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.

TTouch and Reiki with Jinx (and Sammi)

Above: Offering Reiki to Jinx (grey and white cat) with one hand and Sammi (black cat) with the other

Today I went to work with my friend Jordyn's (http://dancingminddesign.com/) cat Jinx, who has been losing mobility in his back legs, due either to a disk problem or tumor. It's been a couple of weeks since I saw him, and he did seem weaker in his back end when we started out today. Sometimes he will walk on his feet knuckled-over, drag one or both back legs, or collapse. This has been ongoing to some degree but did seem to be worse initially today.

First I worked with him with a TTouch half-wrap on, which seemed to help his awareness right away. He began to use his back feet more and was falling less. As he moved, I was doing connected TTouches going down either side of his back, as well as some TTouches on his hind feet and legs. These also helped him to get some more connection. The above pic is from a previous session, but is to show you basically what the wrap looks like. Please visit this link at my youtube channel for a demo of the wrap, plus demos of many other TTouches: http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat.

When he was tired, he curled up on one of his cat beds and I began to offer Reiki energy to him, first from a short distance, and then hands-on. His eyes closed and he began to stretch out. I also did little raccoon TTouches on his hind feet, in between the toes, on the toes and feet and up and down the legs a bit. Sometimes I used my thumb to do the TTouches, stabilizing my hand with my index finger. Below, he nudged my hand with his paw, as though to connect further.

While I did this, Sammi, another of Jordyn's cats, was on the other side of where I was sitting, rubbing against me as she is in heat (she will be spayed soon!). She was craving the energy as well, and calmed as I put one hand on her back, and then her belly. Both of them calmed as I did this.

After a while, Jinx got up, walked around some more, then settled on a cat bed again. Again, Sammi settled on the other side of me, so I offered her Reiki as well part of the time (with one hand on Jinx and the other on her). I started out with one of my hands on either side of Jinx, close to where he was, and ended up with my hands around his shoulder area, or the brachial chakras. I felt a very strong connection and the energy being pulled into his body, and I visualized it traveling down his body to his hind legs. Later on, he shifted so that one of my hands was over his lower back around the base of his tail, and so I sent the energy to first his sacral chakra and then his base chakra, again feeling and visualizing the energy going into his body and down his legs. I literally felt it pulled there as well. We spent quite a good amount of time there. The energy in the whole apartment felt very peaceful.

When I felt he had enough, I ended the session. When he got up to walk again, Jordyn said that he was doing much better than he had been before.

Much love to you Jinx, Jordyn, Sammi and the rest of the Jordyn's furry ones. Look forward to seeing you all soon.

The Arrival of "Monster": and Calming Alice and the Gang

Today I went to work with Mari's cats, who I had not seen in a while. Some months ago, she had contacted me because her kitty Doris was terminally ill, so I did Reiki sessions with Doris to help her to be comfortable, and I was honored to be with Mari and Doris when it was time for Doris to transition.
Mari has four other cats: Spaz, Alice, Amanda and Buddy, and recently she took in a young kitty, affectionately named Monster. When Mari contacted me this time, she said that little Monster was stressing her other cats out! So I went to send Reiki to all the cats, and to see if I could help the environment start to feel a bit more harmonious.
Monster was recovering from steatitis, which had made him extremely sensitive to touch, so I proceeded very carefully with him (after this appointment, there were further tests and it was found he has an irregular spine with some lesions, at present he is on medication to help him). He was actually in a more relaxed mode when I got there, but he became even more sleepy and relaxed as I worked with him. I started out with raccoon TTouches around the head, then did some chimp and llama TTouches on his body, stopping whenever he flinched or seemed uncomfortable, and giving him a moment to relax. I also stopped to send Reiki to him at various points. He stretched out and got quite cozy on his bed.

Then I went to work with Alice (above). I started out with her doing Reiki from a short distance away, as she is a very shy, sensitive girl, and gets stressed very easily. Little by little, I got closer and closer to her.

Meanwhile, Buddy (above) came up on the bed too so I sent him Reiki with one hand and Alice from the other hand. At one point Amanda (below) came up on the windowsill behind me to receive some Reiki, and Mari was doing TTouches with one or another of the cats as I was working. I felt more and more heat from Alice as my hand got closer to her, and I felt it being pulled like a magnet to her. She relaxed and began to nap a bit. I felt my hand particularly being drawn to her midsection, the solar plexus area, which is about being safe, among other things. I felt her breathing slow down and her eyes, which are usually huge and very open, relax, and felt her abdomen relax into my hands. It was a wonderful surprise for this to happen, very often a cat who is so sensitive is too overwhelmed by hands-on Reiki, but the gradual approach seemed to give Alice the time she needed to acclimate herself to the intensity of the energy. At a couple of points, when Amanda was on the sill, I sent Reiki to her from one of my hands, and she did stop for a bit to receive it.

Then I went to work with Monster again for a while. He was sleepy, so I sent him Reiki, my hands just barely off his body. Amanda came up to see what we were doing. She seemed very curious about the energy, but not quite ready to settle into it for too long.

At the end of the session, I showed Mari how to apply the quarter-wrap and half-wrap, as one of these may be helpful in calming Monster and Alice, maybe Amanda as well. I told her to go gradually, and if it's too stressful for the cats, not to worry about it. Sometimes, though, it is just a matter of trying the wrap part way one time, then a little more the next time, etc. You can start out by just draping the folded wrap over the cat’s back, then proceed with the wrap little by little from there. If you don't have time to tie it, if they run away from you, that's ok, just calmly but quickly take it off of them before they have a chance to get tangled up in it, or start to play with it like it is a toy. On my youtube channel is a demo which shows several wraps for cats at http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat.

It is important to know that the wrap is not put on tightly at all, simply fitted to the body (you should be easily able to put fingers underneath it), so it should not put pressure on the spine.

Above are two pictures of me putting the wrap on Monster. He looks a bit unsure at first, wondering what I am doing? But he actually was quite receptive to having the wrap put on him. I put it on rather loosely and left it on only a minute or two, so that it would not be too overwhelming, that it just would give him a different sensation in his body.
Below is Spaz - I didn't have a chance to work on him directly today but he's a pretty chill guy anyway, and I think he did receive some Reiki indirectly as I sent it into the space. Thanks all, wish you well and look forward to hearing an update on this sweet gang soon.

Jinx and the TTouch Body Wrap

I have been working with my friend Jordyn Thiessen's (http://dancingminddesign.com/) cat Jinx, as he has been losing mobility in his hind legs, either due to a disk problem or a tumor. TTouch and Reiki have been helping him to feel more comfortable and bring some more connection, but last week I decided to try a wrap with him.
I am never sure how a cat will react to having a wrap put on them. For many cats, especially the cats who I work with in the shelters, who are often fearful, the stress of putting the wrap on is just too much for them, even when done gradually. However, some cats are completely accepting of the wrap and for them, the experience can be profound.



Jinx was completely fine with me putting the half wrap on him. I used a two-inch ace bandage cut in half so it was really a one-inch bandage. What was interesting was that immediately he began to walk and it was obvious that he felt much more connection to his hind feet and legs. Lately, his legs are generally quite wobbly, and can buckle altogether or sometimes his feet will flip over so he is dragging the front part of his feet.

We went into the hall with him, where he likes to walk, and I connected another wrap to the half-wrap so that he now had a full wrap on, which you will see in one of the videos. He is doing quite well, using his feet more completely and using his legs in a more integrated way. At the end of the first clip, he gets a bit tired and loses balance again, but altogether this is a big improvement for him.

Then we took off the wrap, and immediately his hind legs buckled again. However, once Jordyn put him into standing position, he started to use his legs more fully again, though could retain the balance for just a short time.

Then we put a half-wrap on him again, and again he was walking in a more integrated and full way. And when we took it off the second time, he seemed to retain the feeling of balance a bit longer than he had the previous time.
Our hope is that with some time and practice, his body will start to remember the feeling of connection without the wrap, or, at least, he will be able to be as balanced as is possible for him, given whatever his medical condition may be.
I have a demo of the half-wrap on my youtube channel http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat, and will try to get a demo of the full wrap up soon. There are different ways to do it, but for Jinx, I just added onto the half-wrap by looping another wrap through the back part of the half-wrap, then looping it around the hind legs.

At the end, I did some Reiki with Jinx to help him wind down again. Thanks Jinx! look forward to seeing you soon. xo