If your dog or cat is exhibiting signs of trauma or distressing behaviour, you may want to visit a new natural health care centre for animals, at the top of Rope Walk, where Yvonne Zackim specialises in treating animals with symptoms of anxiety, aggression, fear and physical problems.
Yvonne worked in the horse racing industry as a National Hunt jockey for many years, until she broke her neck in 1989 and was told she would never ride again. She wasn’t going to accept that verdict, so she set about undergoing intensive rehabilitation, including the use of complementary therapies and managed to prove the doctors wrong. As part of that process, she decided to undertake a change of career, having always felt she had a special connection with animals, particularly horses. Yvonne is now a Reiki master, pet psychologist, a registered animal healer (through Healing Animals Organisation), a life coach and a student of homoeopathy.
Animals exhibiting signs of trauma are obviously unable to speak about what is wrong, for example if they have been abused or neglected. But Yvonne says this is not a problem. She told Rye News: “it doesn’t matter whether it’s physical or emotional. Everything is connected”. She identifies the problem and the solution by communicating with the animal. “Dogs and horses are eager to please but cats are more reserved. In all cases you have to ask permission to understand”.
Yvonne sometimes finds out that the problem is with the pet’s owner and this is where her life coaching skills come into play. She saw a dog recently who was exhibiting aggressive behaviour. He was able to communicate to her that he was concerned about the young man who owned him and was mirroring his behaviour. Yvonne firstly established that there was no medical condition causing this behaviour. She asked the owner what he was feeding his dog and it transpired that it was not an ideal diet. Yvonne suggested that he changed the diet to a more natural one as a start. The young man shared with Yvonne that he approved of his dog’s aggressive behaviour as it made him feel safe and powerful. Using her life coaching skills to set up a rehabilitation programme, Yvonne says both the dog and the owner are now in a much better place.
Photo: Seana Lanigan