Today I went to work with Mari's cats, who I had not seen in a while. Some months ago, she had contacted me because her kitty Doris was terminally ill, so I did Reiki sessions with Doris to help her to be comfortable, and I was honored to be with Mari and Doris when it was time for Doris to transition.
Mari has four other cats: Spaz, Alice, Amanda and Buddy, and recently she took in a young kitty, affectionately named Monster. When Mari contacted me this time, she said that little Monster was stressing her other cats out! So I went to send Reiki to all the cats, and to see if I could help the environment start to feel a bit more harmonious.
Monster was recovering from steatitis, which had made him extremely sensitive to touch, so I proceeded very carefully with him (after this appointment, there were further tests and it was found he has an irregular spine with some lesions, at present he is on medication to help him). He was actually in a more relaxed mode when I got there, but he became even more sleepy and relaxed as I worked with him. I started out with raccoon TTouches around the head, then did some chimp and llama TTouches on his body, stopping whenever he flinched or seemed uncomfortable, and giving him a moment to relax. I also stopped to send Reiki to him at various points. He stretched out and got quite cozy on his bed.
Then I went to work with Alice (above). I started out with her doing Reiki from a short distance away, as she is a very shy, sensitive girl, and gets stressed very easily. Little by little, I got closer and closer to her.
Meanwhile, Buddy (above) came up on the bed too so I sent him Reiki with one hand and Alice from the other hand. At one point Amanda (below) came up on the windowsill behind me to receive some Reiki, and Mari was doing TTouches with one or another of the cats as I was working. I felt more and more heat from Alice as my hand got closer to her, and I felt it being pulled like a magnet to her. She relaxed and began to nap a bit. I felt my hand particularly being drawn to her midsection, the solar plexus area, which is about being safe, among other things. I felt her breathing slow down and her eyes, which are usually huge and very open, relax, and felt her abdomen relax into my hands. It was a wonderful surprise for this to happen, very often a cat who is so sensitive is too overwhelmed by hands-on Reiki, but the gradual approach seemed to give Alice the time she needed to acclimate herself to the intensity of the energy. At a couple of points, when Amanda was on the sill, I sent Reiki to her from one of my hands, and she did stop for a bit to receive it.
Meanwhile, Buddy (above) came up on the bed too so I sent him Reiki with one hand and Alice from the other hand. At one point Amanda (below) came up on the windowsill behind me to receive some Reiki, and Mari was doing TTouches with one or another of the cats as I was working. I felt more and more heat from Alice as my hand got closer to her, and I felt it being pulled like a magnet to her. She relaxed and began to nap a bit. I felt my hand particularly being drawn to her midsection, the solar plexus area, which is about being safe, among other things. I felt her breathing slow down and her eyes, which are usually huge and very open, relax, and felt her abdomen relax into my hands. It was a wonderful surprise for this to happen, very often a cat who is so sensitive is too overwhelmed by hands-on Reiki, but the gradual approach seemed to give Alice the time she needed to acclimate herself to the intensity of the energy. At a couple of points, when Amanda was on the sill, I sent Reiki to her from one of my hands, and she did stop for a bit to receive it.
Then I went to work with Monster again for a while. He was sleepy, so I sent him Reiki, my hands just barely off his body. Amanda came up to see what we were doing. She seemed very curious about the energy, but not quite ready to settle into it for too long.
At the end of the session, I showed Mari how to apply the quarter-wrap and half-wrap, as one of these may be helpful in calming Monster and Alice, maybe Amanda as well. I told her to go gradually, and if it's too stressful for the cats, not to worry about it. Sometimes, though, it is just a matter of trying the wrap part way one time, then a little more the next time, etc. You can start out by just draping the folded wrap over the cat’s back, then proceed with the wrap little by little from there. If you don't have time to tie it, if they run away from you, that's ok, just calmly but quickly take it off of them before they have a chance to get tangled up in it, or start to play with it like it is a toy. On my youtube channel is a demo which shows several wraps for cats at http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat.
It is important to know that the wrap is not put on tightly at all, simply fitted to the body (you should be easily able to put fingers underneath it), so it should not put pressure on the spine.
Above are two pictures of me putting the wrap on Monster. He looks a bit unsure at first, wondering what I am doing? But he actually was quite receptive to having the wrap put on him. I put it on rather loosely and left it on only a minute or two, so that it would not be too overwhelming, that it just would give him a different sensation in his body.
Below is Spaz - I didn't have a chance to work on him directly today but he's a pretty chill guy anyway, and I think he did receive some Reiki indirectly as I sent it into the space. Thanks all, wish you well and look forward to hearing an update on this sweet gang soon.
Below is Spaz - I didn't have a chance to work on him directly today but he's a pretty chill guy anyway, and I think he did receive some Reiki indirectly as I sent it into the space. Thanks all, wish you well and look forward to hearing an update on this sweet gang soon.
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