In this episode, Dr. Cari Wise discusses the concept of reincarnation in relation to pets, a subject that may be difficult for those who adhere strictly to scientific reasoning. While she values the scientific method, she recognizes that some of life’s most beautiful experiences lie beyond the realm of rational understanding. This insight has led her to embrace experiences that are not easily categorized or explained.
She underscores the inherent uncertainty in the practice of medicine. While veterinarians can provide diagnoses and treatments, they cannot guarantee outcomes. This uncertainty also applies to the concepts of reincarnation and the continuity of energy after death. She encourages her audience to consider the possibility of reincarnation, particularly in light of their own experiences with pets.
She challenges the traditional view of life as a linear progression from birth to death. She posits that energy is neither created nor destroyed but merely changes forms. This perspective opens the possibility of reincarnation for both humans and animals. She encourages her listeners to remain open to the idea that they may encounter animals that evoke memories of those they have lost, suggesting that these experiences could be more than mere coincidence.
Key takeaways include:
- The episode discusses reincarnation in pets, appealing to those open to non-scientific views.
- Dr. Wise encourages open-mindedness towards experiences that challenge scientific reasoning, suggesting energy transformation.
- The podcast advocates for balancing scientific knowledge with intuitive understanding in veterinary practice and life.
- Dr. Wise urges listeners to trust their instincts and beliefs despite potential external judgment.
- The episode concludes by encouraging recognition of life’s rich experiences beyond conventional understanding and sharing personal stories.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
This transcript is auto-generated and may contain typos.
Hi there. I’m Doctor Cari Wise, veterinarian, certified life coach, and certified quantum human design specialist. If you’re a veterinary professional looking to uplevel your life and your career, or maybe looking to go in an entirely new direction, then what I talk about here on the Joyful DVM podcast is absolutely for you. Let’s get started. Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the Joyful DVM podcast. This is one of those episodes where if you are firmly set in your left brain, logical, scientific mind, you might not enjoy what we’re going to be talking about today, because I’m going to be talking about some things that are a little bit on the woo side, if you will, and specifically talking about the idea of reincarnation when it comes to our pets.
So how on earth did we get here? Well, you know that I like to share a lot of my own experiences, and having been in vet med for now, over half of my life somehow, but it is true. There are many things that I have seen that I can’t explain with just my logical, scientific brain. Now, believe me, my brain really likes science. It likes logic. It likes to be able to explain the things that I see and the things that I experienced.
But what I’ve really come to realize is that the most fascinating and beautiful things in this world actually exist without explanation. And the more that we try to control and explain, the more that we ruin the experience for ourselves. Now, over the last year, I’ve gotten to know a particular client. So not in any kind of personal way, but just through them coming into our clinic. And this is one of those clients that you just really enjoy the energy of.
Have you ever had a client like that, that you’ve just kind of connected with the moment that they walked in? And it’s not because of anything they said or anything that they did. It’s just simply because of the way that they are, the way that their being shows up. Those kinds of clients I have really come to enjoy as I’ve grown older. And it’s just, they’re not even just clients, right?
So you can meet these kinds of people in any kind of situation, or at least I do, where it’s almost like your souls recognize each other. And so this particular client, when this person came into our practice, not only did I have that sense of just expansion around this person, so this sense of just a very deep joy and light that just emanated from them, but my staff recognized that as well.
And so right away, this person became a one of those clients that we just kind of cherished now, they didn’t necessarily get any kind of special treatment, and there really wasn’t anything spectacular that we did differently at all. There was nothing that we did differently at all in regard to the service that we provided. But there was just something different about this particular client, and we all sensed it.
So, as fate would have it, this particular client’s dog, whose name was Lucy, started limping all of a sudden. And Lucy was an older dog, so a senior dog. And unfortunately, Lucy was diagnosed with a bone tumor. You guys know how this ends. So when it comes to those kinds of cancers, especially if they’re advanced, especially if you’re looking at pathologic fractures, there’s not a lot of options for us as far as prolonging life now we can for a while.
And, of course, all of those things were talked about and decisions were made by this client in the way that was best for the client and for the pet from their perspective, which is always what we want, right. Give the best information, let the client decide. And so the time came that Lucy passed on. Now, of course, this client was devastated because this client had had Lucy for Lucy’s entire life.
And even though the client was devastated, and we were as well, not only for the loss of Lucy, but for the client, because of just the nature of the client, it was also something that was probably going to be inevitable, because this was not a young dog. So, you know, unfortunately, our companion animals don’t live forever. So we know that these things are going to happen. We know this is part of what we do.
And so the loss of this pet was very sad for all of us. And it was several months later when this client showed up with another dog. This dog’s name was Molly, at least it was initially. And from the first day that this dog came into our client’s life, they started paying attention to the way that it behaved, the things that it did, the little nuanced things that show the personality of the dog itself.
And what they shared with us in that initial visit and every visit since then was how much that that dog was like Lucy, not just because they were similar breeds, but in the little things that most people wouldn’t notice. And our client was convinced that Lucy had come back as Molly. Now, many of you hear that and you’re probably shaking your heads and you’re thinking, oh, it’s just nonsense.
They’re just similar breeds. They’re going to have similar traits. People see what they want to see, and by all means, if that’s what you believe, then hang on to that. I have no problem with that. I, however, am not one of those people. And so, as our client shared these things with us, you could see their hesitancy to share it because they were afraid that we would reject the idea, that we would dismiss it, that we would chastise them or judge them for what they thought.
And that was not the experience that we gave them at all. We didn’t say yes or no, right? We said, who knows? We don’t know how this whole thing works. And if you believe it’s possible, then believe it’s possible. I think I probably did go as far as to share my own perspective, which is, yeah, I do believe it is possible. And so, as the months went on with this, what was so fascinating was that from the date from day one, when this dog was a puppy, it responded to the name Lucy, when its name was Molly.
Now, I know those names are very similar, but it didn’t respond in a way that a new puppy learning new behaviors responds to anything. It responded in a way that a seasoned senior dog, adult dog would respond. And it was fascinating to watch. And as I watched the interaction between this puppy and this owner, it was such a beautiful experience because the owner already had so much joy about this puppy.
And then it also had this stacking of memories of the pet that they had lost. And it was so beautiful to see it come together and to see how over the months, as this puppy has continued to grow, how the personality traits have continued to show themselves, if you will. Now, again, I know some of you are going to argue, well, it’s the same owner, the same training.
Of course they’re going to act the same way. And by all means, if that’s really where you want to plant your heels, that’s completely fine. My reason for sharing this is to remind us that we don’t know how everything works, that in medicine, we want to try to control as much as we can, and we can say, okay, this is the diagnosis, this is the treatment, this is the prognosis.
But at the end of the day, it’s just the practice of medicine, and we can’t guarantee any outcome in any situation. So if we can’t guarantee any outcome in any situation, from a medical perspective, how can we guarantee the existence or lack of existence in any situation either? I just don’t think we have enough information. I don’t think that we ever will. And I think a lot of this comes down to faith in what you believe and what you’re willing to consider.
And so if you’ve been raised and brought up and taught in a very strict set of what life is about and what death is about and what is possible and what happens afterwards, then these kinds of conversations might make you feel a little bit uncomfortable, and they may just be completely dismissed. And that’s cool. Like I said, you do you, whatever works for you. In this case, for me, with this client who already had such a very interesting and inviting and warm energy about them, this was not a surprise at all.
That this could happen, I think, is possible, and that it would happen with somebody like that makes perfect sense, because this is somebody who, from the state of being, a human in our human world, is just so much bigger than that. And I don’t mean bigger in the state in the way that we would think about bigger as far as external accomplishments or wealth or status or anything like that.
I just mean bigger from a soul perspective, from a light perspective. Just a powerful, powerful being. And just such genuine and authentic kindness is the way this person is wired. If you will so fast forward to several weeks ago, or maybe we need to back up, like, five years. It’s kind of interesting. Which way do we want to go with this? Not even five years. Three years. Many of you know that I shared in a podcast about the sudden loss of my own cat named Willow.
And there’s a podcast episode called losing Willow. And you can go back and find that if you want to hear that story. But the short version of that story is that Willow, who was a very young cat, three and a half year old cat, went from fine on a Thursday to dead on a Monday from complete bone marrow collapse and bleeding out, like, everywhere, with no clinical signs, any problems whatsoever.
That alerted me at all in advance. It was a disaster as far as something to experience. It was horrific. It was sad. It was devastating. And I shared about that in that episode of losing Willow, and I’ve also shared since then my grief process with that and the adoption of two more cats not very long after losing Willow and how I was able to do that. So now let’s fast forward to where we are now.
So, y’all know that I’m kind of a crazy cat lady, and I already have three calico cats. And, you know, most people are like, one calico is enough, and three is a little bit insane. And so why not add four, right? So here we are a few weeks into the adoption of another calico cat. And this cat, when I saw this cat, it was a kitten, I should say four or five month old kitten.
There was just something about the kitten that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, something about its personality, something about the way that it looked at me when I looked at it in the cage. And I thought, that cat just needs to go home with me. And I ran it by my husband, who, you know, bless his heart, he’s got a heart of gold, and he’s always so up for whatever I bring when it comes to the animals.
And so he’s like, you know, whatever you think, I’ll leave that decision to you. And so I bring this kitten home, and my interactions with her had already started to have, like, the hair standing up on the back of my neck because of some of the things that she did, the little personality traits that she had, the way that she interacted with me. And I thought, wow, this kitten really reminds me of willow in ways that the other cats don’t.
And I didn’t say anything to my husband about this at all. I just let him kind of get to know her in her own way. And I watched as she went up to him willingly without being invited, and climbed up on him the way that Willow used to do and all these little crazy things that she was starting to do, and it wasn’t. But maybe a day later, he’s like, is this willow?
And I literally laughed out loud when he said that. And I said, what do you mean? Like, I didn’t have any idea what he was talking about. And he said, this is almost creepy how much this cat is like willow. And I said, I know. It is, isn’t it? And so we’ve had that conversation a few times since then, and both of us have tripped up and called this new cat, which we have named Confetti.
We’ve called her all the nicknames that we used to call Willow, and that’s okay. That we have. And I think what is so fascinating about this entire situation is just how impactful it is when you come across an energy, a being, an animal. In this case, that is so similar to something that you already know. And I think that brings into question the finite nature of life that we often talk about.
You live and then you die, and that is all. And for years, I have myself questioned whether that is true. I don’t think that it is true, quite honestly. Like I said, this is going to go into a little bit of woo, a little bit beyond what we typically talk about here on the Joyful DVM podcast. But I personally don’t believe that life is as simple as that.
You’re born and you live, and then you die. I believe that energy is neither created nor destroyed. It just changes forms. Many of us have learned that in our scientific teachings. And so why not the energy of life as well? It’s neither created nor destroyed. It just changes forms. So why couldn’t we come back and do it all again? And why isn’t that the same for animals? So, as I recall that situation with the client, in his experience with his dog Lucy, to then the new Molly version, which he has since changed her name to Lucy as well.
I consider the same thing when I look at Confetti and I think about Willow, and I see so much in the merging of those spirits, of the similarities. Are they identical 100% of the time? No, not at all. But if you were doing anything a second time, would you do it exactly the same way? We don’t right now? Right. There’s many things that we do time and time again, and we make slight adjustments and shifts, yet it’s still always you doing it.
So I think it’s interesting to consider and something for you who are. Who have had many pets of your own, who have a lot of years of veterinary medicine under your belt, I want you to consider, just open up yourself to the idea of, have you experienced this? Have you witnessed this yourself? Because I suspect that you probably have. That there have been those situations where you’ve come across an animal and a client that have struck you in a way that is different than the way that other people strike you.
That perhaps you’ve had clients who’ve had experiences with multiple pets and where the pet that follows or a pet down the road that follows is so similar to one they had before, and maybe that’s even happened for you. And what I want to encourage you with this episode to consider is to not just dismiss that quickly, to not just let your left sided, logical, scientific brain define your experiences as a human.
Because although our culture puts so much emphasis on scientific knowledge and advances and figuring it all out and knowing exactly why things happen, the more that we advance that side, the more we are shrinking the right side brain, the creative side, the inspirational side, the intuitive side that just knows things. And it is the balance of the two that actually will provide you with the most enriched life and career.
So the next time your spidey senses go off, you have this little intuitive hit about something. Allow yourself to consider. Then perhaps that is just as valuable of information as all of your diagnostic testing in the world. Don’t dismiss what your gut instinct is simply because science can’t explain it yet. My friends, this world and our life experiences, and our experiences with these pets that we have the opportunity to interact with is so much bigger than we understand.
And that is why this is called the practice of medicine. Because there will never be a point that it becomes perfection. There will never be a point that we know it all and we’re not supposed to. What we know continues to change and evolve and expand. And we can consider that that’s not just from a scientific aspect, but that’s from a life aspect as well. So, like I said, don’t dismiss all those little gut instincts, those intuitive hits, those opportunities, and those moments where you just think that you see something beyond what you see.
There’s no reason why that’s not true. And what stops us so often from even allowing ourselves to consider the possibility is the fear of an opinion of somebody who knows that you’re considering that possibility. It is our fear of judgment, once again, that holds us back from diving into things that interest us. It holds us back from expressing our true opinions, our true beliefs. It restricts us from living authentically as who we are.
And here’s the thing about judgment. You can’t outrun it. Everybody judges everybody else. That’s just part of the human experience. And so instead of trying so hard to avoid being judged, how about just leaning into the truth, which is that you’re gonna be judged. But as long as you are comfortable with you, as long as you are comfortable with what you believe in, and you’re comfortable with whatever you opinions you have, and the way that you show up in the world, it’s okay for everybody else to believe whatever they want to believe.
And believe me, I know that by putting out this episode, there are going to be many people who hear it, who judge me for it, who are going to have really negative opinions about what I have to say, who are going to be dismissive. There may be even some people who decide to unsubscribe from the podcast and stop following joyful DVM altogether. Because I’ve tread into this territory, and I’m here for all of it.
Because there’s so many things in my life that I have learned are just easier and way more fun to embrace than all of the effort that ever went into trying to be accepted and trying to be perfect. And the more that I can show up authentically as who I am with everything that I believe, the more I hope that gives you permission to do the same as well.
Because when it all comes down to it. Our only purpose in this lifetime is to be who we are. And that includes to believe what we believe, to share from our hearts and to show up as our authentic selves. Because when we do that, everybody else benefits. So whatever weird experiences that you’ve had in this veterinary profession. I want you to know that you had those experiences on purpose.
And if you are interested in sharing those experiences, then I encourage you to share them. When those opportunities come up. I encourage you to start to pay attention to what is happening beyond what is logical in this world. Because there is so much more to this life experience. Than what we commonly pay attention to in the. When you start to notice everything else that’s going on around you.
You’ll start to see just how little importance some of the most stressful things really have. All right, my friends, just something to ponder this week. I’ll see you soon. Bye for now.