Mayor's Alliance Cats: Sept. 13

Today I went again to work on the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats through Tavi and Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program.

Irene (above and below) was waiting at the front of her cage for me, doing a little silent meow. She is getting so much more comfortable being touched, it is very sweet. She is still a little shy, but she is really coming around. I did llama touches (circular touches with the back of my hand) on the sides of her body, followed by straight strokes (Noah's march) using the back of my hand to connect the touches. I also did mouth TTouches and ear strokes. She became extremely comfortable and laid on her side and on her back, which is a new level of comfort for her. I also did a little Reiki with her, which she was very receptive to, she really responded to the warm energy.

Ziggy (below) is such a dear kitty. He always waits at the front of the cage with his nose sticking through as pictured below. He walked back and forth rubbing himself against my hand. As he did that, I did Noah's march with the back of my hand, then clouded leopard ttouches and zigzag ttouches which I did with more pressure and fingers angled so that it was more of a scratching motion than a ttouch, as he really responded to this variation. I also did a few ear strokes on him, which he enjoyed.

Next is Vaska (below). Vaska always gets very excited to have attention, and meows to let me know that. I let him out of the cage to give him TTouch so he could also roam around a bit and stretch his legs. He laid down next to me as I sat on the couch for a while as I did ear strokes, chimp ttouch, llama ttouch and abalone ttouch. I tend to use touches with the whole hand (llama and abalone ttouch) and/or with the back of the hand (chimp and llama ttouch) because I feel he needs more calming energy rather than more stimulating energy.

Next are Sunnie (above) and Shadow (below), two irresistible little gray tabbies. First I took Shadow out of the cage, and he is one of those unusual kittens who enjoys being cradled in your arms like a baby (with the belly facing up). Most cats are not comfortable in that position, but he really settled into my arms as I did ear storks, mouth work, and he really settled as I did little raccoon ttouches all around his paws. This is a great ttouch to do especially on kittens to get them used to touching their paws at an early age so that when you try to clip their nails, they can get used to that as part of something nice that happens to them. You can do a little TTouch, clip a nail or two, do a little more ttouch, etc. Of course, it is great to be able to do this on a full-grown cat as well, but it may take a while longer for them to be comfortable with you touching them there, so it may have to be done gradually.

Next I took out Sunnie. She is also a very well-socialized kitten, actually more outgoing than Shadow. I did zigzag ttouches, ear strokes and a variation of the octopus ttouch which is kind of like a zigzag ttouch but done with both hands crisscrossing. This is a ttouch only to do with a cat or kitten who is EXTREMELY comfortable with you. She was purrrrrring the entire time.

Next is Smoky (above) and Oreo (below), who are best pals and cagemates. Today Smoky came out of the cage and I kept her out by herself as her pal Oreo is generally an attention hog so this was a chance to get in some good TTouch w/her. She is a very gentle, sweet personality and I feel so much gratitude from her when I spend time with her. She laid on her side right against me as I sat on the couch. She really relaxed there. I did slow chimp TTouches, llama and abalone ttouches, as well as ear strokes on her, and she was very calmed by it.

Oreo is a dear cat as well but I use a different approach with her than with Smoky, as Oreo can get over-stimulated - so I do a little bit at a time with her, focusing on touches on her head initially, then working in ttouches on the body.

Below is Diego. He may look a little tentative in the photo, but he is really a sweetheart -- I think he is just camera-shy.

Diego came out of the cage and settled on the floor right next to me. He responds most to slow abalone ttouches with a pause at the end. I also did some slow zigzag ttouches from one end of his body to the other, going all the way down to his paws. I also tried a few belly lifts with him. He seemed extremely comforted by the touches and he kissed me and head-bumped me.

Last are Rascal (above), Buster (spotted cat below) and Ophelia (calico at bottom). These three youngsters are about 5 months old, I would guess, and are in a cage together. They are very social and sweet. Ophelia is more hesitant to be held than the other two but is fine being TTouched, so I did TTouch on her while she was in the cage. The other two I took out separately and sat on my lap while I did TTouch on them. All three of them never stopped purring!

Love to all these kitties and may they be adopted soon.

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Mayor's Alliance cats - September 6

Today I went again to work on the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats through Tavi and Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program.

Above you see Sunnie squishing her brother Shadow. These two are both extremely friendly and responsive to TTouch. As you see in the photos, they wait at the front of the cage for me to take them out. They really are so dear!

I took them out one by one to do TTouch, holding them on my lap. They both purred the entire time. They particularly responded to ear strokes, clouded leopard touch on their body, and tarantula pulling the plow TTouch (I will have to do a video of this TTouch, it is easier to show than to describe!). They were both so reluctant to be put back in their cage, and I took them each out a couple of times as they were so irresistible.


Ziggy (above) is quite a character, he also comes to the front of the cage and puts his little nose thru the hole, waiting for me. I primarily did zigzag TTouches on him as he walked back and forth, rubbing his body against my hand.

Vaska (above) has such a sense of humor, as you can see by the photo. He always manages to put himself in a funny position and then gets my attention by meowing to me. He was very energetic and so I let him out of his cage. He rubbing himself against me and stretched out on his side. I did clouded leopard TTouches on him, chimp TTouches and a range of other TTouches while he was out of the cage.

Zorro is a sweet guy as well. He especially responds to sssllloooow zigzag TTouches down his body and then connected abalone TTouches (circular TTouches using the whole hand). Often I hold his body against my leg as I do the abalone TTouches on the opposite side.

The three young rascals above, from left to right, are Rascal, Buster and Ophelia. They all wanted to get out but I let them out one by one to do TTouch on them. Ophelia mostly was in a mood to play, but Buster and Rascal both settled on my lap for some TTouch on their body, and ear TTouch and raccoon TTouch on their heads. They are very sweet!

Above are Smoky (top) and Oreo (bottom). Oreo can get over-stimulated sometimes, so I generally do TTouch on him for very short bits of time, but Smoky can take a longer TTouch session, as he is a very gentle personality and the TTouch really relaxes and settles him.

I didn't get a good photo of Diego this time, but he is a stunning tabby with a swirly jungle pattern. His favorite TTouches are hair slides and very slow abalone ttouches with a pause at the end. He relaxes, stretches out his back and purrs like crazy as I do this.

Above and below is Irene. She was purring the whole time I was working on her, and was waiting at the front of the cage for me, giving me a litttle meow. She actually was the first cat I worked on today, but I worked on her several times while I was there. She was really craving attention, which I was so happy to give to her. She still backs away a little when I initially put my hand in, but I am starting to think this might be due to a lack of depth perception as she is cross-eyed. She is now more and more comfortable with TTouches on her body, whereas initially she had only wanted me to do TTouch on her head. I did abalone, llama and zigzag ttouches on her body and chimp ttouches and raccoon ttouches on her head. I tend to still do a fair amount of ttouches which use the back surface of my hand, so as not to startle her.

These kitties really have crawled into my heart - I look forward to seeing them every week :)

Mayor's Alliance Cats Aug. 30: Irene Comes Out of the Cage

Irene is one of the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats which I am working on through Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program. She is a sweetheart, and has really been coming around. When I first started working with her, she wanted to mostly stay in her litter box at the back of her cage. Today, she was coming to the front of the cage to greet me, and would stay at the front of her cage to observe as I was doing TTouch on some of the cats in the other cages. Above you see a photo of her right next to the glass.

And below, you will see part of our session. As with many cats, I would work with her for a while, then give her a break and work on another cat, then come back to her again. And this time, towards the end of my session there, she came right out of the cage, for the first time since I have been working with her. I picked her up and she was quite comfortable being held in my arms. I did some slow clouded leopard touches and ear strokes on her as I held her before putting her back in the cage.

When you touch her in the cage, she still will hesitate a bit before you touch her, but then once you do, she is quite responsive. She is also getting more comfortable with being touched on her body than she was previously.

It is so lovely to see her becoming so much more confident.

Mayor's Alliance Cats Aug 23 - Irene

Irene is one of the lovely Mayor's Alliance cats who I am working on through Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue Program. I have to admit I am getting so attached to this sweet little soul. I also keep wondering what her vision is like, as she is cross-eyed, and wonder if that is what causes her to have a rather shy personality.

She is really coming around though. She still will flinch a bit when you first open her cage, but she is getting more and more comfortable being touched, and this time was more at ease when I transitioned from touching her on the head to touching her on the body.


And this time, she really got to purring for me, which was so sweet to see. I did still start out with raccoon and chimp TTouches on the head and mouth area, and then began to work in llama TTouches and abalone TTouches on her body, as I thought these TTouches would be comforting to her. I worked with Irene three or four times while I was there today, giving her breaks and working on other cats in between these minisessions. Below you will see parts of an earlier minisession and a later minisession I did with her.



In this second minisession below, you will see her getting quite comfortable, kneading with her paws. At the end of the clip she has perhaps had enough and stands up, but she is purring away and so I did a little more with her on her head after she stood up.



and then, just for fun, below is a cip showing her munching away on her food, something many cats will do during or after TTouch :)

August 9 At the Mayor's Alliance: Irene

Irene is a sweet, shy kitty who recently arrived at the boarding facility which houses some of the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats. I am working on these cats thru Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program. Irene was initially in her litter box, and stayed there most of the time while I did TTouch on her. I mostly did circular touches on her head - her forehead, which is a great area to do TTouch on shy animals, and then other places on her head, around the outside of her mouth, some ear strokes, and later on I started to work in some strokes down her body, though she was hesitant at first to be touched there. I used back surfaces of my hand and fingers, as the back surfaces are less threatening, particularly to a shy animal. I tried to keep the touches pretty slow, and often did a pause at the end, which can give them time to process the work. I gave her breaks and each time I went back to work on her a little more, she seemed more comfortable with me. As a side note, I noticed she is cross-eyed, so I wonder what her vision is like.I look forward to working on her more!