For a veterinarian’s perspective on Earthing, click here. For more pet stories, see the pet chapter in the Earthing book.
To read how grounding can calm pets with storm and Independence Day noise jitters, read this article.
Your pets need Earthing, too, especially if they are mostly indoor animals. According to Scientific American, dogs and cats develop obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and more, just like humans. Could lack of grounding be one overlooked reason? Earthing helps pets just as it does humans. In fact, if you put an Earthing mat on the floor, or an Earthing sheet on your bed, pets will usually make a beeline for it. They are definitely drawn to Earthing. They feel something beneficial, something familiar.
Although animals can’t articulate what they feel, their actions and responses speak louder than words, as the accounts on this page clearly indicate.
Extending quality and quantity of life
● The second edition of the Earthing book (2014) included a report from Sandra Wong, a musician in Boulder, Colorado, about how Earthing was helping her aged Grand Pyrenees dog, “Raffie.”
In 2013, she had first told us that “Raffie,” then 11, was suffering with severe, painful arthritis and multiple structural issues. She had exhausted conventional options, including medication that just made him sick to his stomach. She was reluctantly considering putting him down. Then a friend suggested Earthing and she obtained an Earthing throw for the dog. The results, she said, were striking. “Raffie” began resting and sleeping grounded. His energy amazingly returned, as did his mobility and zest for life.
In April 2014, the dog passed. “He made it to a miraculous 12 years of age, almost unheard of for his breed,” Sandra told us. “Grounding gave him an entire extra year of life and with quality that I didn’t think was possible.”
In early 2015, she told us she has helped other animals with Earthing. “The week before ‘Raffie’ passed, ‘Mosey,’ went into a steep downward spiral and was diagnosed with lumbosacral disease, among other things. She’s another one of my Pyrenees. Her back legs were going out much of the time. She had full urinary and fecal incontinence. The vets didn’t have much to offer but after several months of using homeopathic remedies and encouraging her to spend more time on the Earthing throw, she has made a rather miraculous turnaround. She has been able to walk to and from the backyard without assistance. Her urinary incontinence and 99 percent of all accidents have stopped in the last three months. ‘Mosey’ is now 13 years old and a few months, and although fragile, she’s going stronger than I could have imagined possible with the only changes being nerve tonic (homeopathic), Traumeel (homeopathic), and her Earthing throw.”
Sandra continued: “A friend of mine has a rescue black Lab/chow mix with severe hip dysplasia. The old dog took a turn for the worse with the coming of colder weather. The pain meds he was prescribed left him lethargic, yelping, and disoriented. My friend put him on similar homeopathics as ‘Mosey’ and installed an Earthing throw, as I had done, in the dog’s bed. Now, two months later, it’s as if the dog was two years younger. He’s clear eyed, connected, happy, and exhibiting significantly less pain.
“Earthing also helped my mother’s dog, my grandmother’s dog, and my other Pyrenees, ‘Serafina.’”
In 2017, we heard from Sandra again. Both “Mosey” (14 ½) and “Serafina” (13 ½) had died the year before, 18 days apart. “However, both of them had good quality of life up until the very end, despite their advanced age, with the help of the Earthing throw,” she said. “’Serafina’ had a stroke shortly after ‘Mosey’ passed. I think she missed her sister.
“All this is to say, in my experience, Earthing is incredibly helpful to animals, including older ones with sensitive systems who reactive negatively to strong medications.”
● When I started grounding, I had a 17-year-old dog with mental decline and arthritic issues. After sleeping for two weeks on a grounded pad his back was more relaxed, he slept better and seemed to move without the chronic pain. It added so much to the quality of his last year of life. He passed away at 18 years and I feel that the Earthing really gave him relief and less stress.”
Family pets seek out Earthing
● From Donna in Denver (2013): “We have one dog and three cats. I have the half sheet horizontal across the bottom of my bed and it is now quite common to wake in the night and/or morning to find all three cats burrowed beneath the blankets to gain access to the Earthing sheet. The cats will also sit or lay on our Earthing mats at our computers. Our dog sneaks on my bed and chooses the Earthing sheet to lie on, especially recently, when he hurt his hind leg. And, it seems our animals stay on the Earthing products until they know they are fully ‘charged.'”
● From a 70-year-old Florida man: “During the day I will typically find one of my two cats sleeping on top of the sheet. Think they know something about grounding?”
Less shedding
● From Yavor Kresic in Ottawa (2014): “My Siamese ‘Alexander’ loves going on the mat. I’ve noticed that he hardly sheds now. He’s an older cat and rarely goes out.”
Bunny Grounding and Chilling
● From Joseph Ybarra, of Riverside (Caifornia), new to Earthing 2020), got such relief from grounding that he introduced it to “Baby,” his pet rabbit. Looks like Baby loves it, according to Joseph. “So awesome.”
More comfort, less itching
● From Ambie Hay of Vero Beach, Florida (2015): “‘Jackson,’ my Jack Russell, loved his Earthing mat. It relieved his arthritis and pain due to Lyme disease during the last years of his life. He died at 16. After sleeping on it all night, he clearly felt more comfortable in the morning, as he pranced outside and had his breakfast.
“‘Sailor,’ my 12-year-old Westie, heads for his Earthing mat any chance he gets! He has been Earthing for more than eight years and is healthy and happy. The mat helped relieve his skin allergies and itchiness. He hogs my Earthing mat under the computer desk, his favorite place to snooze.
“All creatures large and small love to be connected to Mother Earth!”
Healing leg pain
“Nelly” lives with Kerry Kinnier-Conley in Pennsylvania, and suffers with some leg pain. Says Kerry (2020): “‘Nelly’ is often curled up on my grounding sheet in my bed so I decided to try the wrap for her leg that was causing her some pain from running all day. It really seemed to help as she is not limping. “
More mobility
● In 2012, Karen Kolczak from Phoenix told us she obtained a mat for her cat after experiencing the benefits of Earthing herself. She said: “My old cat doesn’t get outside much anymore, but now she is going up and down the stairs much more frequently and curls up to me purring on the bed as if to say ‘thanks mom.’”
● In early 2015, Karen reported that her cat had passed away and that she brought a new cat into the house who “loves the mat as well.”
More relaxed
● From Lisa Laviguer in Bowie, Maryland (2020): “When we first adopted “Quest,” she was very standoffish and would just watch us across the room. On a rare occasion she would jump up on the bed, then jump right off. Until we bought our earthing mat! Then she started staying on the bed for a long time. She will even sneak on the bed in the middle of the night. She is so much more relaxed!”
More relaxed and less pain
● When I started grounding, I had a 17-year-old dog with mental decline and arthritic issues. After sleeping for two weeks on a grounded pad his back was more relaxed, he slept better and seemed to move without the chronic pain. It added so much to the quality of his last year of life. He passed away at 18 years and I feel that the Earthing really gave him relief and less stress.”
Togetherness
● From JJ Flizanes (2019), the popular host of a podcast on women’s health, fitness, and energy. That’s Domino, Luna, and Sugar chillin’ out on the Earthing throw.
More togetherness
● New Hampshire researcher James Oschman sent this picture (below) from a doctor friend who commented: “Here are my daughter’s three cats. Ordinarily they stake out separate rooms for their morning naps, but this is what they’ve been doing since I came to visit and installed an Earthing sheet on the guest bed.”
In 2020, he sent this picture from his doctor friend who wrote: “Here’s my brother’s cat. He just jumped over me, plopped down on the Earthing mat, stretched out to push my feet off, and took a nap.”
● From Linda Olk in Winston-Salem: “I have five dogs and a cat. And most of them, along with me, have been Earthing since 2013. The dogs get their indoor ‘dosing’ at night like I do, and sleep on the Earthing sheet I put over the sofa. Sometimes all of them pile on at one time. From time to time, some of them jump into my bed and onto the Earthing sheet. I have to shoo them off.
“The animals have all been in good health. After I added the Earthing sheet, they absolutely became calmer. Not that they had been rowdy or unruly, but they carried a certain agitation. That changed a lot.
“When the cat developed an infection from a bite, I noticed he spent more time than usual stretched full out on the Earthing mat I placed in the living room under my desk. The cat usually stays outside, right on the ground, under a tree, except when it’s very cold. Then I set the mat out and typically he gravitates to it.
“After I bought an Earthing yoga mat for myself, the dogs, and even the cat, want to lay on it. I sometimes have to shove them off when it comes time to do my exercise.”
It works in Finland, too
● Sisko Pynnonen from Kangasniemi says her dog usually sleeps on the floor during the winter and outside on the ground when the weather is warmer. “After I put an Earthing sheet on my bed, ‘Tahvo’ started to climb up into the bed in order to be able to sleep on the sheet. One night he even brought a bone into the bed. He seems to sigh with relief when he sleeps on the sheet…and sleeps there all night!”
● Satu Laitinen, from Siilinjarvi, says her cats love the Earthing plush pad and compete to use it.
Maine cats know when they need Mother Earth
● From JJ, in Maine: “My two indoor cats don’t seem unusually drawn to Earthing sheets or their grounded pet beds when they’re healthy. However, when my cat Cleo had an inflamed paw pad, we noticed her resting on my daughter’s Earthing sheet in an unusual manner, with her arm stretched straight out in front of her, the sore paw pad placed gingerly on the grounded sheet.
“My other cat, ‘Pixie’ is an obsessive washer. Since she’s been sleeping grounded (two years), her fur has grown back on her sides and some on her tummy. Grounding seems to relax her and reduce the hyperexcitability of her condition.”
Kidneys protected in older cat
● From Pat Huey in San Francisco (2020): “Oh, guess what! I have a floor grounding mat that I’ve had under my feet on all day. (I work at home.) My 15-year-old Siamese, ‘Bear,’ has discovered it and now insists on sitting on it, on top of my feet. This means that I can never move from my desk. The room is getting dark and I can’t go turn the lights on. I am trapped. :>) Bear had renal blood work done in early 2020 to evaluate his kidney status.. His blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level was close to the level where he’d need fluid injections. Around that time, I also started using an earthing sheet and pillowcase. I bought Bear his own earthing sheet, which I keep on top of the bed. At night I fold it to be Bear sized; during the day, I spread it across the bed so that he can roll around to his heart’s content on it. He had a new blood test this week (July), and his kidneys are the same! They have not gotten worse. Normally, kidneys continue on a road of decline, but not with Bear after the earthing he has been doing.
“Oh, one other thing I did to help Bear: I bought him a ceramic water fountain. The moving water appeals to them and they drink it more than they would water from a bowl.”
Kidney disease is the second leading cause of disease-related feline death. Among older cats, it is the No. 1 cause. The body’s two kidneys are critical to health. They remove wastes from the blood and combine them with water for their journey out the urinary tract. Usually, the disease involves scarred, inflamed and shrunken organs that progressively weakens the critical filtering activity. If kidneys can not effectively eliminate wastes, internal poisoning (uremia) develops, a buildup of toxicity that can be fatal.
When the kidneys begin to give out, you will notice a cat drinking and urinating more than usual. Conventional veterinary medicine offers little hope for animals with advanced disease. Once a diagnosis is made, your veterinarian will recommend fluid therapy to correct dehydration and flush the body of wastes, thus reducing the risk of internal poisoning. Such therapy may be essential to reduce the risk of internal poisoning. Most veterinarians will also prescribe medication to reduce inflammation and pain and increase appetite. They may also prescribe a prescription diet low in protein. The kidneys remove the waste products left after the body breaks down protein, so a diet lower in protein takes strain off the kidneys.
Don’t get crushed!
● From Deborah Ebbers, in Suttons Bay, Michigan (2019): “I have a story concerning my earthing journey, started one and a half months ago. I bought the earthing mat for my bed and the results have been very positive; deep sleep, arthritic pain reduction, calm energy… and now my dog (who sleeps with me) has decided that since I’m earthed that it is perfectly natural for her to sleep on top of me……. there’s one little problem…she’s a Great Dane. Beatrix is 116 pounds!”
They hog the bed!
● From Tina Morin, a German Shepherd breeder in North Bay, Ontario: “I have 7 dogs and they all try to get a piece of the mat on the floor lol I have a sheet on my bed and sometimes I catch them up on there too. They all sleep on it or on my bed lol as I have a grounding sheet there. They sure gravitate to grounding.” (Picture above)
Golden retriever in healing high gear
● Karen Poizin of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, reported that “Lance,” her Golden Retriever, had surgery to remove a large lipoma in his arm pit in December of 2013. He slept on a pet mat during his recovery and, according to the veterinarian, “he healed quickly.”
Earthing patches sparks older dog
● Many older animals don’t have the strength or energy to go outside where they would become grounded (on grass, gravel, soil, concrete). An Earthing mat placed on the floor or in a pet’s bed, will attract animals and serve up the same healing energy they would absorb from the ground outside. Here’s a report that appeared on Facebook in 2019 from a pet owner who grounded his tired, older dog using an Earthing patch: “I ordered the Patch Kit and put it on the hind feet of my 9 year old dog who was having a hard time going up and down the stairs and seemed to be tired all the time. I put it on her for 1 hour a day and now she is like a puppy again. If found that if I play with her and get her tired, she doesn’t mind the patches being on her feet as much.”
“Juniper the rat” − Life after a stroke
● Diane Higgins, of Toronto, is an ardent animal rescuer. “From fish to horses,” she says, and including rats. In 2015, she communicated to us about “Juniper,” her very senior and nearly three-year-old hooded female pet rat. The rodent had had a stroke, a fairly common affliction among elderly rats, and often fatal.
“I’ve become all too familiar with the symptoms but this time I had a new weapon and so I decided to use one of the Earthing bands,” Diane recounted. “Rats, no matter how well we feed and take care of them, don’t live very long, but if this could improve the quality of her life, I was all for it. Often there’s nothing you can do to help them in these situations, the time between a stroke and their unfortunate demise is swift.
“’Juniper’ is one tough little gal. She had difficulty getting around so I decided to try the band on her and within twenty minutes she was able to raise her head. Within an hour she was able to use her legs again. After a few hours, she exhibited more mobility and was able to lift her head.
“I put her in a safe, warm, and comfortable location with the band attached (she had wiggled out of it once, but I got her back into it) and she settled in and let the band do its thing.
“I got the shock of my life the next morning. ‘Juniper’ had climbed onto the roof of her mousehouse ALL BY HERSELF!! She climbed up and ate breakfast! She gave me a bit of trouble getting her into the band this morning but I got her in. She has MUCH better mobility and is much improved.
“She does the rat equivalent of purring (bruxing) when she is in the band. This can also occur when a rat is upset, but she seems to be a happy little rat when she does this.
“On the third day, she was having less problem holding her food, all the red stuff around her eyes is gone. That’s porphyrin, a secretion indicative of stress, sickness, or poor diet. Her eyes look clear and her coat feels silky.”
“On day five, she continued doing well. She has made daily progress. The old girl is now able to get all the way up to the third tier of the cage. She seems to recognize her limitations with ‘down.’ She actually signals me when she wants to come down and I either pick her up and place her on the bottom of the cage, or I gently ‘escort’ her with my hand and assist her.
“She has never eaten commercial pet food. She gets filtered water, organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, as well as avocadoes, bananas, mangoes, grapes, corn on the cob, carrot, spinach leaves, kale, and the chaff from my juicing as well.
“Everything has worked in harmony. TLC without Earthing, or Earthing without TLC would not have produced these results. When I first started this therapy with her, I was thinking she might not last another day. But she is doing so well and has been a great surprise.”
A week later Diane reported: “She is doing amazing!! She was able to fend off her younger companion ‘Thea,’ when I gave her one of her favorite treats, a piece of Pita bread. ‘Thea’ does NOT share. ‘Juniper’ is now able to drink out of the water bottle on the second cage level now. Her front paws are no longer tensed up and she is able to wash herself like she used to. She appears very calm and does that bruxing thing, which is so cute and endearing. OMG she is so smart!”
“Juniper” lived actively for more than a month after her stroke, and then died peacefully. “I hadn’t expected her really to live another day after her stroke,” reported Diane. “She was a real trooper.”
Sweet dreams
“I actually had to buy myself a second Earthing mat, because the minute I put my mat on the floor to put my feet on while watching TV, my Golden Retriever immediately would make a beeline for it. He then falls into a wonderfully deep sleep with lots of squirrel chasing dreams. For me, this disproves the Earthing doubters who explain Earthing benefits as a placebo effect. Both my dog and I know that earthing REALLY works!”
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