Can Your Pet Speak With You From the Afterlife?

My dog and I communicate well. He has a strong vocabulary, expressive ears, and body language that says everything from “play with me” to “you’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

Still, I find myself in situations where none of these tactics translate — something all too common for pet parents. Beyond an elaborate series of buttons and learning the language of tail-wagging, I have to wonder:

What if we could communicate with our pets in another way?

That’s what one woman sought to do, quitting her job as a property lawyer and pursuing a career as a full-time pet psychic. The move, it turns out, was wildly successful.

The property lawyer turned TikTok-famous animal psychic

After one year of research, Nikki quit a job where she earned $75k a year. She was confident in her ability to talk to animals, which increased her happiness and income.

Nikki Vasconez claims to discover animals' personalities, needs, and even opinions by communicating telepathically. Cats, dogs, pigs, birds, and bearded dragons are among her clients, with whom she sees images and hears phrases that give her insights for their owners. A significant part of her work is with animals who have passed away.

At the time of publishing, Nikki has 300k followers on TikTok, where she promotes her services. Her business took off, with $350 an-hour sessions and a waitlist in the thousands. She even offers workshops where she teaches owners how to develop these skills.

Why do people go to pet psychics?

A psychic is someone who claims to use extrasensory abilities, such as telepathy, to gain insights that are not so clear to non-psychics.

You may be familiar with personalities like John Edward and Theresa Caputo, who appear on TV and in live tours. They have provided health insights and closure from the great beyond to many people. They’ve also had plenty of skeptics.

Wouldn't it be nice to ask our furry friends basics like their preferred food or favorite toy? An even bigger help would be locating a missing pet, knowing why they’re not eating, or feeling supported when grieving a loss. Nikki isn’t alone in her efforts.

For example, a psychic in Montreal is known for finding lost humans and pets. Recently, a Bolivian airline hired a pet psychic to recover a woman's lost emotional support cat. Comedian Chelsea Handler even took her dogs to a pet psychic.

Does speaking with your dog seem far-fetched?

A lot of the same criticisms exist for psychics, mediums, and clairvoyants focused on pets as those for humans. Context clues like a cat's name, a dog's age, or the owner’s reason for coming to them can inspire vague yet reasonable observations. Are these good guesses or strong intuition? Are happy customers experiencing confirmation bias?

Whether you're a believer or not certainly boils down to personal values and worldview in general. While some people turn to psychologists and therapists for their own troubles, others are apt to call up a psychic instead. Just as there are people who doubt the existence of otherworldly phenomena, there are others who place strong credence in it.

Nikki has shared stories of her successes, like helping a cat's owner discover a tooth abscess their vet had ruled out.  This was later confirmed via X-ray (and later, the cat's pain relief), but she still hears plenty of skepticism from her critics.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t believers, though. Ellen Lance, a popular pet communicator, wowed pet owners with her insights, some of whom discovered a new respect for her profession.

Is it divine, delusion, or beyond intuition?

Hearing owners express their gratitude over a found pet can make it hard to resist the "what ifs." It may be convincing enough for you to give it a go.

Maybe you’ve had a surprising tarot reading and never considered using these services with your pet. Maybe, you’re still a skeptic.

These psychics seem to give pet parents a heightened understanding of their animals or even a sense of relief from pets no longer with us. We can't endorse these services or suggest you spend money on them. It will likely be more useful to take your pet to a reputable trainer if they're experiencing behavioral problems, or their vet if something seems off health-wise.

However, something positive has emerged from this newfound pet psychic popularity. It demonstrates an overall cultural shift in pet parenthood and what it means to care for an animal. Proof that pet moms and dads want to show their dogs love and understand their cats in more meaningful ways.

So call it wishful thinking, daydreaming, or a true thing. In any case, the idea is certainly intriguing.

Interested in more otherworldly insights? Find out if you and your pup are a perfect astrological match.

Dylan M. Austin is a highly caffeinated writer and creator in Seattle. When offline, he's hanging out with his Chihuahua Terrier rescue, Will, and adding to his increasingly excessive houseplant collection.