The first time I heard of a pet communicator was at a dinner in Goa. At one end of the table, people were debating the virtues of a dehumidifier, and at my end, the talk was about an all-natural line of jerky treats that dogs were going nuts over, which then segued into chatter about a hotel chain where pets were allowed to run amok on pristine white bedsheets. Exactly the kind of conversations that screamed ‘married but child-free'.
Film producer Suraj Sadanah added to the banter, retelling a story from six years ago, when he couldn’t figure what was going on with his beloved golden retriever. Guapo was showing signs of pain, but every medical test they had done got them nowhere. “Then he told the communicator that there was some pain in his back paw, and when we got that tested, we realised she was right,” he said. Hold on, did he just say, “He told?”
Pet communication has always been seen as some kind of mysticism. People think of them the way they do a tarot reader or a clairvoyant with a crystal ball. Janita Porecha is used to this. “Most people think like this,” laughs the 22-year-old. “They call me a pet psychic or an animal whisperer, but it’s not all that woowoo.”
There is no scientific way to explain it. It does sound implausible, almost crazy. How do you talk to an animal who is 500km away and doesn’t even speak the same language, by just looking at their photo? Telepathically, says Porecha matter-of-factly.
“I wasn’t born with some psychic powers. My teacher, who lives in Pune, once told me that it’s like a muscle we all have, and it just depends on how much we work on it,” explains Porecha, who attended a two-day animal communication course in her teens that circuitously led her to her newfound career. “It was at a house in Andheri. I was 16 and the average age was 40 to 60—men and women on the verge of retirement, trying to find a spiritual thing to do,” she recalls. Back then, she was a sceptic too, but things changed rapidly. “I remember the first dog we spoke to. Everyone in the room, and there were 20 of us, asked the dog to describe his favourite toy, and got the same answer. You can’t make this up. It was enough to blow my mind.”
Porecha studied advertising, trained in barre and practiced Bach Flower therapy before she made a career out of animal communication. “It’s still never the first thing I tell people. It sounds unreal and there are so many questions that follow,” says Porecha, who is currently enrolled in a two-year course on pet nutrition.
Barely 22, Porecha is one of the most-sought-after animal communicators in Mumbai dispensing advice to distressed pet parents
It’s been five years since she started looking deep into the minds of animals. It started out in fun—she’d be coerced by friends to practice it at sleepovers—but soon, word spread.
While some animal communicators consult via video calls, Porecha usually holds a session by asking for a picture of the pet, to get talking. “I ask them [the parents] to send me about 10-12 questions they have in mind, any medical history or incidents connected with their queries, and the details of the people in the house, so if a pet wants to say something to a member, then I can share that as well.”
Her dynamic workspace—which could be her bedroom one day or her local park another—is not a séance-like set-up nor does it smell of incense sticks. “It’s different for everyone. I find it hard to sit in one place. So even while communicating, I like walking around,” she clarifies, adding “I prefer nights because it’s quiet enough to focus, but I can communicate even when I’m out for a walk with my dog. I don’t need to close my eyes or anything.”
Her clientele is not just from tony South Mumbai, where she lives, but also based in Pune, Bengaluru, Goa, and Delhi. She’s even communicated with pets in Singapore, Egypt, Hawaii, UAE, and the UK. “Through Janita, we found out that Milo didn’t like the kibble we were feeding him,” recalls Soma Gardi, a Dubai-based lawyer whose dog was suffering from gut issues. “He found it oily. But once we started adding rice and yoghurt, it’s helped with his general well-being.” Porecha has enlightened others about their dog’s best friend, their cat’s favourite housemate, and the everyday stressors that cause anxiety in animals. “My goal is to communicate with distressed animals and see what will actually help them recover,” she explains. So far, her work has seen her interact with house pets such as dogs, cats, and turtles, in addition to horses, fish, and a lion (the big cat was a one-off during her training course). She charges ₹1,500 for a 60-minute session and limits herself to taking two or three sessions every day.
People often go to animal communicators to understand behavioural issues, find a lost pet, or enquire about their pet’s health. Sometimes, communicators step in to ease the stress of pets and their carers who are grappling with big life changes—adjusting with a new animal, a new city or house, marriage or divorce. Increasingly, though, Porecha has been getting simpler queries—‘Is my cat happy or depressed?’ and ‘Does my dog like my boyfriend?’
Inadvertently, there are times when she subs as a therapist, being a median who passes on the wisdom of an animal to its caretakers. “I’ve spoken to other communicators, but what I liked about Janita was that she spoke about his mental state and that was interesting,” says Sadanah, who recently added a 12-year-old retriever to his at-home pet parade already comprising Guapo and two cats, Poei and Bombil. The newest, Scotch, who is partially blind and deaf, spoke like a wise sage: “He not only offered some insights about my relationship with my wife, but also assured that he accepted that his previous owner had passed and was now part of our family. ‘The cats are really weird, but I’ll be okay with them in a month’, those were his exact words,” says Sadanah, adding that one month on, things at home are peaceful again.
Most people go to a communicator as a no-harm-done route in their quest to know their animal better. Some call in as sceptics, but many leave as converts. A magazine editor, who wishes to remain anonymous, says Porecha vocalised her cat’s desire for family mealtime: “She told me how my Persian understood that my partner and I were busy at work. He told her that he valued our dinner time, and wanted to be served then so can we eat dinner together.” Needless to say, a cat bowl is the latest addition to their dinner area.
