Dr. Teeth is a very shy girl kitty who arrived recently at BARC after her owner had passed away. She still does not want to be touched directly by hand, but I am making slow, steady progress with her, and now she doesn't seem so frightened every time her cage is opened, so that is great!
I've been using a plastic back scratcher to make contact with her. Different cats like different types of surfaces, and both she and another scared cat, Siskel, seem to like the smoothness of the plastic. I touch her with the back of the hand on the end of the back scratcher. For people not familiar with TTouch, it is a very light touch that is used with this tool, with the idea of moving the skin around in a circle or making a very light stroke with the tool, using it as though it were an extension of your hand.
Dr. Teeth is still nervous even being touched with the back scratcher, so I do a few circles and strokes on her body, then take the tool away, talk to her in a calming voice, and wait for her to settle with her posture and breathing, then try again for a short time. She still is not comfortable being touched on her head, but is getting more comfortable being touched with the tool on her body, and sometimes she will actually settle into the touches. I leave a few treats in her cage as well. She won't eat them when I work on her but she will eat them afterwards. Below you see a picture of her after TTouch, looking pretty relaxed!
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