Visit to Homeless Cat Network Shelter

During my recent trip to the Bay Area, I had the pleasure of going with my sister and mother to visit the shelter of the Homeless Cat Network. Cookie and Marilyn, two of the many dedicated volunteers who do so much for these cats showed us around, told us about the shelter and introduced us to the great kitties there. I was referred to Cookie by Holly at the TTouch office, who is always so kind and helpful. Many thanks, Holly!

Below are a couple of photos of the shelter where you can see the general layout. Most of the cats are kept in large enclosures which each house 3 or so cats. There are a few smaller crates for kitties who are on medication or who must be separated from the others for one reason or another. At different times of the day, different groups of cats are released into the central area to play and socialize. Each day there are two shifts of volunteers who come to the shelter to clean up and to socialize the cats. There are lots of soft surfaces for the cats to lie on: beds, cat condos, towels, etc. and the shelter is kept absolutely spotless due to the ongoing very disciplined cleaning on behalf of the volunteers. The level of generosity, thoughtfulness and commitment to these animals which was shown here was so lovely and very impressive.

Besides the center, there are volunteers who feed a feral cat colony and who take some of the cats out to adoption events etc. There is also a special playdate time on Sunday to focus on socializing particularly the more challenging cats. There are 11 volunteers for the Sunday playdate. Five are Reiki 1 and the other five were recently attuned to Reiki 2. Four volunteers have taken classes on Ttouch for cats. They always bring other personal skills to share with the group. The playdate time is a great idea, as it gives a time which is completely dedicated to TTouch and Reiki, as sometimes the other maintenance tasks in a shelter can take up quite a bit of time and energy. It is lovely that the volunteers are able to share this work with each other as well.

Cookie and told us about the cats, especially about some of the more challenging cats, who have become so much more at ease and friendly after Reiki and TTouch. It is always so lovely to see what can happen with this work. Below, here I am with Cookie (left) and Marilyn (right), and the beautiful kitty here is Calvin, who is about to be adopted.

And below here I am with Calvin, what a love he is.

Please visit the Homeless Cat Network website (http://homelesscatnetwork.com/) and check out their page on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Homeless-Cat-Network/54047121725?ref=ts) as well, and you can contact them if you wish to pay the shelter a visit, volunteer, etc. Thanks ladies -- and I wish for forever homes soon for all your lovely cats.