TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: May 23

A very sweet day, as usual, with the Mayor's Alliance Rescue cats thru Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program. Lee (above), who initially was crouched in his litter box terrified, now can't wait to come out for attention, and he waits at the front of the cage meowing to me. He immediately jumped out of his cage when I opened it, and began to rub his head against my hand. With him, I feel the very comforting TTouches which use larger surfaces of my hand, such as the abalone TTouch (circular TTouch using the whole hand) and llama TTouch (circular TTouch w/the back of the fingers) seem to be the ones that fit him, as they are warm and soothing. I also did some zigzag TTouches with him, which is a great connecting TTouch, and some ear work.

Sorry Blackie, this isn't the best pic! Blackie also really responds to the abalone TTouch, and I use the jelly scrubber with her also, as she finds this soothing and since it is a tool instead of a hand, it is less apt to be over-stimulating to her. She was PURRRRRRING today, a lovely sound to hear from her :)

Kobie is a sweet little guy, who is completely relaxed and friendly, responsive to any of the Ttouches, especially the chimp TTouch. He is an active guy, so I just do a few TTouches here and there, let him go on his way, then do a few more.

Honey is very sweet, but still seems a bit hyper-sensitive, so I am careful to just do a little TTouch at a time with her. I mostly do chimp TTouches (which use the back surface of the middle section of the fingers) and raccoon ttouches (tips of fingers) on her head, and then incorporate some slides down the body with the back of my fingers and hand.

Blackie 2 (above) and Kitty (below) were both friendly from the beginning but a little daunted by the other cats. They are now both more outgoing. Kitty is more dominant than Blackie 2, and sometimes pushes Blackie 2 away. Blackie 2 is getting more brave though, and today readily came out of his cage, came up on the couch with me and started rubbing against me. With him I did hair slides, abalone TTouches and chimp TTouches, all done slowly, for a soothing effect.

Lucky (below) has a sweet personality but I am very conscious to be especially gentle with her as she can be hyper-sensitive, especially reacting to any sudden sounds. I did TTouches with the back of my finger on her forehead, which can be a very soothing place to work for frightened cats.

Marette is still a little shy, but very sweet. I feel that she really craves attention, but is just a little hesitant. I let her out of her cage and wait til she comes to me, do a few TTouches on her, then she goes away a bit, then comes back for more, etc. I started out with chimp and abalone TTouches but then found that she REALLY settled when I did ear strokes and mouth work (doing little raccoon TTouches along the outside of her mouth area). The mouth area can be connected w/the limbic system, which is connected to the emotions, so this is a great area to work for frightened cats, if you can work there safely (not be bitten!). In the photo below, she seems to be wondering what my hand will do next :)

Mila is very sweet, and gets very excited once I start to TTouch her gently on the head. She came forward in her cage, rubbing against her cage and against my hand. So her energy didn't get too over the top, I gave her frequent breaks (with her today, just a break for a few seconds, watch her body language, then if it seems ok go back to TTouching a bit). I primarily did TTouches with her using the back surfaces of my hand and fingers, which is a less intense feeling than the front surfaces.

Munchie (above and below) is really coming along. He started out a bit on the skittish side, and still often will initially be in the back of the cage. But when I opened the cage and waited for him, he came right to the front for me, as I did chimp TTouches and llama TTouches with him, and then he came out of the cage and up onto the couch w/me, rubbing against me. I could feel his energy go from a bit overwhelming to a more relaxed energy as I worked with him.

Thanks, all you kitties, look forward to seeing you soon, unless you get fostered or adopted, which would be great :)

TTouch and Reiki with the Mayor's Alliance Cats: April 11

When I went to work with the Mayor's Alliance cats today thru Tavi and Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program, there were some new cats there, as well as some who I have worked with for a while. Above is Blackie 2, who was in a cage with a grey and white kitty named Kitty. They are both a little on the reticent side, so I began working with them by doing TTouch using a feather. Blackie 2 responded to the feather, and started rubbing her body into the touch. I did some Ttouch with my hand as well, and she was quite comfortable with that, but was hesitant to come out of the cage and into the room. Kitty also responded really well to the feather and then to TTouches directly with my hand. She came out of the cage, but was a bit startled once she got out, walking very low to the ground. She was more comfortable being touched inside the cage.






Hank (above) is also new, and he looks a little wistful here, but he is actually extremely friendly and outgoing. As I wasn't sure what his personality was at first, I began with him using touches with the back of my hand, such as the chimp touch and the llama TTouch, followed by Noah's March (straight stroke using the back of my hand).









Honey is very sweet, and is becoming more outgoing. She can get over-stimulated though, so with her I also used TTouches with the back of my hand - chimp TTouch, llama TTouch, then Noah's march using the back of my hand. I give her a lot of breaks, waiting for her to be ready, and this works very well with her.









Lee is a new guy, with such a sweet, endearing face. He was frozen, terrified in his litter box when I first opened the cage. You can see a clip which shows my work with him from this week and next week (yes, I'm a bit behind on my posts!) at my youtube site at http://www.youtube.com/sarahsuricat#p/a/u/0/H_DnnXau-WE


I started out with him by using the back scratcher, doing little circles and strokes on his head at a very slow tempo, on his forehead and ears. I gave him frequent breaks. As I worked with him, I felt his ears soften and his face began to look more calm. Later on, I worked with him again and he REALLY responded to the back scratcher this time, rubbing against it. Gradually I could touch both his head and his body using the back scratcher (initially his body had been frozen stiff and he had been growling and hissing), and he even came forward in the cage and out of the litter box, continuing to rub his head against the back scratcher and against the cage.









Maddie is so sweet and funny, she gets so excited about coming out of the cage for contact that she starts drooling. I did chimp TTouch and clouded leopard TTouch as she walked back and forth across my lap, purring and drooling all the while. She would bump her head up against my hand as well.












Marette is very sweet, but is still a little shy. She can get nervous easily, so I do a few TTouches on her, stop, give her a break, then try again. The Ttouch she responded to most today was the chomp TTouch on her head and a bit on her body, followed by Noah's March using the back of my hand.






Mishu is a gentle, friendly kitten. She was purring the entire time. I did chimp TTouches on her, as well as ear strokes, and she was pushing her body into the touches as I did them.




Munchie is getting more and more friendly. He still can start out a little shy, or swat a bit since he is playful, so I start out with him using a paintbrush or other tool, then do TTouch on him directly with my hand.

Nene is so gentle and sweet. As he can be a bit on the timid side, the TTouches he responds to best are the abalone TTouches, which use the whole hand and can be very comforting.

Spock is an extremely affectionate cat, also quite an inquisitive cat. He came right out of his cage and onto my lap as I sat on the couch. I did TTouch on his head, connected chimp touches down each side of his body and he stretched out and became quite relaxed.

TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: April 4, 2011

I had a lovely time, as usual, with the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats who I work with thru Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program.
Spock (above) is such a sweet, friendly guy. He came out of his cage and settled on my lap while I sat on the couch and did TTouch with him. I did little raccoon TTouches on his head, connected chimp TTouches on his body, and did ear strokes and mouth work with him as well.



Pedro is quite a character. He was very excited to have attention when he got out of his cage and came right up in my face to give a kiss. I did some slower abalone TTouches with him, as he can get over-stimulated. Abalone TTouches are circular touches using the whole hand, so they have a more relaxing, calming effect, which some of the TTouches uisng less of a surface of the hand and fingers are more focused. Another touch that worked really well to calm him was doing an abalone TTouch followed by a long, slow stroke down his body.

Nene is a sweet cat and loves people but can get a bit intimidated by other cats. I do generally take these cats out of their cages one by one to work with them, but you can tell by his interaction with the cats that are still in their cages that he is a bit of a shy boy when it comes to the other cats. Today, as he seemed to be a bit keyed up, I did gentle, slow raccoon TTouches (using the tips of the fingers) on his forehead. The forehead can be a wonderful area to work to calm a nervous cat.

Munchie is a young little guy who often wants to play instead of being touched. He is still a little hesitant to be touched directly with a hand, so I started out using the back scratcher and the paintbrush to do little circles and strokes on his head and body. He became very relaxed with this, and playful as well, sometimes playing with the tool, other times relaxing into the touch.

Maddie is just too cute. She gets so excited for contact that she drools. I sat on the couch and at first she was walking back and forth across my lap, as I did some circles and strokes on her. Then I began to do some hair slides, which are a bit hard to describe, but you hold on (not hard) to a bit of fur and stroke it out to the tip of the fur, a bit like combing the fur with your hands (fingers kept together). I found that these were particularly calming for Maddie, and she settled as I did these going down her body.

Mack is a sweet little guy. When you first open his cage, sometimes he can seem a bit shy but once I bring him out onto the couch, he is extremely affectionate. I did chimp TTouches going down his back, and ear strokes are very calming to him. He was rubbing against my hand as I did this with him.

Honey can still get a little over-stimulated and swat or meow, she still seems a bit nervous. She warmed up and got quite comfortable as I did TTouch with her. Because she is still shy, I alternated between TTouching her with the back scratcher and doing chimp and llama TTouches with her. Both the chimp and llama use back surfaces of the hand and fingers, which are less intense than using the front surfaces of the hand, so these are great TTouches to do when you are just starting to get an animal used to being TTouched. As always, you can see demos of many of these touches on my youtube site, http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat. Please feel free to visit the site, and email me with any questions you may have.

Marette is a sweet cat, but is still a bit unsure, so I am still very gradual in my approach with her as well. Today I found that she was especially receptive to being TTouched with a small (one inch) foam brush. I did little circular TTouches and strokes around her head, as well as strokes going down her body.

Blackie is generally eager for attention, but can get over-stimulated with too much touch, so I was extra-quiet and slow in my approach with her. I did small circular TTouches and hair slides around her head, and a few hair slides around the top of her chest area. I also discovered that she is quite sensitive around her hind-quarters. I tried using a jelly scrubber (actually a horse-grooming tool) to do some gentle circles and strokes around the lower half of her body. Initially, she was resistant to this, but then I eased up with the pressure I was using and she settled into it.

Buddy is such a gentle soul. He is FIV positive, so will have to be adopted either as a solo cat or into a household with other FIV-positive cats. I don't know if it's just coincidence, but it seems that all the FIV positive cats who I have met seem to be the most gentle, sweet cats. I did gentle hair slides on his head, and abalone TTouches on his body, and he really spread out and let go, which was such a pleasure to see.

Thanks to all of you sweet cats, I'll see you soon, unless you get adopted :)

TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats, March 28

There is a bigger gang of kitties at the boarding facility where I work with the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats these days, so I had my hands full when I went there. Blackie is a friendly cat, but I think she was a bit over-excited today and she started to hiss after a few TTouches on her head. So I decided to back off, and did Reiki with her from a short distance away (about a foot). Within a fairly short time, she really became relaxed. Buddy is a gentle, very sweet cat. Initially he was in the back of the cage, but after a few TTouches he came to the front of his cage. He was in a relaxed mood, and seemed to feel like staying in his cage this time. I did gentle TTouches around his ears and forehead, which he found to be very calming. He has such a wise, kind face! Honey was extremely shy last week when I worked with her. She is still a bit shy initially, so I worked with her very gradually. She was comfortable with TTouches on the head, but seemed a bit startled when I started to work in some TTouches on the body. To help her relax, I backed off doing TTouches on her in the cage, and instead offered her Reiki from a short distance away. After a few minutes, she walked out of her cage and came right towards me. She rubbed herself against my corduroy pants (around my shin area - and betan walking back and forth, rubbing against me. I decided to try moving my legs in a circular motion as she did this, then did some very light llama TTouches going from her head to her back as she walked by. What helped her really turn the corner today was backing off, offering her Reiki and letting her come to me as she was comfortable. I continued sending her Reiki energy as I did the TTouches on her as well. Kobie, is a friendly, but active little guy. As I did some TTouches on him, he laid on his side for a bit, then got up and ran around for a bit again. As he is generally pretty high energy, I try to use slow, calming TTouches, so I used the abalone TTouch on him (circular TTouches using the whole hand), then tarantula pulling the plough, which helps to connect down the back, and some slow zigzags. I offered him some hands-on Reiki as well, which helped to calm his energy. Maddie is very friendly, and gets so excited for contact that she actually drooled while I was interacting with her. She walked back and forth across my lap as I did abalone TTouches and slow mouth TTouches with her. Marette is so cute and quite a character, as you can see from the photo above :) She is still somewhat shy and can get startled easily though. I used a small one-inch foam brush to do some small circular TTouches around the outside of her mouth and around her ears and head. After this, she decided to come out of her cage, so I did some slow TTouches on her, just a few at a time, and offered her Reiki as well. Munchie still shys away from contact initially but then starts seeking contact. He is very playful. After I opened his cage, today he started rubbing himself against the cage instead of staying at the back of teh cage. He batted at the back scratcher when I started to use it with him, but then was more receptive when I used two long feathers to work with him. He played with one feather while I touched him with the other feather. When I do TTouches using a feather, I do very light circular touches, making the usual circle and a quarther, starting at 6 o clock and going all the way around and back to 9 o'clock. I intersperse these with straight strokes going down the body or stroking on the head. Nene is a gentle, sweet cat. He can get a bit frightened of the other cats, and today he seemed to feel like staying in his cage, so I did TTouches on him there. I did very slow, soothing Abalone TTouches on him, as well as ear strokes. These helped to calm and settle him. Pedro, who had initially been a bit reticent, is now extremely friendly and comfortable. He came right up to me and rubbed his head against my head. I did slow TTouches on his forehead, which can be a great place to do calming TTouches. He came out of the cage and came to me when I called him from the couch and settled on my lap I did slow abalone TTouches on him while he stayed there. Great to see him so outgoing and affectionate. Spock (above and below) is a very engaging, friendly new tuxedo cat, seems to be a very young cat. He had been meowing and waiting at the front of his cage for attention. I sat on the couch and called to him and he came and spread himself out right on my lap, very sweet. I did little raccoon TTouches on his head and ears, then did clouded leopard TTouches going down his body on either side. I also did some slow zigzag TTouches for a very connecting, calming feeling. Tango (below) has been there for a while. He has a bit of trouble using his back legs completely (thought to perhaps be a neurological issue), tends to swing them around his body instead of fully bending and using them, but his walking has been getting easier, more natural and smoother little by little each week. I have used a Ttouch wrap on him a few times, but he really was not interested in having the wrap put on him this week, so I did very slow octopus TTouches (like double zigzag TTouches) going all over his body from front to back and down his legs as well, sort of like a slowly moving wrap going around his body. This can have a similar effect to the wrap in that it gently increases body awareness and connection. I also did slow connected clouded leopard TTouches going down either side of his back. Mack (below) is an extremely gentle, sweet cat. Sometimes he is a bit reluctant to come right out of his cage, though, as you can see, he waits right at the front of his cage for attention. He is very friendly and receptive to touch when I bring him out of his cage and is completely fine with being picked up. I did gentle ear strokes with him, which can be extremely calming. His ears are on the big side, and he especially responds to the ear strokes. I also did slow, connected clouded leopard TTouches down his body to give him more body awareness and confidence. When I had finished working with all the cats, I spent a little time standing in the middle of the room, sending gentle Reiki energy to all of them. Much love to all these cats and hoping for them all to go to wonderful forever homes soon.

TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: March 21

Fun day today with the Mayor's Alliance Rescue cats through Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program, some new cats and some cats I have been friends with for a while. It is great that the setup often allows for the cats be let out of their cages to work with them. The first cat I worked with today is Blackie. She is a cat who is sensitive being touched on her back end, she will grown a bit if you go there. I did manage to work in a few slow abalone touches in that area, gently working down her back. Then I went back to working on her upper body, and did some raccoon TTouches on her forehead, and some ear strokes. I work very gently and slowly, giving her breaks, as she is quite sensitive in general and can become overstimulated. I worked with Honey a couple of times during my session there today. She is new, and was rather frightened, so I first did TTouch on her head, then did some Reiki with her, focusing on the key chakras and heart chakras. Hands-on seemed to be too intense for her, so I then moved a short distance away from her, and she was very receptive. When I came back to her later in the session, she rubbed her head against my hand as I did some TTouches with her. I kept that session short as I didn't want to overwhelm her. I've worked with Kobie (above) for a while, and he is always excited to come outof his cage, waiting for me with his paws up against the front of his cage. I did some llama TTouches and chimp touches on him here and there, as he was really more in a mood to play today. Mack is very familiar and friendly with me now, and was in the mood to play, so I mostly did some TTouches on him with the back of my hand, calming his energy a bit. Maddie is new. She was in the back of the cage initially, and slowly came towards me, meowing when I opened the door to her cage. I wasn't quite sure whether it was a friendly meow or not so I was a bit cautious with her at first, but soon she was rubbing her head against my hand, and even sitting up on her back legs and pushing against my hand. I did Chimp TTouch, Llama, TTouch, Noah's march using the back of my hand as she came towards me and started walking back and forth, rubbing herself against me. Turns out it was indeed a friendly meow at that! Magette was also new, and is rather skittish. I started out using a foam brush, doing little circles on the outside of her mouth area, which is a great area to work on fearful cats. She was very responsive to this. I also tried using the back scratcher with her, but she seemed to think this was too large a surface and seemed frightened of this, so I stopped. Then I was able to do a few TTouches on her body using my hand, but I kept this short. Munchie is new, and was hiding in the corner initially. I began doing some circular TTouches on him, using a plastic back scratcher, and he really responded to this. Within a short time, I was able to work my hand down the handle of the back scratcher to do some TTouches directly with my hand on him. Later I was able to do more TTouches on him using my hand, and he was very responsive, rolling around and looking very comfortable. Mack is a very sweet, gentle cat who can get a bit startled around other cats. I find that with him, the TTouches he responds to the most are abalone TTouches, done very slowly going down his body. He finds these very relaxing. Pedro is quite a character. Sometimes he puts his paws on my chest and comes right up to say hello. I did connected clouded leopard TTouches and abalone TTouches on his body. I also found he really responded to Reiki - I worked on the key chakra, heart and solar plexus chakras, and he really settled into the energy. He can be a bit on the tense side, so this worked really well.

With Tango, I used the Tarantulas Pulling the Plough touch, clouded leopard TTouches down his back, and the zigzag and octopus TTouches. All of these are great for connecting the front and back ends of the body, which is especially important for him as he has a bit of an issue with his back legs, which seems to be easing up as time goes by. I also put a folded-up ace bandage across his back (instead of doing a body wrap with him using the bandage) just to remind him of his back, and help bring him back into his body. Sometimes I have done a half-wrap with him, but this time I felt that placing it over his body was enough.

Thank you one and all, look forward to seeing you soon (unless you get adopted, which would be even better)!