Dr. Teeth is a beautiful little female kitty who is one of a bunch of cats who recently arrived at BARC Shelter because their owner had passed away. She is VERY shy and sensitive, so I have had to work with her extremely quietly and slowly. I have had to be very aware of slowing myself down before I begin to work with her so that she is not jarred by too much energy coming at her.
A while back, Cookie at Homeless Cat Network shared with me about Halo Liv-a-Littles treats. These are natural treats which cats really love, and it has helped to break the ice recently with some of the new cats. With Dr. Teeth, I first put one in front of her, and she ate it. Then I put a little trail of the treats leading up to the front of her cage where her food and water are. I closed the cage and gave her a break, and she ate the treats, then ate some of her food and drank some water in the front of the cage.
Before Saturday, I had mostly done Reiki at a short distance with Dr. Teeth. The other day I tried touching her with a long feather and got a few touches in, then stopped, as she swatted at the feather and that seemed to be enough. On Saturday I decided to try a plastic back scratcher with a long handle with her. So, after doing the trail of treats and giving her a break, I came back up to the cage again. Before I opened the cage, I began to speak to her in a very low, slow, comforting voice to reassure her. I opened the door of the cage and touched her lightly on the back with the back of the hand of the back scratcher. Af first she started to move backwards to the back of the cage, but interestingly enough, once I began to do a few slow circles on her back with the scratcher, she settled down. I did a few more and she settled a bit then that seemed to be enough, so I took it away. She was now sitting up, and I talked to her again in a low, comforting voice, breathing very slowly, and little by little she settled back into a lying-down position, blinking at me, and folding her front paws underneath. I let her be for a bit, just standing quietly and then repeated this whole process a few times.
Little by little I feel she is starting to trust me. This is such a learning process for me as well, as I really had to continuously and consciously keep in slowed-down mode, hearing even my thoughts and words like a record that has been put at a slower speed.
Thank you Dr. Teeth, for trusting me to start to make contact with you, and I look forward to working with you and the other little ones at BARC soon.
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