How does reincarnation work for animals?

Does anyone have an opinion or knowledge about this?
Please share what you think.

I believe that all living beings are souls and we use our physical bodies to gain knowledge and experience wherever we decide to incarnate. I believe that animals do similar things.
By my opinion beings only incarnate as their own specie: humans as humans, dogs as dogs, etc...

Transmigration of souls says that humans come back as animals, and animals come back as humans (I think.) (And if you were a bad human, you could come back as a dog.) I happen to not believe this way, but there are others who do believe it to be true. I think it is like anything else. There are many different beliefs, different ways of seeing things. And I have decided not to touch that particular one, as I know what I feel is right for me, and really, I don't know the answer to your question. (Let's hope there is someone who can explain this.) I also believe Heaven is a perfect Earth, but there are also a lot of different opinions on this. Some say it is what you believe it to be. So, if I see heaven as sitting in the second pew of a church, that is how it is If I see old Uncle Henry's face when I look at my cat, well then who am I to say otherwise. "Thoughts are things." I don't know if this a good answer as I too wonder about these things, and what is the truth. Some people see Aliens and spaceships, and I don't understand that either.

i have a mother in law tongue plant and once dreamt about it, it told me to water it with very cold water and another would grow beside it, and that it would reincarnate as some sort of bug. normally plants will get shocked with such cold water. so in waking life i watered it with ice cold water and another plant grew beside it. the other one has not died yet, but i have no reason no to think it will not reincarnate into a bug. this type of reincarnation fits in with hindu line of thought.

I think that everyone has a choice as to what type of body they wish to incarnate into (though there are exceptions to every rule.)

I know some people who have been a specific kind of animal for many lives and have trouble settling into their first human life (some even wish they were back with their "own kind.")

Others have never been animals (meaning only human) whilst others flick back and forth between species for a bit of variety.

A lot of spirit friends have told me that there seems to be a running trend with everyone picking human bodies because they are supposedly the most unusual creatures, have no true natural predators, a seizable lifespan and there is a growing availability of such bodies to go around.

So I suppose convenience and quality of life itself comes into consideration there too.

Also keeping in mind general reincarnation cycles and the patterns within them, some souls incarnate into a body once, then never again and thats the reincarnation cycle they choose. Others go through 10 or so lives in a row without a sizable break while others take one life at each milepoint in their own metaphysical development.

The entire subject of incarnation is so vast that all I can really say is that each individual incarnates in their own individual way.

[Joshi]

My knowledge says that souls only progress forwards not backwards. No matter what the incarnation. Not to say that going from Human to Animal is backwards. I just mean its not due to punishment. But rather it just means that there is something else to learn, in order to spiritually progress. So if you live a negative life, you don't just come back as a cockroach.

I would say that souls that incarnate as different animals progress through each incarnation. I have seen many beautiful animals that give sooo much love.

Whether its animal to animal, or animal to human is not really the main point. Its the soul progression that's important. That's how Ive learn't it to be.

Oh, i forgot to mention. Humans are actually animals regardless of their increased intelligence...etc. :P

Okay, so many believe that soul can incarnate as any type of animal.
If this is so - I'd love to be back as cat with a good owner.

I myself have always felt not belonging as human, but was always good with animals and I met some very telepathic ones. (Not that I'm telepathic - no, but some animals just read my thoughts and they often did help me).

I also have one of my five cats I believe being reincarnation of another kitten who was killed by dog earlier. That was three years ago.
I was crying over that kitten for months and eventually circumstances led me to that new kitten (Midnight), even though we were not planning to adopt any more animals. When I saw Midnight in a shelter - the feeling of recognition was so strong, even though she looked nothing like the killed kitten.

Does any of you have any experiences that you can share when you know of certain people (among any animals) that came back in your current life?

I have reason to believe that my deaf Dalmatian, Dexter, who I have in this life, was also a dog that died, tied outside during a storm in Maui, Hawai, also in this life. I went for a visit there 30 + years ago. And the night before I left for home, this dog cried all night, under my bedroom window. For a lot of reasons, too long to go into for now, I could not save this dog, and it affected me terribly. Two weeks after coming home, I got courage, called my cousin (who I was visiting in Hawaii) and asked her if the dog had died, and she said, yes, he was lying dead outside, and the people put him in a trash bag, for garbage pick up.

Now, I saved Dexter's life, at one of the worst times in my life, and he had so many health problems, I often asked God, why ME, with this particular dog, who I had/ have such compassion for, that no matter what the dilema, I couldn't part with him for the world. He sleeps at the foot of my bed, and sometimes, during a storm, I would pat him and have thoughts like, you're finally loved and are safe with me.

The way I figured this out was, I talked to an animal whisperer, about Dexter's problems and anxiety, and she said that in a former life, he died, tied outside during a rain storm, and after he died, he was looking for his family on the other side, and couldn't find them, so he didn't take the time to rest between incarnations, and do his life review, but took the first dog body available, and that is why he is in the state that he is. Now this sounded strangely familiar to me, but I really didn't give it too much thought until one day I was driving home, and it hit me that Dexter was the dog tied outside in Maui, and I couldn't save him then, but saved him now Oh how I cried and cried, and I called the dog lady back, but said, even if she said I was wrong, I KNEW it was him; to which she said, that was him.

So, there's an example of an animal that met me and connected with me during this life, died, and came back and connected with me again, all in the same life.

Was this the type of example you were looking for, Ambermay?

[ROM]

The soul of an animal is borne out of a 'sea' of unconscious animistic substance. They wander through the world of gross matter and upon death, return to this 'sea' of unconscious substance, without a sense of self. However, if the animal is loved and nurtured during its life on earth, this creates a bond and the animal retains its self-identity. The essence of a human is different to that of an animal. We may be able to descend to the level of an animal, but our core is still human.

Originally Posted by Celeste

I have reason to believe that my deaf Dalmatian, Dexter, who I have in this life, was also a dog that died, tied outside during a storm in Maui, Hawai, also in this life. I went for a visit there 30 + years ago. And the night before I left for home, this dog cried all night, under my bedroom window. For a lot of reasons, too long to go into for now, I could not save this dog, and it affected me terribly. Two weeks after coming home, I got courage, called my cousin (who I was visiting in Hawaii) and asked her if the dog had died, and she said, yes, he was lying dead outside, and the people put him in a trash bag, for garbage pick up.

Now, I saved Dexter's life, at one of the worst times in my life, and he had so many health problems, I often asked God, why ME, with this particular dog, who I had/ have such compassion for, that no matter what the dilema, I couldn't part with him for the world. He sleeps at the foot of my bed, and sometimes, during a storm, I would pat him and have thoughts like, you're finally loved and are safe with me.

The way I figured this out was, I talked to an animal whisperer, about Dexter's problems and anxiety, and she said that in a former life, he died, tied outside during a rain storm, and after he died, he was looking for his family on the other side, and couldn't find them, so he didn't take the time to rest between incarnations, and do his life review, but took the first dog body available, and that is why he is in the state that he is. Now this sounded strangely familiar to me, but I really didn't give it too much thought until one day I was driving home, and it hit me that Dexter was the dog tied outside in Maui, and I couldn't save him then, but saved him now Oh how I cried and cried, and I called the dog lady back, but said, even if she said I was wrong, I KNEW it was him; to which she said, that was him.

So, there's an example of an animal that met me and connected with me during this life, died, and came back and connected with me again, all in the same life.

Was this the type of example you were looking for, Ambermay?

Thank you very much Seleste... This is a wonderful story and an example that I was looking for.
Yes, I believe that what you said about your current dog being a fast reincarnation of the one you observed, and it speaks to me as so true.
That is how I felt about my Midnight as well.
Midnight not only displayed the character traits as such of killed Jilly, but also she keeps reminding me of her past life all the time. (too long to explain).