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Meet Julie-Anne - Soul Activator for cat guardians
Hi, my name is Julie-Anne and I am a Soul Activator for cat guardians, empath, author and cat mum to Leo and Baby Max.
When I was younger I was frequently labelled as a ‘grumpy teenager’ because I was quiet, withdrawn, observing and at times reactive. I didn’t realise that I was an over-stimulated, overwhelmed, empath and introvert. I didn’t feel like I belonged and felt incredibly misunderstood. That is, until I found cats.
My parents, aunties and grandparents have always had cats (nothing against dogs but we were, and still are, a cat family). Cringe at the kid picture below, I’m the one next to Sam the cat. Don’t you just love our matching outfits!
It all began with Pickle
So I’m not going to walk you through my whole life, but let’s pick it up again after I finished University and I got my very own cat – Pickle. And my goodness did she rock my world. She was 4 years old, found as a stray by a rescue centre, had stripes above her eyes that made her look perpetually grumpy and was my everything.
Sadly she was also incredibly poorly with diabetes, gingivitis, pancreatitis, arthritis, dandruff, and more. During our 13 years together I was incredibly driven to do the best for her that I could which led me to train in a range of holistic and complementary therapies and modalities.
These included a cat care, welfare and behaviour diploma, feline zoopharmacognosy (aka self-selection) diploma, animal healing diploma, Reiki levels 1, 2 and masters, a chakra and aura healing diploma and mindfulness programme.
The courses were a far cry from my Psychology A-levels and degree, and they not only helped me to support Pickle with her veterinary care but also to realise that there is no one size fits all. We had a LOT of ups and downs trying to get her happy, healthy and well.
I’ve been laughed at by the vet, fobbed off with incorrect diagnosis and even met with a vet that said ‘oh that doesn’t need treatment’ when we were dealing with a parasite infestation.
I’m sharing this because Pickle was the start of my journey of giving cats a voice. I asked questions, I did my own research and I became an educated cat guardian. Our time together led me to create Naturally Cats – Holistic help for cats and their guardians.
And then came Leo and Baby Max
After Pickle was put to sleep Leo came into my life and then, his brother from another mother, Baby Max. My boys are my world and help to guide me every single day. We face challenges, ups, and downs, like every cat guardian. But one of the biggest gifts my boys have given me is the knowledge and strength to know that it is OK to ask questions, it is OK to ask for a second opinion. It is OK to ask for help. And now that’s what I offer to you.
I’m not a traditional cat behaviourist. I focus my services, support and guidance on energy and emotions.
Being a holistic cat therapist means I have a more holistic approach to supporting you with your cat.
In my opinion all behaviour has an emotional cause. That’s what I deal with, the emotions behind your cats behaviour. I only work with anxious cats and anxious guardians.
I’ve had anxiety for a number of years and during my 20 years of working with cats (and having my own) I have found the best way to deal with anxiety is exactly that – to deal with it!
I’ve tried ignoring it – it got louder. I’ve tried pushing the thoughts down/away – it got louder. I’ve tried pretending everything was OK – it got louder. My anxiety and my cats.
The more stressed, anxious, overwhelmed and worried I got – the worse the behaviour of my boys became. I’ve dealt with weeing around the house, overgrooming, multi-cat aggression, hiding away and even anxiety induced feline anorexia. Yep – a cat with an eating disorder all connected to anxiety.
⬆️ This is me giving Leo his asthma inhaler.
⬇️ This is me with Baby Max.
‘There is no such thing as bad behaviour, just a behaviour we don’t fully understand’.
I don’t ‘fix’ your cat. I won’t tell you what’s wrong with it. There’s nothing wrong with either of you in my opinion. You’re perhaps just a little lost. You may need help and guidance to re-connect with your cat. To understand what it’s trying to tell you. To awaken to the message in its current behaviour. You see I believe that every cat is sentient, sensitive and unique.
When they share an un-desirable behaviour there is growth in it, a lesson for us. If you just want to stop your cat weeing around the house, find another behaviourist my love. I’m not for you. I work with people who want to understand WHY the cat is weeing. And that can take a minute, but when you do, it’s the most beautiful thing.
I told Leo my word for 2024 was ‘growth’ and on January 2nd 2024 he weed on the side of my new (quite expensive) chair. Choice point. Be angry, shout, get frustrated and spiral into worry about what’s wrong.
OR lean into my emotions, look at what it brought up for me and find the lesson he was trying to share.
And that’s where my Become a soul led cat guardian programme can help you.
I designed the course to enable YOU to have a deeper connection with your cat. It’s an opportunity to awaken your intuition so you can create and nurture a deeply meaningful soul to soul relationship. It supports you in stepping away from your anxiety, doubts, fears and worries about your cat. You can learn to connect with essence of your cat, hear their words, receive their soul to understand what they need from you.
I can support you and your cat with the following:
- Anxious behaviours
- Inappropriate weeing
- Overgrooming
- Problem behaviours
Why work with your cat and their emotions?
Understanding your cat is the key to a happy cat and a happy home.
I believe that energy is at the root of all symptoms, behaviours and emotions.
A traditional behaviourist may only look at and work with a behaviour the cat is exhibiting. It’s a little like going to see a GP and having a medicine to treat a symptom.
In my experience unless we can deal with the root cause of a problem behaviour, which is energy and emotion, you will only see limited results with your cat.
Come and join me so you can get to know your cat better via the Become a soul led cat guardian programme.
" My session with Julie-Anne gave me an incredibly deep insight into cocos soul and well-being. It was therapy in so many ways, understanding Coco and indeed for me. I will definitely take forward the recommendations and advice given."
"Opened me up to thinking in a different way about myself, my cat and our relationship. Bolstered my confidence in my instincts. Made me feel that I don't have to feel alone and lost when trying to do my best"
"We have bonded so much more, I can now understand their needs much better and why the behave in different ways"
"He did something he has never done before with me this afternoon. He leaned his head on my arm and just lay there for sometime. It was wonderful and sweet."
