Balance and Change in a Multi-Cat Household: Peanut, Rocky and Mushroom

Above:  Peanut
Most cats find changes in the household difficult, so it often will take some strategizing, and sometimes approaching from a few different directions to help deal with the stresses of a new situation.  TTouch., Reiki and Bach Flower remedies can often be of great help in creating a more harmonious atmosphere.
Dominque called me because one of her cats, Peanut, is very stressed.  In the past months, a new cat and a new human baby have come into the household, so that is quite a lot of change.  The new kitty is a playful little youngster (about 4-5 months old) named Rocky.  Peanut had been attacking Rocky often, sometimes quite aggressively.  Peanut pretty much ignores the baby, but I'm sure there are many changes in the routine, etc. of the household as a result of the baby's presence that Peanut is feeling. 
Peanut has also had an ongoing issue that has gone on for years with peeing and sometimes pooping outside of the box.  Dominque has had Peanut checked out regularly by the vet and it has been determined that there is not a medical issue causing this.  The vet had recently prescribed Prozac and when I first met with the gang, she said that so far the Prozac didn't seem to be having any effect on Peanut.
There is a third cat in the household, Mushroom. who has been in the household for some time (Peanut was the first, then Mushroom, then Rocky).  Mushroom and Peanut do tussle sometimes, but Dominique was not so worried about these fights, as they did not seem so serious or scary.
Dominique has been doing her best to try to help, and had tried a variety of things to try to calm the atmosphere and help the situation before she calle me, but nothing was working as well as she would like it to.  She was especially concerned about the ongoing attacks on Rocky by Peanut.  They had been keeping Rocky separate from Peanut for quite a while but were finding it harder and harder to do.  They do keep an eye on the cats so they can separate them if they start to fight.
I spent the first appointment doing TTouches with Peanut and showing Dominique how to do the TTouches so she would be able to do them as well.  Peanut was very receptive to the TTouches and Dominique picked them up very well.   Usually Reiki is flowing through my TTouches but sometimes I will stop the TTouches to just let the Reiki flow on its own, as I did during part of this appointment, and I felt that Peanut was able to reach an even deeper level of calm while doing this.  Peanut is a very intense cat, and as I felt the Reiki flowing, I felt her letting go in a very deep way, as though she had been holding some of this tension for quite a while.  It was lovely to see her stretch out and really relax.
We also tried the Thundershirt with Peanut.  I don't suggest the Thundershirt for every cat, as some cats are so stressed by having the shirt put on that it is not worth it.  Cats are not used to having clothing put on their bodies.  But Peanut was very cooperative, and was calmed by the Thundershirt.  She did temporarily seem to lose control of her back legs, probably because this was such a new feeling for her.  It is good to get the cat moving by offering treats, etc, so it doesn't feel frozen when the Thundershirt is on, especially for the first time.  And it is also good to introduce the shirt in steps, if possible - first you can offer a treat to the cat on the shirt, then drape it over the back of the cat, then wrap it part way around them, then all the way around.  Dominique decided to keep the Thundershirt and continue to use it with Peanut.
For subsequent sessions, we decided to focus on Reiki, and Dominique could work with Peanut and the gang with TTouches on her own.  I suggested that she and her husband simultaneously work on two cats at a time, especially Peanut and Rocky.  I also made Bach Flower Remedies for all three cats, to help to encourage more harmony in the dynamics between the three cats.

After the first Reiki appointment, Dominique said things were getting better, Peanut was fighting with Rocky less, peeing somewhat less too.  But the peeing has been going on for a very long time, so I would expect a long-time pattern of behavior to take longer to subside. 
In addition to what we were already doing, I explained to Dominique the importance of positive visualization.  When our pets get into an unwanted pattern of behavior, we most often keep picturing that behavior, instead of the preferred behavior.  In this case, some positive images could be seeing Peanut and Rocky playing or sleeping near each other peacefully, or Peanut peeing in the litter box .
During the second Reiki session, I began to send Reiki to Peanut when she was on the floor, then Dominique brought Peanut up on the couch.  Peanut then began to really settle into the Reiki.  At one point Dominique left the room with the baby.  I was not sure how Peanut would react to this, but she continued to settle even further into the Reiki energy, stretching out on her side.  She fell asleep, then turned over on other side, placing body in my hands.  Initially she had been hesitant for me to have my hands directly on her, as the energy can be very intense, but once she began to relax, she was completely comfortable with my hands resting on her body lightly.  Peanut is a very intense cat, so it was so sweet to see her really let go.  Almost exactly an hour later, Peanut just stood up and very gracefully walked away, as if to say she was done with the session. 

 









Above:  Rocky
While I was offering Reiki to Peanut, I didn't see what was going on behind my back.  After Peanut got up, I realized that Rocky was asleep on the other side of me, and Mushroom was also napping.

 









Above:  Mushroom
At some point while I was working with Peanut, Mushroom had started to meow to ask to go out in the back yard, but then had quieted down as the Reiki session continued.  And it was lovely to see that Rocky was sleeping peacefully in such close proximity to Peanut.
The following week, Dominique said that things were getting better in general.  Peanut was being nicer to Rocky. She said she was no longer afraid was that Peanut was going to hurt Rocky, and that Rocky wasn't terrified of Peanut any more.  I was so glad to hear this, as this was a substantial positive shift in a short time.  What she said to me also helped confirm to me that the Bach Flower remedies were most likely helping the shift in this dynamic, as I had taken into consideration Rocky's fear of Peanut as well as Peanut's reactive behavior towards Rocky when making the remedies (and, of course, Mushroom's issues as well when making her remedy). 
There was a time while I was working with the cats in this session when Peanut briefly went after Rocky, but this time Rocky had started it, swatting at Peanut’s switching tail.
During this session, Peanut settled into hands-on reiki for about 25 minutes.  Then she got up to wander around a bit.  Then she settled into the Reiki just for a short bit, then would walk away, then settle for a bit more, then walk away.  This time Dominique had left the room but, unlike the other time, I think Peanut may have been wondering what she was up to in the other room. I thought perhaps she needed a break, and needed to feel that I wasn't forcing the energy on her, so I decided at that point to let her wander where she chose to go and work with Rocky for a while.  Peanut went downstairs, and Rocky settled right into the Reiki and curled up for a nap.  Suddenly I noticed Peanut had come back into the room, so I just started sending her Reiki from where I was.  Cats are very sensitive, so it is often most beneficial to start sending the Reiki energy from a distance. 
After a while, Peanut began to settle several feet from where I was sitting.  As I continued to send her Reiki, always telling her she could take as much or as little as she wanted, she settled down more and more, stretched out and laid her head down.  By  the time I finished the session, again all three cats and the human baby were all relaxed and very quiet.
Reiki can really affect the whole atmosphere, even when you are focusing on sending it to one being.  And that is always a good thing!!  And it is very important to remember to be patient and sensitive to what an animal is ready to do, as that can so often change from moment to moment or session to session.
All in all, I think wonderful progress is being made in the household so thank you Peanut, Dominique and the rest of the gang for your love, trust and cooperation in the adventure of trying new things.  I look forward to seeing you soon.

TTouch Update: Mr. Prince Looking Calm and Confident

Yesterday I was walking in the East Village, and I happened to see a person with two little maltese dogs. This made me think of my TTouch client Mr. Prince, who I worked with some time ago. He was a very very shy guy, but TTouches, a Thundershirt and a bach flower remedy were helpful for him, and I showed his person Mary how to do some TTouches with him.

Well, it was just one block later when suddenly who did I see but Mary walking down the block with Mr. Prince and his two doggie "sisters"!

It was great to see them all, and I was so happy to see that Mr. Prince looked very calm and confident, not an easy accomplishment for a shy dog on the streets of New York. Mary told me that during thunderstorms, she doesn't need to use the Thundershirt with him any more. He must have gotten accustomed to the calmer feeling that the Thundershirt was helping him with during these times. This was so wonderful to hear.


Another interesting story Mary told me was that they had been visiting with an elderly woman (101 years old!), who was a bit nervous and disoriented after having traveled quite a ways. Mary said that Mr. Prince was a bit nervous too since he was in an unfamiliar place. The woman instinctively began very gently stroking Mr. Prince's ears. In TTouch, gently stroking the ears is something do because there are many acupressure points in the ears, and the ear strokes can be SO calming. In no time, both the woman and the dog had calmed down :)

Great to see you all! And thanks Mary for continuing to work with Mr. Prince, it has made such a lovely difference with him.

TTouch with Mr. Prince

Mr. Prince is a sweet little Maltese dog who I met, along with his human mom, Mary, when I did a TTouch demonstration for a Maltese meetup group. He is a dear little soul, and gets along great with Mary and with his dog sisters, but he is a very nervous little guy in general. A couple of the ways the nervousness manifests itself is in barking and urinating in the house. He was a rescue and previously wasn't taken out for walks, so he also had gotten used to peeing in the house. When I worked with him at the Maltese meetup, Mary could see that the TTouches were extremely calming for Mr. Prince. He is usually a bit wary with a stranger, yet he was leaning into me as I did TTouches with him. So it was wonderful to hear from Mary's friend Leslie, who wanted to give a gift of a TTouch session to Mary and Mr. Prince. Leslie was also present at the sesson, and it was great to have questions and feedback from both Mary and Leslie as the session progressed. When I arrived at Mary's place, I got such friendly greetings from the whole gang. It was clear that Mr. Prince was quite hyper, though, and was easily triggered to start barking. First of all, I put a TTouch half-wrap on him, which is done using an ace bandage (see link for demo: http://www.youtube.com/sarahsuricat#p/u/23/N83oXBZy0KM) This started to bring down his stress level right away. With the wrap on, I began to demonstrate some of the various TTouches so that Mary will be able to do them on Mr. Prince. Connected abalone TTouches going down each side of his body were especially soothing to him. I could feel the tension in his body melting away and the expression on his face relaxing. As we went along, we kept noticing how much calmer Mr. Prince's energy was. Leslie commented that his expression on his face was as though he almost wasn't sure what to do now that he actually was calm. It seemed to be an unfamiliar state to him. I also demonstrated how to do the beginnings of a face wrap. This wrap is especially good for dogs who tend to bark a lot, as it reminds them of the mouth area, and can help them to relax there, and to feel less like barking. A complete face wrap seemed to be too overwhelming for Mr. Prince, so I simply folded the wrap and draped it a bit over his snout, then later tried draping it over his head. I just left it there for a matter of a minute or so, then took it off. Just these simple actions appeared to give him some awareness in this area. I also showed her how to do TTouches around the mouth area, while we were on that subject. Following that, I showed her more of the TTouches, strokes and lifts. I had also brought a Thundershirt, but to my surprise, it was actually a bit too small for Mr. Prince. But we were able to see how effective it would be for him by just draping it around him. I told Mary I would bring her the next size up for him. Then I had Mary show me a few TTouches to make sure that she was clear on how to do them, and showed her the wrap again. By this time, Mr. Prince's stress level had dropped SO substantially since I had entered the apartment. It really was a dramatic shift. I felt like the atmosphere of the whole apartment felt quieter and more calm. I left Mary with a Bach Flower remedy to give Mr. Prince which would be helpful for his issues in addition to the TTouch. We met another time so that I could show her how to put on the Thundershirt. The design of these shirts is wonderful. It is a very fitted shirt, and is made so that you don't have to put it over the head or put legs through. They are meant to be put on so that they hug the body, but are not tight. It wraps around the body, using velcro to secure it in several places. Again, we saw such a dramatic shift with Mr. Prince once the Thundershirt was on him, and felt his energy to be more focused and at peace. He had been running around barking just monents ago, and suddenly he just became very calm and laid down on the couch. I also did some TTouches on him with the Thundershirt on, and I had him get up from the couch a couple of times to walk around, to make sure he didn't feel "frozen", as sometimes the Thundershirts or wraps cause such an unfamiliar feeling that the dog will freeze and seem to feel he can't move. As with the wraps, the purpose of the Thundershirt is to bring the animal back into its body, and to give it a new sensation. For that reason, they are not meant to be left on all the time, just put on for periods of time to remind the dog that his energy can be calm and focused. The wraps are never to be left on an animal unsupervised, as the animal can become tangled up in it if he tries to take it off. Above and below are photos of Mr. Prince in his Thundershirt. He is quite a photogenic little guy! Thank you so much one and all. Mr. Prince did a great job, and Mary is continuing to make wonderful progress with him as she continues with the TTouch work with him.