Animals and Karma

[Shiftkitty]

It has been speculated that animals can reincarnate. If they do, do animals also answer to karma? If the purpose of reincarnation is to "get it right" or to make up for past spiritual errors, what purpose can an animal, not knowing right and wrong (as we believe), have to reincarnate?

I have read that a beloved pet might reincarnate to be with a human companion with whom there was a deep bond. But the cat that has prompted this query is not one that I recognize on the spiritual level. he also has me wondering if what has happened to him has anything to do with karma.

To begin, "Notch" was an older cat who found a ready supply of food and fresh water at our house. He never tamed down enough for us to get near him, but he knew he was safe in our yard. After a few years of this tattered old cat of hanging around, he brought a friend along, a very tattered, limping little grey tabby with one eye.

"Scruffy" would always show up along with Notch and Notch would stand guard while Scruffy got some food. Finally, Notch showed up one last time, looking quite healthy. We think he found a home. His fur was clean, his tatters were healing, and he looked in good shape. Scruffy, on the other hand, looked like something the cat dragged in, and that may have been the truth! His fur was dry, his whiskers were stiff and wiry, and he walked with a pronounced limp on both of his front legs and his hip. One eye was in such bad shape that we thought it was missing. It was, however, present and sunken back.

To make a long story short, Scruffy has benefitted from the food and water. His eye is healing, his fur has gotten soft and silky, and his whiskers have a perkier, healthier look. He is still a young cat, probably just starting his 6th month of life, but whatever happened in those first months, Scruffy has been through Hell. We can see where breaks on his front legs healed badly. We have no idea what happened to his eye, but we doubt it will ever come back 100%. His hip has gotten better, but some days he still limps. And... he is a petting junkie! We can't pass through the doorway without Scruffy demanding a good petting, and these days he never leaves the yard. Our next step is to get him indoors and then to a vet for a good check up.

So if animals reincarnate, are they exempt from karma? If karma and reincarnation are inextricably linked, what could a cat have done to merit such a rough start?

 

[Nightrain]

If karma and reincarnation are inextricably linked, what could a cat have done to merit such a rough start?

Your story of Notch and Scruffy is heartwarming and gives further cause to also question how we view our animal cousins. When I was just a little guy I loved animals, yet I regarded them as nothing more than objects of my love rather than the deeply entwined souls that they are. I think that the majority of people treat animals and even other people in the same narcissistic way that I did as a child. The cattle in the field, the chickens in the yard and the pigs in the pen are here to serve our needs and to fill our plates. Our dogs and cats are here to give us company and make us laugh. And even our neighbors are here to provide us with security and a common goal. Yet, we also become emotionally attached to these "objects" in ways that spiritually affect us and cause us to learn and evolve as souls.


The fact that Scruffy had such a rough start strikes me as no different than the many millions of people who have had it even worse. Yet, does the fact that Scruffy is considered a lower form of mammal make it any less accessible to the laws of Karma? Alas, what have any of us done to merit such a rough start? Perhaps nothing. We all suffer in one way or another. But is suffering necessarily the result of mistakes that we've made in the past? Is suffering all bad? Pain, after all, helps us to appreciate those moments when we feel really good. Loss helps us to appreciate what we have. Abuse helps us to appreciate those who show us love.


Karma, in my opinion, is not so much a law as a fundamental process in which we all share—along with animals and all living things, which may even include inanimate objects and maybe dark matter and even consciousness, itself. But, as human beings we are not fully equipped to include all things within our conscious comprehension; and, therefore tend to exclude certain things from our compassion. So, as a result, we tend to keep our livestock, pets and neighbors in their place while thinking that Karma, spirituality and compassion only belongs to us. Ours is naturally an ego-centered world and it is only from our own eyes that we see the world. So, as long as we define a word like "Karma" within the limited scope of our physical world, we will only understand the personal physical aspect of that word.

 

[smith07]

All my life I have been more or less indifferent to animals. I Used to think they are around to help us and keep us company. About 10 years ago my wife wanted to get a cat. I have had cats before, all outside cats, she wanted an inside cat so we got a male Siamese (Leesue, my middle name is Lee her's is Sue, her idea : angel). About a year later she wanted to get another one to keep Leesue company. We wanted to get him from an old vet who she knew, same place where we got Leesue. He would let his pair have one litter per year so we had to wait till the next year. We finally got him, she had picked out his name months earlier, Genghis. Got him home and were playing with him on the bed and after a little while he started to pee on the bed. We had put down papers beside the bed but I wasn't quick enough. Turned out it was just a tiny spot. I kinda of laughed and said I think he likes us and he 'marked his spot'.


I didn't realize how true that statement was. 'His spot' is at the foot of the bed on my side. I have hardly ever felt so close to another creature, animals and most humans, in my life. He has slept at the foot of the bed on my side ever since and as Leesue took to my wife, Genghis is my cat. Genghis looks at me and meows in different ways like he is trying to talk to me, I'll talk back to him. I am sure we have had a past connection in another life and will be together in a future incarnation .

 

[Cryscat]

I suspect that some animal souls might have something like karma to deal with. I remember reading a story a while ago about a women and her house cat. This cat was a large one and very attached and protective of her. They had a strong bond. Well the women started having some weird dreams about being attacked by a lion in an arena and went to a psychic to get help. She was told that she had been a Christian in Rome and had been thrown in the arena to die. She was killed by a Lion and the soul of that lion had reincarnated into her house cat to "make up" for having to kill her in that past life. The lion soul apparently felt remorse for the killing.


I don't remember where I read this, but I thought it was interesting and it sprung into my mind when I found this post.

 

[crystal_44]

I do believe that animals can reincarnate, and they may very well be subject to karma as well. Growing up, I had a beloved cat with whom I shared a very strong bond. She passed away 5 years ago this month. Oddly enough, several months after my cat had passed, my husband brought home a baby rabbit. It did not take long for me to notice similar personality traits and habits between my new rabbit and my cat that had passed. Sadly, my rabbit passed away several weeks ago, and in a very similar manner to how my cat had. I look back on the similarities in their lives, and in the strength of bond we shared, and I can't see how they were not one and the same. I am comforted by the thought that we will be reunited from life to life. I agree with Nightrain, that humans are so self-centered we can't see the forest for the trees, as it were. We often miss the big picture.

 

[Iseke]

I think animals have many choices to make, same as we do, although what those choices are and the way in which those choices play out may be different.


If we as souls are here to experience, and the collection of those experiences results in karma (or the energetic effect of our choices), then absolutely animals answer to karma.


I very strongly believe that animals have souls, animals reincarnate, and that souls can incarnate in whatever form they choose in any given lifetime. I know not everyone does, and since we mostly look at the human side of things most of the time it doesn't come up. But I really agree with Nightrain's thoughts on this; we tend to see only what is relevant to us and make the mistake of assuming there is nothing else to see.


I've known too many cats and have too many stories to not think there's as much spirituality there as there is in my own life.

 

[Ankhesenamun]

I don't think karma is necessarily about having done something wrong, and having to "correct" any mistakes. Karma is cause and effect, so it can be about learning, teaching, and healing. I believe animals are perfect as they are and therefore do not "do wrong" as such, but maybe they get reincarnated to keep us loving company - and to continue to join us on our journeys through earthly lives? It sure is an interesting question, wish I had the answer.

 

[Shiftkitty]

I know this is a very old thread, but I just realized that Scruffy's fate may still be unknown to you guys.


Scruffy is sharing his second Christmas with us as an indoor house-cat. He is still a petting-junkie, and if he doesn't know where I am he will start howling and yowling until he sees me or hears me. He is very prone to massive twitches when he sleeps. One was so bad he actually shot straight up more than half his body length without waking up. I had to shake him a little to wake him up to see if he was all right. He just looked at me like "What?" and went back to sleep. His wounded eye has recovered farther than anyone would have thought and he can open it part-way. Yes, he got his binocular vision back!


He wanted to go out yesterday, where he hasn't been for two years or so. Yeah. I guess he had forgotten how noisy and scary it was! He wanted right back!


He's demanding breakfast right now, so I suppose I'd better hop to it before he starts his "poor me!" look. I wither under it every time!