Macduff and Misty - Oct 13

Hi folks, today I went to work with friend and animal communicator Eileen Garfinkel;s cats. Misty was taken in a few months ago when Eileen's neighbor passed away, and Duff is having a hard time adjusting to having her there. In addition, Misty has had some health problems, so since Eileen has had to spend time and energy helping Misty with the health problems, this makes Duff feel even more put out. Misty continues to try to make friends with Duff (pictured below), and tries to be low-key and out of the way.

I have been doing TTouch and Reiki on both of her cats, in hopes that making both cats feel more comfortable will eventually help them to be more comfortable with each other.

Today Misty was interested in hanging out in a little bag in the closet, one of her latest cozy spots, and Duff initially ran away from me, hiding under the bed. I left both of them alone for a bit. Then I went into the bedroom, sad down on the floor and Duff was peering around the edge of the bed at me. I offered him Reiki from where I was. He seemed interested, got closer and closer and then went by me and into the living room, into one of his cozy spots, his carrier. He seemed to not want to be touched, but when I began to offer him Reiki again from several feet away, I found him to be receptive and I moved closer until I was about a foot or so away. I could feel energy streaming out of my hands and imagined light all around him. He got very relaxed, was blinking at me and then settled into an almost-nap, occasionally peering at me out of one eye and then closing it again. When I felt it had been enough for him, I thanked him and ended the session with him. He looked extremely relaxed.

Then I went to see Misty (pictured above) in the closet. I sat alongside her and gently did some small circles on her head. Many times she can only take being touched for a very short time, so I stopped a bunch of times as I went, to give her a break and make sure I was not overwhelming her. As I continued, I began to work in ear strokes, raccoon touches on the outside of the mouth, and then abalone ttouches going down her body. First I heard a faint purr and then she purred louder and louder as we went. She seemed more comfortable than I have ever seen her, and was at ease having me do TTouch on her for a longer time than she has ever done before. She really settled into the touches, and seemed to want me to continue for a long time. When she had enough, she gracefully got up and walked into the next room and finished eating her food, then went to play with one of her toys.

I was so glad to see this, and happy to see that her energy in general seems better, that she is much more alert and seems healthier than I have seen her before. She has also had a better appetite, so all of that is great. There do seem to be some signs that Duff is letting his guard down with Misty a bit too. Eileen is doing all manner of things to make both cats comfortable and confident, including bach flower remedies, proper nutrition, communitating with the cats (she is an animal communicator), etc. and all these things seem to be gently moving things in a positive direction. I look forward to continuing working with Eileen and her lovely cats.

TTouch and Reiki with Macduff and Misty

I went again to work on Eileen's cats, Macduff (above) and Misty (below). Macduff will often be OK with Misty resting in fairly close proximity to him, but he still can get hissy and swatty with her when she tries to engage with him or if she gets closer to him than he is comfortable with. Meanwhile, Misty is being treated for IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease). She seems like she would would enjoy being able to engage in play with Duff but since that doesn't seem possible right now she is content to hang out on her own, and loves to nap in the window perch.

Macduff was initially in his carrier, so I first offered him Reiki sitting just outside of his carrier. He was receptive to this and started to look very relaxed. After a few minutes, he came out of his carrier, as Eileen was in the kitchen, so he wanted to see what was happening there. After he had a break, he settled under the dining room table, which is one of his comfortable spots. I sat alongside of him and had my hands open and began to offer him Reiki. I started to really feel the energy flow out of my hands, and felt him become very relaxed as I felt him absorbing the energy. My hands were really buzzing. We stayed here for quite a while, in a bubble of calm energy. I wondered if I might touch him very gently, so I did a few strokes on the back of his head with the back of my fingers, and a few chimp TTouches on his head. I didn't want to push the issue too much, so just did this for a very short time. Later after he had a break, I tried to see if I might touch him but he swatted and so I let him be.

Misty was a bit restless, which seems to be usual for her. I did a few TTouches on her here and there, but initially she wasn't interested in settling. She can be ultra-sensitive to being touched and often does not want to be touched for more than a few seconds at a time. After a while, when she was settled in her window perch, she became very relaxed and, like last time, I did raccoon TTouches on her forehead and abalone TTouches on her body. She was very relaxed while I did these TTouches and didn't try to run away as she sometimes does. I was speaking to Eileen as I did this -- and perhaps the conversation made her feel relaxed as well. She seemed very content as I did these gentle TTouches on her.

Eileen and I will be taking a Bach Flower remedy class soon -- it will be interesting to see what remedies might be good for these two dear cats. I hope that over time, Macduff will be more relaxed about having Misty in his home and realize that she really does not want to take over, that he really is still truly the king. Of course, Eileen reminds him of this all the time, but I guess it will take him a while to really feel sure.

TTouch and Reiki with Macduff and Misty: Sept 14

I went again to work on my friend and animal communicator Eileen's cats Macduff and Misty. They are still mostly keeping quite separate from each other and Macduff can still be moody, but they are making some progress being near each other without incident. There are better days and worse days, but in general, Macduff is starting to go back to places which he previously liked but he had been avoiding for a while, and he is able to have Misty be nearer to him or go in places that are usually his places without putting up a fuss (or less of a fuss). Misty still is having digestive issues, which have been treated homeopathically but Eileen is going to consult a conventional vet as well very soon.

Macduff was acting quite sensitive today. Though when I said hello to him, he stretched out and relaxed, he was reluctant to be touched other than a short spurt of TTouch on his forehead area. I gave him a break, and then decided to see if he would accept Reiki from a couple of feet away. At first his tail was twitching, but the twitching slowed until it stopped, then he put his head down and closed his eyes. I could feel light and energy passing back and forth and felt like we really connected, and that he was able to relax.

With Misty, I began by doing raccoon touches on her head area for a bit, then gave her a break. When I came back to her, she was in a sleepy mode and was on the cat perch as shown below. She was very comfortable with me doing very slow abalone TTouches on her body. She is so sensitive that I used a very light pressure with her, just barely enough to move the skin around in a circle. I did a pause at the end of each touch, and reminded myself to slow myself down and to keep the touches slow. She was comfortable with me doing these TTouches on her for a much longer period of time than is usual for her. I felt her back stretch out and her body really relax. Below you see her afterwards, taking a nap.

I really enjoy working with these two and they are continually reminding me to be patient, to stay in the moment and to truly meet them where they are.

Misty and MacDuff: August 31

Today I went back to work on my friend, animal communicator Eileen Garfinkel's cats, MacDuff and Misty. MacDuff has lived with Eileen for several years and she took in Misty recently when a neighbor passed away. MacDuff still appears to feel put-out by Misty's presence, though Misty is gentle and sweet and not trying to dominate MacDuff's kingdom in the least. However, they do seem to be able to lie down in closer proximity to each other peacefully more than they had initially, so that feels like progress.



Today MacDuff acted stand-offish and like he was not really in the mood to be touched, so I only touched him a little bit, and then did some Reiki on him from a distance later on in the session. I alternated between TTouching or offering Reiki to Misty and then doing a few touches on MacDuff or simply just sitting close to where he was and speaking in a calm voice. Most of the time they were each in different parts of the apartment.

First with Misty I did some Reiki about a foot from her lower back. She is an extremely sensitive cat and is still having some digestive issues, so I did this for fairly short time then stopped as I felt it was enough.

I tried a couple of times to do some TTouch on Duff, starting on his head. He was not in the mood at all, so I had to respect this and give him his space. I ended up doing an extended Reiki session on him standing with my hands 2-3 feet away, he seemed to settle as I did this. It really felt today like he needed to have space.

A while after finishing Reiki on MacDuff, I tried doing some TTouch on Misty. Today she was very responsive to small circles and strokes on her forehead, the base of her ears, and then especially responded to me doing a circle then a stroke outside her mouth area. This was the longest period of TTouch which I have done on Misty. Usually she is so sensitive that only a very short time feels appropriate with her, but today she really settled in for a longer session. She was sitting in closet at that time and seemed most settled there, as that is one of her especially cozy spots.

These kitties are continually reminding me that I need to really stay in the moment with them and be respectful of what they are ready to have happen. I am also reminded that I cannot go in there with specific expectations as to what will happen, again I truly have to be right in the moment with them and then I can see what is possible. I have to thank these animals every day for how much they teach me.