TTouch and Reiki at BARC's Cat Loft - Sept 23

There are a bunch of kittens at BARC shelter in Brooklyn now and they are just too endearing! As you can see, they love to sleep in a clump. The bottle you see here is filled with warm water, which is ver cozy for them to cuddle next to. These little darlings are very friendly as well.

Above is Laverne, a senior girl who had been adopted from BARC as a kitten and was recently brought back as the owner said they didn't have enough time to spend with her. you can see how stunning she is, and she is just as sweet. I have done TTouch on her a few times - so far it seems every time I get ready to do some TTouch with her, someone is already holding her or giving her love. I'll get to you soon though Laverne! I just couldn't resist including her picture though, as she is so sweet.

I started out the day there with Tiny Tina, who is a small, young kitty who had been found by the highway, having been hit with a car. She recently was spayed and had to have one of her hind legs amputated, so the dear girl has been through a lot. I want to get a picture of her next time, and will put it up here once I do. She is a very friendly, purring cat. I decided to be very gentle with her because of the recent surgery, and held my hands on either side of her back end, about 6" away, offering her Reiki. She was very responsive to this and it appeared to be really relaxing for her. I also did air TTouches around the area where her amputated leg used to be, as she may have some phantom pain in that area. I gave her a break and then did some gentle TTouches on her head, and then did Reiki with her for a while longer.

While I was working with Tiny Tina, I felt a paw tapping my leg below, and when I finished with Tiny Tina, I realized it was Baby (pictured below) who was pawing me. Baby has really started coming around since the first time I saw her. I sat down on a stool next to her cage and she came out of her cage onto my lap briefly, then relaxed inside her cage. As she had a cold and so had nasal congestion, I offered Reiki to her, putting my hands directly on her body, and then later I did raccoon TTouches on her forehead and near where her nose is. Baby was very receptive to Reiki energy and flopped on her side as she grew more comfortable.

Cher (above) is one of the more challenging cats there and she has really been coming around for me. I started out working with long-handled brushes with her, but now she comes to the front of the cage and steps into my lap. I have been doing circles and strokes on the sides of her body with the back of my hand, just a little at a time, giving her frequent breaks, during which she goes back in her cage for a few minutes, then comes back out. I also did circles and strokes on her using the long-handled brushes - and if she starts to attack and play with one brush, I stroke her with the other. The key with her seems to be to really be in the moment with her and give her a lot of space, pausing frequently and letting her set the pace of what she is ready to do.

Patches (above) was a bit on the moody side today, so I focused on doing TTouch on her head and then did some Reiki with her, with my hands a few inches away, as too much direct contact with her can be too overwhelming. She looks pretty comfortable here!

Above is Mittens and below is Muffin. Mittens is SO friendly now, it is a pleasure to see. I did ear ttouches, abalone, and chimp ttouch with him, and he was purring and so comfortable. He almost seemed ready to come out of the cage to me a number of times.

Muffin is really coming along, she is just taking a bit more time to become trusting. Today, when I first put my hand in the cage, she started to play with my hand (with paws but not with claws out), then the minute I began to do abalone TTouches on her she really settled. I did the circles REALLY sssslllloooowwwly, with a pause at the end, which can be so relaxing, I really felt her energy change. She also becomes very settled when I do little raccoon ttouches on the outside of her mouth, going back to her jaw area, and these were very relaxing for her as well. She put her head back and leaned her head into my hand as if to ask me to continue. Below she is enjoying some of her food, which many of the cats do after TTouch or Reiki.


I am enjoying working with all these cats so much, and look forward to seeing them again soon (unless they are adopted!)

TTouch and Reiki with Macduff and Misty

I went again to work on Eileen's cats, Macduff (above) and Misty (below). Macduff will often be OK with Misty resting in fairly close proximity to him, but he still can get hissy and swatty with her when she tries to engage with him or if she gets closer to him than he is comfortable with. Meanwhile, Misty is being treated for IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease). She seems like she would would enjoy being able to engage in play with Duff but since that doesn't seem possible right now she is content to hang out on her own, and loves to nap in the window perch.

Macduff was initially in his carrier, so I first offered him Reiki sitting just outside of his carrier. He was receptive to this and started to look very relaxed. After a few minutes, he came out of his carrier, as Eileen was in the kitchen, so he wanted to see what was happening there. After he had a break, he settled under the dining room table, which is one of his comfortable spots. I sat alongside of him and had my hands open and began to offer him Reiki. I started to really feel the energy flow out of my hands, and felt him become very relaxed as I felt him absorbing the energy. My hands were really buzzing. We stayed here for quite a while, in a bubble of calm energy. I wondered if I might touch him very gently, so I did a few strokes on the back of his head with the back of my fingers, and a few chimp TTouches on his head. I didn't want to push the issue too much, so just did this for a very short time. Later after he had a break, I tried to see if I might touch him but he swatted and so I let him be.

Misty was a bit restless, which seems to be usual for her. I did a few TTouches on her here and there, but initially she wasn't interested in settling. She can be ultra-sensitive to being touched and often does not want to be touched for more than a few seconds at a time. After a while, when she was settled in her window perch, she became very relaxed and, like last time, I did raccoon TTouches on her forehead and abalone TTouches on her body. She was very relaxed while I did these TTouches and didn't try to run away as she sometimes does. I was speaking to Eileen as I did this -- and perhaps the conversation made her feel relaxed as well. She seemed very content as I did these gentle TTouches on her.

Eileen and I will be taking a Bach Flower remedy class soon -- it will be interesting to see what remedies might be good for these two dear cats. I hope that over time, Macduff will be more relaxed about having Misty in his home and realize that she really does not want to take over, that he really is still truly the king. Of course, Eileen reminds him of this all the time, but I guess it will take him a while to really feel sure.

TTouch with Mayor's Alliance Cats - Sept 20

I arrived to work on the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats today and saw that a bunch of the cats had been adopted, which is great, including little Sunnie, Shadow and Buster.
Irene was waiting for me at the front of her cage, purring and meowing her little silent meow. When I first opened her cage and began to work with her, her energy was very excited, so I started with touches that were a little faster and then began to slow the TTouches down as I went, and I felt her becoming more relaxed. I was doing primarily llama ttouches and chimp ttouches, as the back of the hand is not as stimulating as the front of the hand.

Then she came right to the front of the cage and jumped out, even though I could tell this was a scary thing for her to do. She was a little frightened once she got out, and she went underneath a table where there was a cylindrical scratching thing which she could have gone inside but she chose not to. I did abalone TTouches (these use my whole hand, in a circular motion) while she was outside the cage and spoke to her in a very calm, quiet voice, reassuring her that she was ok. After she had been out for a while, I could see that the guy who cleans was getting ready to vacuum the room, so I put her back in the cage. I continued to do some TTouch on her after she was back in the cage, and she was so receptive, purring and rolling on her back, kneading with her paws.

From the cage of the three lively youngsters, Buster had been adopted, leaving Rascal and Ophelia (both cats in pic below, and Ophelia in pic below that). They were both very excited to come out and play. As they were both more interested in playing and running around than settling down, I took them out one by one and let them tear around for a bit, getting some touches in here and there, some ear TTouches and hair slides and a few strokes down their bodies. They are sweet!



Smoky and Oreo (Smoky pictured below) are in a cage together, but as Oreo is much more dominant, I took Smoky out of the cage by himself. He is extremely affectionate, and craving attention. I did ear strokes, mouth work and chimp TTouch on him. The mouth work can be so soothing for some of these cats, especially ones who tend to be on the shy side, as Smoky can be at first.

I worked on Oreo within the cage as he can get himself into places up high in the room which are hard to retrieve him from :), and he was very excited to have attention, rubbing his head against my hand. I did mostly mouth TTouch, ear strokes and chimp TTouch with him. For him, the mouth work is good as it has a calming effect and he is a cat who can get overstimulated pretty quickly.

Vaska (below) always waits at the front of the cage and meows to me, often getting into humorous poses to get my attention. He came bounding out of the cage when I opened it. When I sat on the couch he was either on my lap or right next to it, rubbing himself against me, even against my face. I did slow, calming abalone TTouches with him and some ear strokes as well. He is such a loving cat!

Diego is a cat with whom I feel such a deep connection, and I really felt it today. I let him out of his cage and brought him up on the couch to sit with me, whiich he was completely comfortable with. I did abalone TTouches (which are comforting and seem to be his favorite) and ear strokes with him. As I did this, he looked at me with his extremely wise, deep eyes and we had one of those moments where I felt we really looked deep into each other's souls, I really felt it in my heart. It felt like he truly wanted me to take him with me. I told him I loved him so much and that I was sorry I couldn't bring him home, and that someone loving was sure to find him.

Right as I was working with Diego and before I was going to open Ziggy's cage to do TTouch, one of the Mayor's alliance folks came to take her (it turns out Ziggy is a she, sorry Ziggy!) to her new owner. Congrats Ziggy (pictured below)! She is such a sweetie, I'm sure she will have a great time in her new home. AND she told me that it looked like Diego was going to a forever home soon as well. Of course I will miss seeing these cats, but I am SO happy they are going home. I think Smoky is scheduled to go to a forever home soon as well.

TTouch and Reiki in the Cat Loft at BARC - Sept 18

Above is one of the adorable kittens they have at BARC shelter in Brooklyn, where I have been going a couple of times a week to offer TTouch and Reiki to the cats there.

The two young black cats I have been working on a lot, Mittens (above) and Muffin (below), are continuing to really come along. Muffin, who has been the more shy of the two, is getting more and more comfortable being touched, and is not so startled when you first touch her. Mittens now will purr a lot when you touch her and wants to come out of the cage. Muffin may take a minute to become accustomed to your touch, but she settles right in pretty quickly. She especially responds to abalone touch (circular touches with the whole hand), which can be very comforting, and raccoon ttouches around the mouth area, which can sometimes be a key area for relaxing a nervous cat.

Cher (below) is also really coming around - though I realize she looks skeptical in this photo! She usually responds to people reaching their hand towards her by swatting at them. I have been working with her using two long-handled brushes, which I think are used for putting sauce on barbeque. so if she starts to attack one brush, I can do circles and strokes on her with the other. This time I ended up not even using the brushes, as she came to the front of the cage for me and began to rub her head against me. I did strokes and circles using the back of my hand on her body and a few chimp touches on her head, and she stepped right out of her cage and onto my lap. I think she was a bit startled to find herself there!

She can be unpredictable and sometimes go from friendly to swatting, so I was careful to stay pretty still and just give her a few touches while she was there, and only as she moved towards me to receive them. As they didn't want her to get loose in the shelter, I encouraged her to go back in the cage after a few minutes there. I came back to her later and did a bit of TTouch on her again, and again she seemed to want to come out of the cage. I think this was a good breakthrough for her.

I also worked again on Baby (below), who is shy but very sweet. She is extremely sensitive and so I needed to go slowly and gently, as she is ultra-sensitive in some parts of her body. She is very comfortable being TTouched on the head and less so as you go towards the back end of her body. I did Reiki on her for a while, and she really settled with me as I did this. I could feel her relax as she was absorbing the energy.


Patches, the lovely tortie cat pictured below, is also really coming along. When I first started working with her, she could only take a very little bit of TTouch at a time and then would tell me that was enough with a meow or swat. I have been working on her just a little bit at a time, giving her breaks. Today I began as I usually do, doing TTouch on her head and around her mouth area and she was extremely receptive to this so I began to work in a few TTouches going down her body and then going back to the head. She got more and more comfortable and really stretched out her back. I started doing a circle and then a long stroke with the back of my hand down her body, on one side and then on the other, and this was very relaxing for her. I did this whole procedure several times when I was there, and was able to work with her a little longer each time.

There are a number of kind, dedicated staff and volunteers who also help in their own individual ways to help socialize the cats. A big thanks to these folks! And I look forward to going to BARC again soon.

TTouch at BARC Sept. 15 - Mittens and Muffin Update

The other day I went again to BARC. I spent a lot of time with Mittens (above) and Muffin (below), who are really coming around! They are two young semi-feral cats at BARC in the Cat Loft You can see how relaxed they are in the still photos above and below, and I have included a bunch of videos I took while working with them.

I found out also that Muffin is a girl and Mittens is a boy, apologies for my previous he or she mistakes :). Muffin is still more reluctant than Mittens but she is getting so much more comfortable being TTouched. In one of the clips below, you will see her getting ready to jump up to a shelf above, but once I begin doing some abalone TTouches on her, she changes her mind and decides to stay and see what these touches will feel like.

The first two clips below are of Mittens. He is now comfortable being touched almost anywhere and tried to come out of his cage several times for more attention. Perhaps one of the next times I will see if I can do one of my makeshift harnesses on him so I can take him out of the cage but keep him contained.

Mittens particularly responds to ear TTouches and touches around the outside of his mouth. The TTouches around the mouth area seem to be so essential in bringing a lot of these scared kitties around.

The following three clips are of TTouch with Muffin. First I did some abalone Ttouches on her, which use my whole hand and can be very comforting. It was tricky for me to get to her, as they are in a large cage so I am crouched on the floor reaching my arm WAY in to get to her, but it worked! Anyway, slow abalone TTouches with a pause at the end were a good way to start with her.

Here is the clip where she is getting ready to jump up but she changes her mind and decides to stick around for some TTouch.

In the last two clips I am doing TTouch around the outside of Muffins' mouth, using my thumb or my fingertips. On the smaller touches I am using very light pressure, just moving the skin around in a circle. On the abalone touches I use a more firm pressure, and with the ear strokes on Mittens, he responded to a stronger pressure. Tempo and pressure are very important to monitor, as these variables can make a great difference.

Thanks Mittens and Muffin! You are very brave to trust me as well as other volunteers who have been working with you, and I am so happy to see you both becoming more comfortable :)

Mayor's Alliance Cats: Sept. 13

Today I went again to work on the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats through Tavi and Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program.

Irene (above and below) was waiting at the front of her cage for me, doing a little silent meow. She is getting so much more comfortable being touched, it is very sweet. She is still a little shy, but she is really coming around. I did llama touches (circular touches with the back of my hand) on the sides of her body, followed by straight strokes (Noah's march) using the back of my hand to connect the touches. I also did mouth TTouches and ear strokes. She became extremely comfortable and laid on her side and on her back, which is a new level of comfort for her. I also did a little Reiki with her, which she was very receptive to, she really responded to the warm energy.

Ziggy (below) is such a dear kitty. He always waits at the front of the cage with his nose sticking through as pictured below. He walked back and forth rubbing himself against my hand. As he did that, I did Noah's march with the back of my hand, then clouded leopard ttouches and zigzag ttouches which I did with more pressure and fingers angled so that it was more of a scratching motion than a ttouch, as he really responded to this variation. I also did a few ear strokes on him, which he enjoyed.

Next is Vaska (below). Vaska always gets very excited to have attention, and meows to let me know that. I let him out of the cage to give him TTouch so he could also roam around a bit and stretch his legs. He laid down next to me as I sat on the couch for a while as I did ear strokes, chimp ttouch, llama ttouch and abalone ttouch. I tend to use touches with the whole hand (llama and abalone ttouch) and/or with the back of the hand (chimp and llama ttouch) because I feel he needs more calming energy rather than more stimulating energy.

Next are Sunnie (above) and Shadow (below), two irresistible little gray tabbies. First I took Shadow out of the cage, and he is one of those unusual kittens who enjoys being cradled in your arms like a baby (with the belly facing up). Most cats are not comfortable in that position, but he really settled into my arms as I did ear storks, mouth work, and he really settled as I did little raccoon ttouches all around his paws. This is a great ttouch to do especially on kittens to get them used to touching their paws at an early age so that when you try to clip their nails, they can get used to that as part of something nice that happens to them. You can do a little TTouch, clip a nail or two, do a little more ttouch, etc. Of course, it is great to be able to do this on a full-grown cat as well, but it may take a while longer for them to be comfortable with you touching them there, so it may have to be done gradually.

Next I took out Sunnie. She is also a very well-socialized kitten, actually more outgoing than Shadow. I did zigzag ttouches, ear strokes and a variation of the octopus ttouch which is kind of like a zigzag ttouch but done with both hands crisscrossing. This is a ttouch only to do with a cat or kitten who is EXTREMELY comfortable with you. She was purrrrrring the entire time.

Next is Smoky (above) and Oreo (below), who are best pals and cagemates. Today Smoky came out of the cage and I kept her out by herself as her pal Oreo is generally an attention hog so this was a chance to get in some good TTouch w/her. She is a very gentle, sweet personality and I feel so much gratitude from her when I spend time with her. She laid on her side right against me as I sat on the couch. She really relaxed there. I did slow chimp TTouches, llama and abalone ttouches, as well as ear strokes on her, and she was very calmed by it.

Oreo is a dear cat as well but I use a different approach with her than with Smoky, as Oreo can get over-stimulated - so I do a little bit at a time with her, focusing on touches on her head initially, then working in ttouches on the body.

Below is Diego. He may look a little tentative in the photo, but he is really a sweetheart -- I think he is just camera-shy.

Diego came out of the cage and settled on the floor right next to me. He responds most to slow abalone ttouches with a pause at the end. I also did some slow zigzag ttouches from one end of his body to the other, going all the way down to his paws. I also tried a few belly lifts with him. He seemed extremely comforted by the touches and he kissed me and head-bumped me.

Last are Rascal (above), Buster (spotted cat below) and Ophelia (calico at bottom). These three youngsters are about 5 months old, I would guess, and are in a cage together. They are very social and sweet. Ophelia is more hesitant to be held than the other two but is fine being TTouched, so I did TTouch on her while she was in the cage. The other two I took out separately and sat on my lap while I did TTouch on them. All three of them never stopped purring!

Love to all these kitties and may they be adopted soon.

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TTouch and Reiki with Macduff and Misty: Sept 14

I went again to work on my friend and animal communicator Eileen's cats Macduff and Misty. They are still mostly keeping quite separate from each other and Macduff can still be moody, but they are making some progress being near each other without incident. There are better days and worse days, but in general, Macduff is starting to go back to places which he previously liked but he had been avoiding for a while, and he is able to have Misty be nearer to him or go in places that are usually his places without putting up a fuss (or less of a fuss). Misty still is having digestive issues, which have been treated homeopathically but Eileen is going to consult a conventional vet as well very soon.

Macduff was acting quite sensitive today. Though when I said hello to him, he stretched out and relaxed, he was reluctant to be touched other than a short spurt of TTouch on his forehead area. I gave him a break, and then decided to see if he would accept Reiki from a couple of feet away. At first his tail was twitching, but the twitching slowed until it stopped, then he put his head down and closed his eyes. I could feel light and energy passing back and forth and felt like we really connected, and that he was able to relax.

With Misty, I began by doing raccoon touches on her head area for a bit, then gave her a break. When I came back to her, she was in a sleepy mode and was on the cat perch as shown below. She was very comfortable with me doing very slow abalone TTouches on her body. She is so sensitive that I used a very light pressure with her, just barely enough to move the skin around in a circle. I did a pause at the end of each touch, and reminded myself to slow myself down and to keep the touches slow. She was comfortable with me doing these TTouches on her for a much longer period of time than is usual for her. I felt her back stretch out and her body really relax. Below you see her afterwards, taking a nap.

I really enjoy working with these two and they are continually reminding me to be patient, to stay in the moment and to truly meet them where they are.

Visit to Pets Unlimited Shelter in San Francisco

While in San Francisco, I also had the opportunity to go with my mother and sister to visit the adoption center at Pets Unlimited.

Pets Unlimited has both a veterinary office and an adoption center, which houses both cats and dogs which have come from Animal Care and from other rescue organizations etc. I primarily was visiting the cat section of the center, though I did see that the section for dogs was well-kept and there appeared to be a steady stream of volunteers coming to walk the dogs, which is great.

The setup for the cats is wonderful – there are spacious rooms which all contained soft places to rest, cat trees to climb on, etc. The big cat room is bigger than a lot of NYC apartments:)
(large cat room pictured below)



Above: Larry, cat mentor extraordinaire

It was in the large cat room that we had the opportunity to meet Larry (pictured above), who is the volunteer mentor for cats. He shared with us some touching stories about cats who had been through SO much trauma, yet through his kindness and patience, he was able to gain the trust of these frightened cats and to help socialize them so they eventually became comfortable with people, friendly and adoptable. He said he had originally thought of himself as a dog person but that he had been put in the kitten room to work with all the kittens, and the rest was history. He has been at Pets Unlimited for nine years – they are so lucky to have him there. The other staff who we met there seemed very kind and caring as well.

Below: Two of the many lovely cats up for adoption at Pets Unlimited

TTouch with Cookie from Homeless Cat Network

Above: Cookie with my sister Katie's cat Luigi

While in San Francisco, I had the pleasure of giving a refresher lesson on TTouches to Cookie McCrory (check spelling) from Homeless Cat Network. I visited her and the wonderful shelter where she works last time I was in San Francisco, and every time we speak on the phone or get together we have very animated conversations about animals. She and a number of the other volunteers at Homeless Cat Network shelter offer both TTouch and Reiki to the cats there. These techniques can be so soothing for the animals, and can also help them to become adoptable sooner, which is terrific!

My sister Katie was generous enough to let us meet in her apartment and interact with her three cats, Iggy, Luigi and Zoe.

Cookie was so sweet, and had brought gifts for the cats – a wonderful cat toy which is comprised of a long stick with a flexible rubber squiggly thing at the end and catnip toys which they make at Homeless Cat Network which contain especially wonderful catnip – the cats were extremely pleased by this!!

I demonstrated a number of TTouches to her and showed her a bunch of the many tools which I use when working with cats, especially cats who are afraid to be touched. She has also been having a bit of trouble with a kitten who wants to bite, so I showed her some TTouches and techniques that hopefully will be helpful.

She was a pleasure to work with and was excited to share the information with the others at the shelter. She called me the next day to tell me that she was already trying the new TTouches on her own cat Oreo and she said he was just loving it.

Great to see you Cookie – I really appreciate all the lovely work you do with the animals and look forward to speaking with you soon. Thanks for all the beautiful work you do for the animals.

Below: Cookie says hello to Iggy

Mayor's Alliance cats - September 6

Today I went again to work on the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats through Tavi and Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program.

Above you see Sunnie squishing her brother Shadow. These two are both extremely friendly and responsive to TTouch. As you see in the photos, they wait at the front of the cage for me to take them out. They really are so dear!

I took them out one by one to do TTouch, holding them on my lap. They both purred the entire time. They particularly responded to ear strokes, clouded leopard touch on their body, and tarantula pulling the plow TTouch (I will have to do a video of this TTouch, it is easier to show than to describe!). They were both so reluctant to be put back in their cage, and I took them each out a couple of times as they were so irresistible.


Ziggy (above) is quite a character, he also comes to the front of the cage and puts his little nose thru the hole, waiting for me. I primarily did zigzag TTouches on him as he walked back and forth, rubbing his body against my hand.

Vaska (above) has such a sense of humor, as you can see by the photo. He always manages to put himself in a funny position and then gets my attention by meowing to me. He was very energetic and so I let him out of his cage. He rubbing himself against me and stretched out on his side. I did clouded leopard TTouches on him, chimp TTouches and a range of other TTouches while he was out of the cage.

Zorro is a sweet guy as well. He especially responds to sssllloooow zigzag TTouches down his body and then connected abalone TTouches (circular TTouches using the whole hand). Often I hold his body against my leg as I do the abalone TTouches on the opposite side.

The three young rascals above, from left to right, are Rascal, Buster and Ophelia. They all wanted to get out but I let them out one by one to do TTouch on them. Ophelia mostly was in a mood to play, but Buster and Rascal both settled on my lap for some TTouch on their body, and ear TTouch and raccoon TTouch on their heads. They are very sweet!

Above are Smoky (top) and Oreo (bottom). Oreo can get over-stimulated sometimes, so I generally do TTouch on him for very short bits of time, but Smoky can take a longer TTouch session, as he is a very gentle personality and the TTouch really relaxes and settles him.

I didn't get a good photo of Diego this time, but he is a stunning tabby with a swirly jungle pattern. His favorite TTouches are hair slides and very slow abalone ttouches with a pause at the end. He relaxes, stretches out his back and purrs like crazy as I do this.

Above and below is Irene. She was purring the whole time I was working on her, and was waiting at the front of the cage for me, giving me a litttle meow. She actually was the first cat I worked on today, but I worked on her several times while I was there. She was really craving attention, which I was so happy to give to her. She still backs away a little when I initially put my hand in, but I am starting to think this might be due to a lack of depth perception as she is cross-eyed. She is now more and more comfortable with TTouches on her body, whereas initially she had only wanted me to do TTouch on her head. I did abalone, llama and zigzag ttouches on her body and chimp ttouches and raccoon ttouches on her head. I tend to still do a fair amount of ttouches which use the back surface of my hand, so as not to startle her.

These kitties really have crawled into my heart - I look forward to seeing them every week :)