Calming a 3-Cat Dynamic with TTouch, Reiki, Remedies and Wraps :)

 Above: Dr. Germanicus Higgenbottom (aka The Doctor, Higgs, Germanicus, Beans, etc)
Thank you Daniella for the rest of the photos in this post!

Daniella and Phil are a lovely couple who I met while volunteering at Bideawee.  One of their cats, Gus (a darling young black and white cat they had adopted from Bideawee – he had been found outside and eartipped but is definitely not feral), had been through the mill with health issues recently, including hospitalization and surgery.  And it seemed that the balance between their three cats had felt off ever since he got back.  The Doctor (officially named Dr. Germanicus Higgenbottom, he has several nicknames, including Higgs and Germanicus), an incredibly sweet 10 year old ragdoll, had been crying incessantly at night, and the other cats had been beating up on him.  Not only was the fact that this was happening bad for the cats, but of course it was bad for the people because they were unable to get any sleep. 

Gus and Willoughby (a young tabby who had been rescued from the streets of London) are young cats and tend to be rambunctious in their play, which is overwhelming for the Doctor when they try to include him, as he is very passive and seems to feel attacked when this happened.

So I was asked to come and see if I could help to bring a bit more peacefulness to the atmosphere.  When I got there, Doctor was hiding behind the couch, as he is very shy, and the other two cats were out and about.  I showed Daniella some TTouches with Willoughby, as he seemed most receptive and so was a great demo cat.  He subsequently curled up and went into a deep sleep.  We eventually got Doctor seated between Daniella and me on the couch and I was able to do TTouches as well as some Reiki with him there.  Daniella was doing TTouches with him as well, and he got quite comfortable, which was really great to see, especially as he can be so shy with strangers.  Daniella was a natural at picking up the TTouches and she subsequently showed Phil how to do some of them so that they both can do them on the cats.

During that time, I could feel that Gus was feeling the Reiki and so sent some Reiki his way after working with the Doctor.  I felt a deep fatigue inside of him, that he was letting go and giving into this fatigue that felt like a result of going through all he went through in the course of his surgery and hospitalization.  He started nodding and going into a deep sleep.

After the appointment, I made a Bach Flower remedy in drops and spray for the Doctor.  The other cats were responding to the effects of the spray and becoming more relaxed as well.  Subsequently the night crying and craziness has really calmed down, thankfully for everyone!  I also made a remedy for Gus, which was about restoring his energy and vitality.  This also seemed to help, because the next time I saw Gus, he seemed so much more peppy and lively.

A recent photo of Gus, looking very relaxed and happy indeed!

 

In a couple of subsequent appointments, I primarily have worked with the Doctor, and Daniella and Phil have been continuing to give the remedies and TTouches to all the cats. Each cat seems to have their own favorite TTouches.

At the end of a recent appointment, I decided to try something that I had been hesitant about doing, but something told me to just give it a try:  a TTouch wrap!.  Many, if not most cats are resistant to having anything put on their body, so it can be a challenge to use a wrap with a cat, even if it is approached in a gentle, gradual way.  But some combinations of personality, etc combine with the wrap in just a perfect way, so it can be a good thing to try it.  I had thought of it particularly for the Doctor, who I thought might be receptive to it as he was used to having a harness put on him at times, and who could still use some additional calming and soothing, but thought it would be interesting to try with any of the cats if they were receptive to it.

Gus was nearby at that point and so I thought I would first give it a gentle try on him to see if he was open to it.  I have recently made some wraps from very soft, stretchy fleece from inexpensive winter scarves.  I TTouched Gus a bit and draped the wrap over his back.  That seemed to be ok.  Then I just gently put the wrap around his chest, holding it at the back.  He didn't seem to mind at all! So I proceeded to put a half wrap on him. (see wraps for cats demo below)

As most cats do when they first have a wrap on, Gus was still and seemed to be thinking about it, as though it was a very different feeling.  We got him moving, as sometimes animals get a bit "frozen" or even temporarily seem to lose control of their back legs, as it is such a different feeling.  He actually seemed to be very comfortable with it on!

 

Gus in a TTouch Half-Wrap

Over the next day, Daniella tried the wrap on Willoughby and the Doctor, and they were very receptive to it as well.  So they have been regularly wrapping the cats.

 

Willoughby in TTouch Half-Wrap

One day Daniella texted me that Willoughby was just sitting and purring away with the wrap on :)

 

The Doctor with TTouch Half-Wrap.   It matches his lovely eyes!

I went just a few days ago to see the cats, after not having seen them for several weeks, and Daniella said that they were doing very well.  She said the Doctor is even standing up for himself sometimes if Willoughby or Gus try to start something with him.  So that is a very big deal.
Gus has been doing very well, which is a relief, after having been through so much, and Willoughby has been more affectionate than ever, wanting to cuddle in Daniella's lap as much as possible.  So that is all good news!
During the appointment, I spent most of the time with the Doctor.  Instead of staying in the bedroom, he came out in the living room and was quite content with me sitting right next to him for Reiki.  A couple of times he came over to me and rubbed his nose into my hand, which was so sweet! Each time I see him, he seems more comfortable around me, which is wonderful.
He completely settled into the Reiki energy, stretching out on his side, and for a little bit, Willoughby came over and laid on my shoe.  By the end of the session, there was a very quiet, calm energy in the room.  Willoughby was settled on Daniella's lap, Gus was napping on the cat tree, and after finishing with Doctor, he went and cuddled into his favorite chair (see photo at the top of the blog).
Great work everyone! So glad to see that there is more balance in the household, and look forward to seeing them all again soon.

Tavin: Moment by Moment with a Fearful Dog

Tavin is a dear, lovely dog.  At the moment, though, whatever combination of nature and nurture (or lack thereof) which occurred before her present guardian adopted her presently has much of her inner beauty hidden behind a lot of fear.  She is a very hypersensitive, fearful Chihuahua who can bite when she gets especially scared.  She has guarding issues, and can be unpredictable as far as being approached by people to be petted.  She seems to be nearly constantly on alert, and really has a hard time relaxing.  It is also hard for Tavin to have anything put on her body, so to put a harness on is very difficult for both her and for her guardian, Carol.  Carol can touch Tavin just about anywhere on her body, but when it comes to putting something on her, that is a different story.
Carol (http://superdogtraining.com/), who kindly took her in recently, has been doing all she can to help Tavin to feel comfortable and safe.  There are also four cats in the household, who are often wary of Tavin, and who Tavin sometimes chases.  The first couple of appointments, I only saw Kitty, the most social of the four cats.  The rest of them remained under the bed.
I sense, as I do with fearful animals, that the more Tavin can feel at ease, the more her true personality will be able to come forth, and that in time, with gentle and patient work, that will be able to happen.
In working with her, I wanted to feel safe as well as having Tavin feel safe, so I have had Carol put a muzzle on Tavin while I am working with her.  During the first session, I showed Carol many of the TTouches so that she can do them on Tavin, also how to do a couple of simple TTouch wraps.  TTouch can help to balance the nervous system and, over time, can cause animals to react differently to stress.  It will also help an animal to react differently when it is touched, as it begins to associate touch with a very positive feeling.  But more than that, there is a very deep and profound way that the gentle TTouches influence the nervous system - which helps to explain how it is more effective in changing behavior than simply petting the animal.
After this initial session, I made a Bach Flower Remedy for Tavin, in both drop and spray form, so that it can be given to Tavin internally and can be sprayed into the environment.  Also, in the course of the first two sessions, I showed Carol how set up a simple labyrinth in her apartment so that she could practice that with Tavin in between sessions.
During the next session, I also began to do some Reiki work with Tavin, and that appeared to affect her on an even deeper level than the TTouches.  That is not to say that one modality is "better" than the other.  Each animal is individual as to what approach or sequence of approaches will be optimal for them.  With animals that are as sensitive as Tavin, it is often beneficial to start out with Reiki, and then begin to work in TTouches.  Your intuition will help to guide you.
With Tavin, I first send the energy to her with my hands off, and eventually she moved towards me and helped guide my hands to where she wanted them to be, which was near the base of her spine, or over the Base or Root Chakra (chakras are energy centers in the body).  This Chakra has to do with feeling safe, at home, and grounded.  It made complete sense that she guided my hands there.  I saw some huge sighs, and felt her letting go in a very deep way.  It looked like she had a smile on her face.
During the third session last week, I once again decided to focus on Reiki with her, with a few TTouches blended in.  It took Tavin a while to settle.  Initially Tavin was a bit distracted as Carol was not sitting on the bed with us.  She did start to relax bit by bit, though, at times partially sitting on my lap to move her body into my hands as I offered her Reiki. 
Once Carol sat on the bed with us, Tavin became more focused and relaxed, and after a short while Tavin settled in very nicely on Carol's lap, which Carol said she rarely does.  At this point, I had my hands a bit away from her.  With very sensitive animals, one has to be particularly sensitive as to how close they want your hands to be, because the Reiki energy can sometimes be too overwhelming to do hands-on.  However, many times it will become more comfortable for them as they begin to relax.  Carol also had some relaxing music on, which can be of tremendous help.
As I continued to let the energy flow, I felt the atmosphere of the whole apartment become more quiet and calm and light.  Kitty came up on the bed, rubbed her head into one of my hands, and settled on one side of Carol. I gradually moved closer to Tavin and eventually had one of my hands directly on her.  As in the previous appointment, my hand was drawn to her base chakra, and for some reason it felt very right for just my fingertips (rather than my whole hand) to be in contact with this part of her body.  My fingers were so strongly connected, it felt as though they were plugged into her body - that the energy didn't stop at where her body and my fingers met, that it was being pulled into and absorbed inside her body.  Tavin was becoming more and more relaxed, in a sleeping position with her head down.  And she did a couple of those wonderful big sighs of letting go.

At this moment, the most surprising thing happened.  Seemingly from out of nowhere, Layla, a gorgeous long-haired grey cat, gracefully leaped up on the bed and began rubbing herself against my hand that was not in contact with Tavin.  Carol said that Layla was by far the shyest of her cats, and the most traumatized by Tavin's presence.  She said that the other cats recover fairly quickly if Tavin chases them, but not Layla.  And yet here was Layla up on the bed, rubbing into my hand, wanting attention, and settling very near where Tavin was.  I think that Tavin was so relaxed that she was giving off a completely different vibe, so that Layla felt comfortable being there.  I did some TTouch with her, all the while keeping my other hand connected to Tavin, and then began to send Reiki to both of them, one hand on Tavin and the other on Layla (they were on either side of me).  Layla relaxed and stayed next to me for the rest of the session.  Both animals were taking in the energy and were completely at ease.  Reiki can help to create such a peaceful atmosphere, and can be so helpful in bringing more harmony in a household.
Thank you to Carol and to all your wonderful animals.  This was a very magical day, and I look forward to seeing you again soon. :)

The Adventures of Emmylou and Natalia: We Are Home

 

 

 

Emmylou and Natalia are the two lovely cats who I adopted in mid-July from BARC Shelter, where I volunteer.  They had been brought in as ferals, so I did a slow and very gradual process of acclimation when I brought them home, using a kitty condo, TTouch, Reiki, Bach Flower remedies, other techniques and, perhaps most importantly, a lot of love and patience and being mindful of what they were ready to do at any given time.  To read more about the process, please check out some of my previous posts about them.

They have been continuing to make progress every day, which is beautiful to see.  Hurricane Sandy presented a big challenge for them, as being in the dark for five days straight was very hard.  We had little battery-powered lights and flashlights, but still it was awfully dark!  I spent a lot of time with them, playing with them to get out the nervous feelings and to keep them warm, as it got cold in here.  I also did quite a lot of Reiki and TTouch with them, and had made Bach Flower remedies for them (they each need a different blend) before the storm hit, so all of these things did help.  I'm sure they also picked up on our energy while we were in the dark, so we did the best we could to keep on an even keel, which was a challenge for us as well. Still, they were clearly delighted when the lights and heat came back on!

And since Friday (it is now Thursday), when the lights came back on, it took a little bit to get back to the comfort level where they were before the storm, but I think they're there now, and perhaps even a bit past it.  They are now fully out in the apartment (they have been for some time).  We keep the cage around, with the doors open, so they can go in there if something like a noise in the hall scares them.  And when we feed them, Emmylou seems to like being fed in the cage, whereas Natalia will eat just outside the cage.  There are two litter boxes, one in the cage and oue in the bathtub.  Both boxes are being used. 

What I want to get to, though, is to try to communicate to you what I feel from them, which is that I feel them more and more to be truly at ease in the apartment, as though they realize for real that this is their home - that it is a safe and comfortable place, a place where they are loved, a place where they can play and rest and eat and enjoy, that this is their place.  One of the many great things about doing the very gradual acclimation using the condo is that they really don't hide except perhaps temporarily if someone new comes in the apartment, and that even is beginning to change.  Most often if someone new comes in, they may go up on the platform bed and peer down.  Sometimes Emmylou will go underneath her cat bed temporarily, til she feels comfortable.  But with us they are completely at ease, and love to follow me around and see what I'm up to, sometimes waiting outside the bathroom for me :)  Emmylou is getting more used to me picking her up, and I think soon Natalia will be ready to try that as well.  They both are more and more affectionate with me each day, coming to the door when I get back home and waiting for me to sit on the floor with them for some TTouch, Reiki, or play.

They love to sit in their cat tree by the window and watch the birds, squirrels, leaves, everything moving.  They love playing with us and with each other, chasing and wresting around.  They are very bonded with each other and will most often lie either side by side or curled up with each other. 

It is such a beautiful thing to see and feel them comfortable and at ease here.  I often tell them how happy we are to have them here, and do feel that it was just meant to be that they came to live in our apartment.  And every day I look forward to a new little adventure with them as we all learn from each other.

Less is More with Val

Val is a beautiful grey tabby who I've been working with at BARC Shelter in Brooklyn. She has been returned a couple of times. She can be very affectionate, but in the middle of being affectionate she can suddenly flip and scratch a person very hard.

I have dealt with quite a few cats that have tendencies in this direction, and it is most helpful to work with them just a very little bit at a time, with frequent breaks. Usually after quietly and diligently working in this way, the cat can little by little have contact for longer periods of time, but it is always important to stay in the moment with them and watch their body language and to stop and give them a break the minute you even start to see a movement which shows they are getting overstimulated (tail twitching, head pulling back, eyes getting big, etc).

To be on the very safe side, I have been primarily working with Val through the bars of her cage. I wait for her to come to me, then do a few slow zigzag TTouches, chimp TTouches or llama TTouches as she rubs against the bars of the cage, or some raccoon TTouches on her head when her head is close to the bars. The chimp and llama TTouches use the back surfaces of the fingers, so those are less stimulating types of TTouches.

I have also been offering her Reiki from just outside her cage, and this is extremely calming to her . Often I will start out by doing this, as this can help to get her in a calmer mode, but other times I start out with some TTouches. I follow my intuition as to what feels right at that time. It is so important not to get stuck in any one approach with an animal, but to really be in the moment with them and get a sense of what feels right for them.

I keep the contact very short with Val for now. I just do a few TTouches, wait a minute for her to come back to me, then try a little more, then maybe stop and just send her Reiki for a little bit, maybe speaking to her very gently. I have found she is especially responsive to little raccoon TTouches on her forehead area. This is an area that I have often found to be extremely calming for cats who are ramped up or nervous. And little by little she has started to recognize these TTouches on her head, and will lay down and settle into them more and more, so I have been able to work with her in this way for longer and longer periods (reaching my fingers through the bars of the cage to do this).

Most recently, I have been opening her cage very slightly, doing a few TTouches with her there, then closing the cage again, always keeping this period short, just a few seconds at a time for now.

I have been making Bach Flower remedies for her, and the remedies seem to be helping. At the moment, to be on the safe side, only a limited number of other experienced people are working with her, including long-time BARC volunteer Betty, who recently took a TTouch workshop with Edie Jane (which I assisted). Betty has been having good sessions with Val using a long-handled paintbrush to make contact with her.

Another thing which I think is of vast importance is positive visualization. If an animal has exhibited aggressive behavior, sometimes it is hard for people to get out of their head the negative pictures that they have about the animal. So it is really important to start putting in your head images of the animal behaving in a positive way - of the animal being calm, of the animal responding positively to touch, maybe pushing their head into your hand, etc.

So here's to you Val, sending you much love and light, and look forward to seeing you soon.

Pip Meets Oliver: The Sensitive Subject of Introducing Cats

Above: Pip, below: Oliver. Thank you, Sarah Hoppes, for the use of your beautiful photographs which I used in this post. Sarah is one of the guardians of these cats, and is a professional photographer.

Several months ago, thanks to a referral from my wonderful Reiki teacher, Sheryl Berger, I had a session a few months ago with a lovely grey and white cat, Pip, and his people, Sarah and Chris. Sarah and Chris had rescued Pip a couple of months before from a dumpster near where they live. Pip was often very sweet and cuddly with them, but during the middle of the night, he would often howl and rage around, pouncing on them, etc. He had been checked out medically and was in good health. So we were hopeful that TTouch would be of help to him and to his people.

You can read a more detailed account of this session in the following post:

http://sarahsuricat.blogspot.com/2011/06/ttouch-with-pip.html

During our session, I worked with Pip, as well as showing Sarah and Chris how to do a number of TTouches. After the session, Sarah and Chris continued to work with him with the TTouches and, especially after a move to a larger apartment, he calmed down a lot. They also said the cat condo I had recommended that they get for Pip worked very well– that he would go in there to calm himself down. (see below)

Now comes the second part of the story. A second cat came into their life, who they rescued from their new neighborhood. He was a lovely 6-month old tabby kitten who they named Oliver.

Sarah and Chris were very sensitive in their process of integrating the two cats; letting the cats get used to each other little by little, keeping them in separate rooms but bringing them together for increasing amounts of time, doing TTouches with them. They were also doing TTouch with the cats simultaneously on either sides of the separating door, feeding them tasty treats at the same time.
Then, on the evening of Hurricane Irene, the two cats were near each other and they were giving them love and TTouch, when Pip suddenly became agitated and tried to jump on Oliver to attack him. So they had to take a step back in the cats’ integration. At that point, they asked me to come and do a session with them to see what would be a good strategy for working with the two cats going forward.
They had been switching the cats’ spaces every so often, and at that point, they had Pip in the bedroom and Oliver in the living room. Oliver had started to hide under the couch, and Pip was often trying to get out of the bedroom, often banging against the door with his body. It sounded like Oliver was terrified of Pip, and that Pip was continuing to be agitated, probably threatened by the presence of Oliver.
I had a feeling that Oliver would benefit from being in the bedroom so he could snuggle with the owners at night and that Pip would be more content in the living room, so I suggested that they switch the cats’ spaces. Also at that point Oliver didn’t have a little cat condo for a private space, so I suggested that they get him one. These changes worked very well. Oliver didn’t try to hide any more, and Pip was not trying to get into Oliver’s space, the bedroom. About a week after they made this change, I had a session with Sarah, Pip and Oliver.
Each cat has a good amount of space, complete with food, litter box, toys and a cat condo to hide out in when they need. Chris and Sarah have been continuing to feed and TTouch the cats on either side of the door. They had been bringing Pip in to Oliver's space using a harness and leash, but had been scared to do that since Pip had tried to jump on Oliver to attack him. The cats seemed very content and not stressed at all when in their own spaces.

I did TTouches (and Reiki) with both cats in their separate spaces. Then we decided to try bringing Pip into Oliver's space. We put harnesses and leashes on both cats, so that it would be a safe, controlled situation.

Sarah was TTouching Oliver on the bed when I brought Pip into his space. I was surprised, as Pip did not strain at the leash or go for Oliver right away (apparently this is what had happened when they had tried this before). I kept the leash loose, and he first wandered a bit, sniffing the other cat's food area etc. Then Pip went up on the bed (where Oliver was), but I kept him a distance away. All the while, I was doing TTouches on him and giving some treats, and Sarah was doing the same with Oliver.

Before today, she said Oliver would try to hide and get away from Pip when they had tried this. This time he stood his ground, doing a little growling and hissing. I took Pip back into the other room fairly soon because I didn't want Oliver to get too stressed or for Pip to try to jump on Oliver. Then we did TTouches on the cats in their separate spaces to calm them, and tried again. This time, Pip more readily went to try to jump on the bed and get to Oliver. Again, Oliver growled and hissed but didn't run away. And I took Pip out once he jumped up on the bed, before he got anywhere close to Oliver.

While it wasn't great that Oliver was growling and hissing, it felt it was a step in the right direction that Oliver wasn't so terrified that he had to scramble, run away and hide -- that he was confident enough to stand his ground. I feel that with more time and more TTouch and more contact with the other cat, the growling and hissing will be less. And when I picked Pip up to bring him back into his space, he wasn't crazy or aggressive with me. I kept my attitude very matter of fact and he was relaxed and chill right away once back in his own space, not straining or clawing to get back into the other space, though of course he was more interested and was lying near the door.

I brought Pip back into his own space again, and spent a good deal of time with each cat to calm them and make them feel good.

Next, we tried a doing a TTouch half wrap (http://www.youtube.com/sarahsuricat#p/u/25/N83oXBZy0KM), first on Pip, then on Oliver. As the cats are accustomed to and comfortable with having harnesses put on, they were both fine about putting the wrap on (unlike most cats I work with, who think it is something to play with and attack!). I noticed a small shift with Pip after the wrap was put on. I did some TTouches on him after putting the wrap on.

However, with Oliver, who tends to be more of a scaredy cat, the effect was immediate and dramatic. It really was magical, the transformation was so concrete. He started PURRRING up a storm, stretching out and looking SO comfortable. (below, Oliver is shown with the half-wrap on).

I advised Sarah to definitely use the TTouch wrap, especially on Oliver, when they bring the cats together.

I told her it would be beneficial to use at various other times as well, incorporating the TTouches along with the wrap. I also described to her the importance of intention and positive visualization – something which can sound so simplistic but which can make such a difference.
At the end of the session, both cats were EXTREMELY relaxed. It seems to me that it will just take some time for them to be comfortable with each other.
Sarah and Chris are very dedicated to helping the cats, and are continuing to do a great job with them. In a follow-up call with Sarah a couple of weeks after the session, she said they are continuing to make good progress with the cats. They are using the TTouch wrap, along with the TTouches and some other techniques I advised them to use to make the cats more comfortable with each other. Though Pip still can still get a bit overexcited at times, in general, the cats are becoming more and more at ease with each other. Both cats are also becoming more secure and confident, which helps them to feel more comfortable and less threatened by the other cat.

Thanks so much Pip, Oliver, Sarah and Chris, I wish you all the best!!

Reiki with Garbanzo at the Vet

Hi folks, my kitty Garbanzo is now 17 years old - doesn't he look terrific? He has hyperthyroidism so from time to time I need to take him to the vet to get his blood levels checked. He is on medication, also receiving natural supplements, good food, and Reiki and TTouch, of course :)

When I took him to the vet the other day, I was giving him Reiki when he was on the table, to calm him, especially as we had an extra-stressful trip there. It was pouring rain and there wasn't a cab in sight, so we had to take the bus part way and walk in the rain part of the way. I always do TTouch with Garbanzo on the vet table, but this was the first time I really had strong Reiki flowing to him during this time.

Garbanzo really was calming down as I did this, even in the midst of the examination. While the vet was taking his heartbeat, I noticed that he stayed there with the stethoscope longer than usual. When he took the stethescope away, he told me that he had waited because Garbanzo's heartbeat was slowing down as he was listening. I told him that I was doing Reiki with him, and he said it was definitely calming him down. Once the heartbeat had stabilized, it was quite close to what it generally is at home, which is a huge difference from what it usually is at the vet. This was wonderful to see, and also I thought it was great for the vet to experience this as well.

Thankfully, Garbanzo is doing well, especially considering his age and hyperthyroidism. I am so grateful for this. And grateful that I could help the vet experience to be not as stressful for him.

Zigzag Touch

A friend who reads my blog was curious about the zigzag touch, so my cat Garbanzo agreed to help me demonstrate it. This can be a calming touch or a stimulating touch, depending on the speed at which it is done. I tend to do it at a slower speed on Garbanzo, as he gets over-stimulated quite easily. I am using a medium touch as far as pressure, not too light and not TOO heavy, this, again, depends on the animal as to what is appropriate. This touch can really help connect parts of the body as well, and variations on it can be done, such as zigzagging down a leg, etc. In the case of my dear littie Mika who I have been working on at Social Tees shelter, this touch really helped her to release to another level, and she began to purrrr when I did this on her the other day, a sound which I have never heard out of her. On her, I did the touch at a slow speed, and rather gentle touch, as she is a gentle, sensitive little kitty. I alternated between doing down one side of the body and crossing over from one side to the other. Garbanzo is a big strapping fellow, so can take a stronger pressure. I like doing the Noah's march after this touch, as it seems to connect everything very well.