"You see? I knew it. I'm psycho."

This quote came courtesy of a waiter at a Moroccan restaurant last year when we were celebrating my sister’s birthday. It’s something Valarie and I love to mockingly recite now and then. But what I really want to write about is my cat Ruthie’s visit today with a pet psychic, Faye Pietrokowski.

I had an assignment to take Faye’s picture last week for a small paper I work with regularly as a photographer. We had a little mix-up about where and when we were meeting, so in return Faye offered to give Ruthie a free reading.

Now, I know some surely will approach the very idea of a pet psychic with skepticism. But I choose to believe, because if Faye is right, her advice can be helpful, and if she’s wrong, there’s no harm done.

As it happens, the pet psychic had some interesting insight, some of which could be chalked up to common sense, of course, but not all of it. Ruthie is very emotionally attached to us, Faye says, but our cat is still getting to know us. Affection has to be on her terms, which probably results from some bad episode that predated Ruthie’s coming to us as a stray with a collar—in other words either an escapee or refugee from a previous home. That’s what I was told in response to a question about why Ruthie kneads almost maniacally on my chest in the middle of the night, yet won’t come to my lap when I call for her.

Faye also emphasized how cats understand far more than you'd ever rightfully expect. I knew Valarie and I connect with Ruthie on some level, especially when it has to do with food or playing, but it never really occurred to me that our cat actually understands English. But Faye says we should assume that is actually the case. I have sometimes kind of cringed when owners talk to their pets as if they were human, kind of like I do with people who can only read by saying the words outloud to themselves. But at least in the privacy of my own home I may be joining the pet-talkers' ranks.

So many of us think of our pets as children—minus most of the crying and whining, of course. Faye’s advice reinforced the notion that Valarie’s and my bond with Ruthie is strong. Could I have figured that out on my own? Yeah, but I really treasure her insight.

I wonder how Faye would have reacted to the other photo assignment I had this week, in which I visited a farm outside Salem that serves as a sanctuary for mistreated or neglected farm animals: horses, goats, lamas, sheep, geese. I'll bet there are some harrowing stories to be told, if people were willing and able to listen.

Comments

[Rose]

Fascinating. I hold conversations with my dog, and I swear she understands me. I'd love to hear what Faye would tell us about Nina. How much is a reading? What did Faye do in order to get the reading, did she do the Vulcan Mind Meld or what?

[Brian]

Faye charges $30 for a 15-minute reading. Per hour that's a high rate, but she says 15 minutes is plenty. I definitely recommend it, even if you don't wind up believing all she says.

[Carrie Gene]

I love your site. It´s really a pleasure to read through all this interesting stuff and it home.