerving, if only because a lot of it was so accurate.
After the consultation, which lasted for more than an hour, I hung up the phone and stared at Fritz, who had been asleep in my lap the whole time. He stared back at me with his usual nonchalant cat look. For a second I thought I was going nuts. Was he really transmitting all that information and "talking" to Jacobs? And what else was going on in that feline brain of his?
I'll never know for sure, but, just in case, I stopped by the pet store the next day and bought him a better scratching post like he said he wanted.