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 :)