29/06/2025

ON SUNDAY JUNE 29, 2025 theSunday Special XII N OW DQG WKHQ D VWRU\ ÀRDWV into our feeds – someone in the depths of grief, burnout or heartbreak, stumbling into D VKHOWHU RU ¿QGLQJ D VWUD\ RQ their doorstep. They weren’t looking for a pet. But somehow, the pet found them. A scrappy kitten curls into their chest like it always belonged there. A wide-eyed dog follows them home as if guided. Suddenly, messy, heavy life begins to feel a little lighter.

The quiet magic of the soul animal soul animal

I W¶V HDV\ WR EUXVK R̆ WKHVH PRPHQWV DV a coincidence. But for many, the timing feels too perfect. Too gentle. Too needed. It feels like something or someone stepped in. Ask a lifelong pet owner about their most beloved animal and you’ll hear phrases that sound more like spiritual FRQIHVVLRQV WKDQ FDVXDO D̆ HFWLRQ “He saved me.” “She was my guardian.” “I still feel him around, especially when I’m sad.” We don’t just mean ‘pet’ when we say those things. We mean a companion, therapist, mirror, soft presence in hard seasons. Especially in Malaysia, where IDLWKV DQG WUDGLWLRQV LQWHUWZLQH ÀXLGO\ someone commonly says, “That cat was sent to me,” or “My dog carried my pain Some believe animals absorb negative energy. Others think they carry ancestral blessings. Some say divine timing brought them into our lives. But no matter the belief system, the feeling is the same: this animal came for a reason. Science, of course, doesn’t concern LWVHOI ZLWK VXFK WKLQJV

They don’t all come with fanfare. But once in a while, a particular pet changes everything, as if they’d always known you were waiting

Even when they’re gone, the silence still hums with their memory.”

BY TINA LEE

Soothing your soul Then there are the soul animals – the ones that weren’t necessarily the prettiest or best-behaved, but who changed you. Deeply. Quietly. Permanently. They may have arrived half-blind or half-wild. They may have chewed your charger and ignored your commands. But VRPHWKLQJ DERXW WKHP ZDV GL̆ HUHQW 7KH\ made you softer. Wiser. Kinder. Even years later, they remain – not just in memory, but in how you live, speak to other animals and move through the world. A gentleness takes root. A new way of noticing. A kind of quiet loyalty to life itself. So do pets choose us? Perhaps. Maybe their greatest act of love isn’t healing or staying beside us, but choosing us despite us. Despite our messiness, our mood swings, our bad habits. They come. They stay. They forgive. They love. No credentials required. Maybe that’s what makes it all feel so spiritual. Not because we light incense or chant mantras over their food bowls, but be cause we get to be loved in a way that feels pure for a brief and beautiful time. Simple. Divine. Not every pet enters your life like lightning. Some arrive quietly, gradually and only in hindsight do you realise how much they gave. But every once in a while, you’ll feel that this one was different. Timed. Sent. When that happens, don’t question it. Just hold them close. Honour the bond. Be grateful. Whether or not it was destiny, it certainly feels like it. Sometimes, that’s more than enough.

There’s no shortage of examples. A widower rediscovers joy because a rescued cat insists on curling up in his lap. A teenager with anxiety begins to sleep bet ter because a lopsided dog now shares her bed. A family grieving a loved one takes in a foster puppy and somehow begins to smile again. These aren’t grand miracles. Just quiet ones. Often, the comfort feels more spiri tual than anything a temple or sermon FRXOG R̆ HU

Some animals don’t just share your home. They anchor your soul.”

They know what’s inside Many believe animals can sense our energy. Anyone who’s wept into a dog’s fur knows this: they lean in closer. They stop ¿GJHWLQJ 7KH\ VWD\ &DWV GHVSLWH WKHLU FRRO UHSXWDWLRQV GR LW WRR 7KH\ ¿QG \RXU lap on your lowest day. They listen without judgment. Birds go quiet. Rabbits stop twitching. It’s subtle – but unmistakable. It’s not magic. It’s intuition. But intu ition, in its purest form, is deeply sacred. This intuition can work in reverse. Pets seem to know when they’ve been chosen by someone who needs them. Maybe that’s why strays sometimes follow us home. Why the “wrong” animal – too old, too timid, too much work – feels right. Because something inside both of you recognises the other. When these creatures leave us – be cause sadly, they always do – the loss can be staggering. There may be no ceremony, no condolence messages, no formal clo sure. But make no mistake: the grief is real. You’re not just losing a pet. You’re losing a rhythm. A presence. The one who kept you grounded through your worst and celebrated your best with a simple tail wag.

They didn’t come to be your pet. They came to bring your peace.