Are Jackson Galaxy Solutions like aroma therapy for cats and dogs?
Well, no, but aroma therapy is as close as it gets in comparing different animal universes. I don’t know how aroma therapy works — or gravity, really — but they do, and in our experience, so do these ideas from Jackson Galaxy.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
By David Stone
Our black cat Billy may have been the sweetest creature ever to set pads on any carpet. That was usually, but not always true.
A funny exception arose out of his conviction that he needed to sit wherever I was sitting. No, not in my lap — where I happened to be seated. Comfortably.
For no sane reason, he tried to move me, first by staring intently behind me, hoping I’d get the message. Frustrated, he’d try to tunnel in, nose first.
Once, he waltzed across the room and complained to my wife.
“Grack!”
She looked at me.
“He wants you to move,” she said.
We never found a solution for that one, and since it was funny, I’m not sure we really wanted to. I guess we’d have been happy just to figure out why he wanted my seat so much, and it was a pleasure to see him assertive in a harmless way.
We never understood his motivation, firm though he was about it.
More cat stuff…? How smart are cats?
But some puzzles do have solutions…
Billys other fanatically held conviction — that I should be getting out of bed earlier — was one we had to solve. Sanity hung in the balance.
That’s where Jackson Galaxy Solutions, then known as Spirit Essences, came to the rescue.
A long distance runner for years by then, I was used to getting up early. I tried to get my runs in before work consumed my day like it was a tub of theatre popcorn. It was just too hard to find time to hit the trail after spending a day on the job to make it fun.
And a runner’s high is nowhere near as much fun while doing the dishes or mashing potatoes.
Trouble was, not long after emerging from compliant kittenhood, Billy decided that my getting up before dawn was a good thing. Earlier could only be better.
Billy’s the only cat I’ve ever known who lacked guile. He missed out on the sly skills with which cats normally push us around. There were no figure 8s around my ankles with him. Everything was always direct. He didn’t beat around the bush.
What I’m getting at is, he made no cuddly pretenses about getting me up.
Jackson Galaxy Solutions to the Rescue
He plunked all thirteen pounds on my chest if I was foolish enough to sleep on my back. Then, he griped right into my face.
“Wha!”
This usually came after he marched up and down the hall complaining about the absence of human activity.
He might’ve been hungry, too, but that wasn’t it.
Billy wanted his day to get started, and that meant some lights on, some food dished out and a chance to curl up around my ankles on the ottoman — in case he needed a little more sleep.
Experience with George, our first cat who did have guile, lots of it, taught me to set a firm get out of bed time and hold it with the conviction of a commandment.
What George did was cry for food a half-hour or so before I normally laced up my running shoes and filled up his bowl before dashing out into the dark.
“He must be really hungry,” I told my wife, “or he wouldn’t cry like that,” fool that I was.
“I’ll get up when he starts asking, give him something to eat, then go back to bed.”
Within days, our smart George worked it down to a half-hour after bedtime.
So, I set a “no earlier than…” limit and stuck to it.
Miraculously outsmarting a cat…
George was smart and soon conceded defeat.
Not Billy.
My wife’s also smart. She got it from George.
Research led her to Spirit Essences, today known as Jackson Galaxy Solutions.
“Essences can help with the underlying energetic imbalances and stresses,” the FAQ says.
I only have to know that my feet stick to the ground to accept that gravity works. Never saw it. Can’t explain it. But the proof is in the pudding as they used to say (and I still do.)
Our little bottle of Night Owl, equipped with its own dropper, soon arrived, and before crawling hopefully into bed that night, my wife rubbed a few drops into Billy’s soft black fir.
Jackson Galaxy tells us there are two types of ingredients.
“The physical ingredients are: spring water and alcohol, used as a preservative. The energetic ingredients are: Reiki energy and a variety of flower, animal and gem essences.
“Essences correct a negative emotional state by ‘flooding’ the patient with the opposite, positive quality that is the particular essence of that flower, animal, or other energy.”
Sounded a little strange to me. (Billy had no opinion.) But, bottom line, it worked.
I had the pleasure of waking a calm, well-rested Billy up the next morning along with George who seemed relieved not to have to witness a fresh battle of wills.
In the years since, as Spirit Essences changed names to Jackson Galaxy Solutions, our results have been consistent.
George, who arrived at our place with a sort of colic that never completely went away, was helped by Happy Tummy. This also helps where vomiting is common.
From Spirit Essences to Jackson Galaxy Solutions and more results
Probably the most universally handy essence is Stress Stopper, stress being as common with cats as whiskers.
Sometimes, discomfort expressed as irritability, upset stomach, litter box issues and hiding are symptoms where the common root cause is stress.
Cats are sensitive, emotionally and physically. Breaks in routine and unexpected noises throw them into a tizzy.
Stress Stopper has worked wonders during building construction and unpredictable work schedules.
And we will always be grateful for Bully Remedy which enabled us to keep a troubled cat in our home during a rough transition from rescue to family member.
One final note from Jackson Galaxy Solutions:
“Solutions are not meant to interfere with or replace the advice or treatment of your veterinarian. Consult your veterinarian before adding any new product to your pet’s care regimen. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
Jackson Galaxy
Use them wisely, and you’ll never regret a penny spent.
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