“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude,

then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”

–James Herriot

Animals show love by grooming and licking us. Photo by why.do

Animals add so much to our lives! We enjoy their companionship and protection, and they provide us with entertainment from time to time. And while their behavior can amuse us, touch us, or elude us, animals are so much more than their behaviors. Like humans, animals have personalities, souls and emotions, and among those emotions that bless our lives most are love and loyalty. Animals show us a lot of their inner emotions through their behavior: a wagging tail conveys a dog’s happiness, a continuous purr denotes a cat’s contentment, flapping wings convey a bird’s excitement, and so on. And love and loyalty are no different. Our companion animals show both in some very common behaviors, including:

• Remaining at your side when you’re sick
• Being silly to entertain you if you’re down
• Posturing to protect you from potential threats
• Licking, nuzzling or grooming you
• Climbing in your lap or on your shoulder to comfort you
• Running up to or climbing onto you happily when you come home or wake up
• Sharing their toys, latest kills, or even partially digested food with you

Animals show love and loyalty staying by our sides when sick. Photo courtesy of Reddit.com

I’m sure you can point to several instances where your pets displayed love or loyalty to you—or both. Sometimes these instances happen so often that we may even take them for granted. We show our love and loyalty to animals in caring for and spending time with them—and, honestly, sometimes letting them take over our beds so there’s barely any room for us to sleep. But don’t forget to tell your pets that you love them regularly. Because they live in a sensory world, they can feel and sense the energy with which you speak to them even when the words don’t compute.

Want to find out more about what your pet is thinking or feeling? Book a reading with me.