The past week I have spent a lot of time with some new cats who arrived whose owner passed away. Many of these cats were very frightened upon arrival at the shelter, and are gradually coming around.
One of them who is having a very hard time is Dr. Teeth (pictured above). She has no teeth, which is why her tongue sticks out sometimes. She is too frightened to be touched right now, and always still remains at the very back of her cage. Yesterday I stood a few inches from her cage, offering Reiki to her. Little by little I saw her eyes relax and nearly close, and I felt her sigh a bit. Her breathing began to get easier, even though there were people who needed to pass by her cage (her cage is on the corner of a row so I was actually standing around the corner from the pathway where people were passing). I stayed there for quite a while, mostly silent, but every once in a while speaking softly to her, reassuring her that she was in a safe place and that she would be treated kindly here. We need to be very patient with her and know that because she is frightened, that what to us may seem a very small step is a very big step for her. I have been sending her and the others distant Reiki when I am not at the shelter as well.
Right next to Dr. Teeth is Statler. As you can see, he is a very handsome cat, with long, soft fur. He looks very skeptical here, but he has been gradually betting more comfortable with being touched. I mostly focus with ttouches around his mouth area and head area, with some strokes and circles going down his body. His tail is very tight so there have been a few times when I have been able to hold the tail and do a few very subtle, small rotations with it, to remind him that it is there and that he has the option of relaxing it more. As I continued working with him, now he will rub his face against my hand when I do the strokes and circles around his mouth area, and he will stretch out and move his body a bit, instead of being always stuck in a frozen position.
Right next to Dr. Teeth is Statler. As you can see, he is a very handsome cat, with long, soft fur. He looks very skeptical here, but he has been gradually betting more comfortable with being touched. I mostly focus with ttouches around his mouth area and head area, with some strokes and circles going down his body. His tail is very tight so there have been a few times when I have been able to hold the tail and do a few very subtle, small rotations with it, to remind him that it is there and that he has the option of relaxing it more. As I continued working with him, now he will rub his face against my hand when I do the strokes and circles around his mouth area, and he will stretch out and move his body a bit, instead of being always stuck in a frozen position.
To the left of him is Waldorf (pictured above). He also looks a bit grumpy in his picture, but he has also started to become "unfrozen" after doing TTouch work with him for several days. Yesterday I brought some extra-yummy treats made by Halo called liv-a-littles. I put a few of these on his shelf and he loved them. He is still a bit wary of touch, but once I start doing a few soft strokes on his head, he starts to settle a bit, though he also holds the back end of his body quite tightly, so I am starting to do connected circular touches on him that go from the head to the base of the tail to help him have more awareness of his whole body. A few minutes after I worked with him yesterday, I saw him actually get off the shelf and come to the front of the cage, where I had left a few treats to entice him and where his food bowl was. He began to eat the treats and then eat out of his food bowl. This was a big step for him, as usually when people are around he will not get off the shelf in the back of his cage.
Bravo to all these dear ones and I look forward to working with them more and thank them for trusting me with them. :)
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