MEET THE CAT17 WHISKERER
Julie-Anne’s feline feelings
A MAGICAL bond with moggies led to a new career for “cat whiskerer” Julie-Anne Thorne.
She discovered she could tune in to feline feelings on a day at the zoo.
Now she has ditched her job as a civil servant to tell owners what their pets are thinking at £195 a time.
Julie-Anne, 38, says she can pick up the emotions felt by an animal by sitting down with it or just looking at a photograph.
She describes herself as
“cat intuitive” and says it helps her understand why a worried cat is behaving in a certain way.
She can then advise the owners on how to help.
Julie-Anne, who runs Naturally Cats fulltime, said: “I can’t explain the science or the logic behind it, because it is more of an emotional and energetic connection between myself and the cats.
“When I connect to my breath and to the moment and stop all the noise of day-today stuff that goes through my head, I am able to feel how the cat feels.
“All of a sudden, I might become angry or I might feel scared – that’s what the cat is directly feeling, it’s not just my interpretation. I can actually feel it within myself.”
Julie-Anne, who lives in Plymouth, Devon, realised she had a connection with cats after visiting a zoo with her husband Rob in 2012.
When they stopped at an enclosure where a cheetah lived, Julie-Anne was overcome by sadness and suddenly started to cry.
Later that day they found out that the cheetah in question had lost its mate and was grieving. Julie-Anne said: “It led me to explore an empathy side of things, and over the years I’ve realised that I can connect with cats energetically and emotionally.” Julie-Anne has helped around 40 clients and has more than 1,000 followers online. Once she has sensed a cat’s emotions she then gets the owners to introduce different dried herbs into their pet’s daily diet.
If she senses that the animal is feeling angry she might prescribe a mix of hops, jasmine, rosebuds and valerian root. Depressed cats get angelica root, St John’s Wort flowers and lemon balm. A kitty that has experienced a bereavement is given a mix of yarrow and linden flowers with some lavender. Julie-Anne has faced scepticism over her line of work, even from the clients who have hired her.
But the therapist said: “I had one client whose partner just laughed in my face when I suggested using remedies for their cat.
“They have seen how much it has helped and are thankful for the connection they now have with their cat.”