Siena Filippi really wanted to know what her cat was saying. Ms. Filippi, a 26-year-old content creator and vintage store owner, had recently come across a slew of videos on TikTok showing pet owners talking to animal communicators. The thousands of videos — which usually consist of owners showing their reactions to the readings — had started appearing consistently on her For You Page. She wondered, Why not get a reading for her childhood cat?
“I have dabbled in an Etsy psychic, so I’ve had experience that way,” Ms. Filippi, who lives in Brooklyn, said in a recent phone interview. “And I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know they could even do it for animals.’ So then I went and I found one myself.”
A friend of hers recommended Daniela Amato, a New Jersey-based “animal intuitive” with her own robust social media presence. As part of her business, Heart Communications, Ms. Amato speaks to animals, dead and living, and performs reiki on pets. She’s not a psychic, per se, as her messages aren’t predictive; instead, according to her Instagram, “My goal is simply to relay messages and be the conduit for you and your animal companion.”
Before their phone reading, Ms. Filippi sent Ms. Amato a photo of her cat and said he was named Bitty. What Ms. Amato told her surprised her. “The first message that came through is that she wanted me to know from my cat that he knows that he’s so handsome,” Ms. Filippi said.
In a video of the phone call that Ms. Filippi posted on TikTok — which has been viewed more than 450,000 times — Ms. Amato confirms she has a pressing message from Bitty. “So he thinks he’s very handsome,” she said. “Beautiful, actually, and he says he is a gentleman as well.” She also mentions his “sweet breath” — a side effect of medication he takes, Ms. Filippi said — and says he prefers spending time at Ms. Filippi’s family beach house. And though his name is Bitty, he actually calls himself Leo.