Listening Through a Heart Connection, Being Open to Receiving: Sharing the Reiki Space with Bubbles

 
Bubbles is a tiny kitten with a huge spirit who was found on the street all alone, and was fortunately brought to BARC Shelter.  I immediately connected with his very direct and sweet eyes and very gentle disposition.

He arrived emaciated and with some health problems that have been and are being addressed.  He had gotten more healthy, but then seemed to take a nose dive, losing weight (he is estimated at four months old but was only about a pound and a half) and not eating well.

Meds and force feeding were helping him, but of course I felt a kinship with him and wanted to help him in any way that I could with the work that I do.

I had been working with him in the shelter, but I also began doing distant Reiki sessions with him, which sometimes felt even more powerful than those which I did in the shelter.

I had been very concerned about him - we all feared the worst, that he was declining and would perish soon.

On a Saturday night after working with him in the shelter, I connected with Bubbles.  I had my own two cats, Lulu and Natalia, on either side of me, which is usually the case when I do my distant Reiki sessions.  I think they give energy to others and receive energy for themselves as well during the sessions.

I had a photo of Bubbles in my lap.  As I connected with him, I felt him larger than life and strong.  I felt the energy flowing to him and back to me, an energy of love and of light, of healing.  I felt he was telling me that he was going to fight, that he wanted to be here, that he was stronger than I thought.  I felt such beautiful energy from him expanding through my heart, and I felt so much love for this little creature.  I knew in reality how tiny he was, but I could feel that his spirit was so much bigger than that.  At times I felt it filling the whole room.

And images came to me of Bubbles as an adult cat.  Happy and sitting on my lap.  Our hearts connecting in this moment.

I told him that I would love him forever.  No matter how long or short a time he was here, I would always remember him, and always love him. 

The next time I saw Bubbles, he seemed more present and stronger.  He was starting to eat a bit more.  I could feel he was starting to come back.

In the in person sessions we do both TTouch and Reiki, and he responds so much to both modalities.  He puts his head back and stretches his body out, relaxing.

I also did a couple of drawings of Bubbles.

This helped me to connect with him in a similar way - connecting with his very essence.


And then a few days later, when I saw him in person again, he was stronger still - eating more, gaining some weight and finally having some solid poops (people who have animals, you know how reassuring that can be!).  When I came to his cage, he looked right at me and came right to the front of the cage.  He seemed relaxed, yet very alert, and during our session was looking straight at me with such sweet and loving eyes.

And in our most recent session, he began purring as I did TTouch with him - purring and rubbing into my hands:)

And again, I have that feeling and message to him, that I will always love him, that we are here together, it is beautiful, and that he is loved and he is safe.

We still don't know if he is totally out of the woods, but what I have felt from him is that he is happy, is is here, and he loves being here.  No matter how short or long a time that is, it is really OK.  That he is so grateful for all the love and care he is receiving from all of us.  That he feels loved and is so grateful.

It is such a moving message, and it reminds me to be humble, to appreciate all that I have, all the love and beauty that I experience each and every day with him and with the other wonderful beings who I connect with.  I am getting older, and sometimes I become worried because I know that my time on this earth is not infinite, and there is so much I still want to do.  But being reminded to appreciate each moment and really be in that moment is perhaps one of the most important lessons any of us can learn.

Through the work that I do, I know that the healing and wisdom which I receive from the animals is so deep and so powerful.  I am eternally grateful to them for the honor of sharing space with them.

Many thanks to you, Bubbles.  May you grow and flourish and have a beautiful and full life!  And thank you to all my BARC friends who give such love and care to the animals every day.

PS as of 1-29-18.  A happy update:  After this post, Bubbles became healthy and strong, was adopted into a loving home and is doing great!  See my more recent post about this:)

Quinn, R,I.P.

(Above:  the green plastic you see on the right is a back scratcher.  Sometimes I would initiate contact with the back of the hand of the back scratcher, and, if he was comfortable, I would then transition to using my hand.)

I feel honored to work with animals every day, and each one has so much to teach me.  But it is a particularly special honor when an animal who is generally too frightened of humans to connect with them feels comfortable enough to let me into their world.

Quinn was a beautiful cat at BARC Shelter.  He was dumped at the shelter some time ago.  Like many of the animals at the shelter, we didn't know exactly what his past was, but he was extremely frightened of people.  I worked with him very gradually, just a little bit at a time.  Most often I used tools such as paintbrushes, feathers, back scratchers and the like in order to connect with him, but there were times when he was comfortable with me touching him directly. 

I found that underneath his often gruff exterior (most often he would meow and swat at an approaching hand) was a gentle, very sensitive soul.  When we connected in our very quiet way, I felt so honored that he trusted me enough to make that connection. 
I would feel the connection even if we weren't literally making contact.  If he did not seem in the mood to be touched, I would often sit outside his cage and send him Reiki energy from there, and I would feel him respond, relaxing and curling up to take a Reiki nap. 
Below, you see me TTouching him using the back of my hand, which is more gentle and less threatening than the front surface of the hand.

I showed some of the other regular volunteers how they could touch him gently with tools, so that he could feel safe, but could have contact. 

As time went on, when I would sit down next to his cage (I would put a chair sideways to his cage, as the sideways orientation is much less intense than straight-on), he would come right up to the front of the cage to greet me.  A few times I thought he was almost considering stepping onto my lap!

I grew to have a very special bond with this cat, who to me seemed like his heart had been wounded. We were able to enter a very quiet, peaceful space together, and I appreciate every moment we spent together.  He taught me so much about being patient and truly in the moment, and always being respectful of what felt safe and comfortable for him in that moment.

The BARC staff and volunteers were very kind to and respectful of him, as they are to all the animals there, and I send them so many thanks for that.  

Sadly, recently Quinn's health suddenly declined sharply, and too soon came his time to cross the rainbow bridge.  I'm sorry I did not have an opportunity to say goodbye to him in person, but I have spoken to him and said goodbye to him in my mind.  He will always live in a very special, quiet place in my heart.  Quinn, I have so much to thank you for and send so much love to you.  I picture you in a beautiful place in the spirit world, curling up on a cozy pillow in the sun for a pleasant nap.  xo

The Power of Positive Words and a Soft Voice with Quinn at BARC Shelter

Quinn is a beautiful cat at BARC Shelter who is extremely fearful (and possibly was at least somwhat feral). I have been working with him for some months, constantly adjusting and varying the way in which I work with him in order to be able to meet him at a place where he can feel comfortable connecting.
Little by little he has been getting more comfortable, and I know that even though most people cannot make physical contact with him, the staff and volunteers at BARC do their best to help him feel at ease, even if it is simply sitting next to his cage and speaking with him.
Most recently, I found that I was able to relax myself and him by doing deep, relaxing breaths and positive visualzation, then just one gentle stroke with a wand on his back.
Yesterday I wanted to try a variation on this. The shelter was very quiet to begin with, so that was helpful to start off with. I began as I had before, doing several deep breaths, imagining stroking him with the wand and him relaxing, then doing one stroke down his back, then the deep breaths and visualization again.
I could see that he was tolerating the strokes, but his tail began to twitch, so he was not quite at ease. So I began to very slowly say to him a mantra which was taught to me as a way to center and ground myself, but I replaced the "I" with a "you". "You are very loved, and you are very safe..." I could see that the tone of my voice and the feeling of what I was saying was helping him to feel at ease.
I repeated it over and over, very slowly, and saw the tail twitching slow down, and then stop. I continued, my voice becoming softer til I was barely making a sound, mostly thinking the words. After a while I felt very in synch with his energy, and felt tears well up, feeling that something was opening up in him. I kept working through the impulse to cry, just reminding myself to continue connecting with him, continuing to feel something was releasing. I do think this cat has trauma in his past, something that causes him to be so afraid of people.
A number of times while I was doing this, I very slowly and gently stroked him with the plastic wand (just a plastic flexible stick from a string toy). Sometimes I would do a little circle and stroke. With this approach, I felt him continue to relax. I didn't push it with the contact, and after a while was just very softly saying the words, very slowly. He eventually got into sleepy mode and curled up to take a nap. I thanked him and closed the session.
Thank you Quinn, you are teaching me so much every time I work with you. Look forward to seeing you soon.... xo

TTouch and Reiki at BARC Shelter: Update on Dr. Teeth

Dr. Teeth, who we now call Dr. T (seems to fit her more to a T!), is a very shy cat at BARC shelter. She has been making steady progress though, and though she may initially run away, she usually comes back for attention. I have showed some of the volunteers how to TTouch her using a paintbrush, which is a great way to initiate contact with her, until she becomes more familiar with you and is ready for direct contact. A few days ago, when I took these pictures, she was brave enough to remain in the front of the cage as I did TTouch with her.
She used to be very frightened of being touched on her head, and has been getting increasingly comfortable with that as well. I have found that doing some gentle TTouches on her forehead, using my thumb (with the rest of my fingers stabilizing my hand on the other side of her head, as shown here), is very comforting to her.
In case you're wondering, her tongue sticks out at times, probably because she has few, if any, teeth.

On her body, I find that the abalone TTouch is comforting to her. It is a circular TTouch which uses the surface of the whole hand. This can often be a great TTouch for shy animals, but every animal is different so you may have to experiment with a few TTouches to find what your animal is most receptive to. Please visit my youtube site for demos of these TTouches, http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat.
As I began to do the abalone TTouches on her, she began to relax further, stretching her body out and relaxing her muscles on her back further. I was also sending Reiki energy to her at the same time. You can see that my hand is rather red, and that is beause it was emanating quite a bit of heat.
I also found that she is very receptive to being stroked under the chin, and she often will lean into your hand when you do that, which is a big step for her.
And her friend Ice Cream is still providing a lot of comfort to her, so I am sure that is affecting her mood and level of relaxation to a great degree as well. They most often sit next to each other on either side of the bars of their cages, and he still will reach through to touch her.
Best wishes, Dr. T., see you soon!

Light as a Feather with a Feral Kitten

I have been working with two feral kittens at BARC Shelter to help them to feel more at ease. Little by little they are becoming more comfortable. In this post I am writing about the more scared of the two. The other kitten not shown here is still quite shy but is becoming more comfortable being TTouched every day.
I have found that this kitten is quite comfortable being touched with a very long feather. Sometimes I stroke her whiskers or stroke the air slightly in front of her whiskers, and this helps her to start to relax. In my last post about her, I had found that she responded to having her front legs stroked, and she was starting to become playful as well. In the pictures above and below, you can see she still starts out with a rather startled face, but then will pretty quickly relax into having her front legs stroked with the feather.

Yesterday when I was at the shelter, I started out doing TTouches with her with the feather again, and as I felt her relax, I worked my hand down the feather and began to do some little circular raccoon TTouches on the top of her head.

I kept the feather in my hand, in case she got scared and I needed to take a step back and TTouch her with the feather again, but she began to relax with the TTouches with my hand after a bit. Today I didn't hear any hissing from her when I opened her cage or approached her, which is really great progress for her. I didn't TTouch her for too long as I didn't want to overwhelm her, but I did repeat TTouching her with the feather and then progressing to my hand. Particularly when I am working with a very frightened cat, I remind myself often to breeeeattthe, and to keep my mind and thoughts very very quiet. It makes such a huge difference to do this. These animals really feel your vibration and respond to it.

Love you, little one!

Staying in the Moment with a Feral Kitten

I am so grateful for all that the animals teach me every day, and one of the most important ongoing lessons is to truly stay in the moment with them. Cats can often change their preferences too, so that a cat may be receptive to a particular approach for a while but one day may completely change their mind about it.

I have been working with a very terrified feral kitten at BARC shelter for a few weeks. Generally, she had been very receptive to little TTouches along her whiskers, under her chin, and then gradually I could stroke her along her body as well. A few times I have been able to TTouch her with my hand as well.

Yesterday when I approached her with the feather, she was really not in the mood to be touched with it as I had before, and she just swatted and hissed at it!

I pulled the feather back for a few minutes, not sure what I would do next.

Then, just following my intuition, I gently did just a few strokes and circles near where she was, very slowly. Then I stroked her front paws gently with the feather, first one paw, then the other. This is not normally something that I would try or that I would think a scared cat would necessarily respond to, but it was very sweet what happened next.

She gently betan to stroke the feather with her paw, and we began to make a bit of a game of it. I'd stroke her paw, then she stroked the feather.

As we did this, her body language became more and more at ease, and she rolled onto her side and onto her back, stretching out. You can see that her eyes still look on the wild side, but for her to be comfortable in a totally open position with me was a huge step for me. It was such a pleasure to see her start to be more at ease, and even seeming to enjoy interacting with a human. xo

Quiet Moments with Shy Hilda at BARC Shelter

Hilda is an extremely shy kitty at BARC Shelter. Initially she was in a cage and had started to really come out of her shell, but a volunteer mistakenly thought it was ok to let her out of the cage. Then, since it was so impossible to catch her (not to mention she took became extremely bonded for a while with one of our resident cats who is loose in the shelter, Sly), it was decided to let her remain with the cats which are loose in the cat loft. This has suited her fine but it makes it more difficult to socialize with her, as she tends to run away when approached.

Recently she has enjoyed hanging out in the cat bed pictured above, so I decided to quietly approach her with a TTouch tool (in this case, I used a paintbrush) to see what would happen.

The cat bed is sitting on top of a mattress, so I sat on the mattress at a diagonal line several feet away from her, and, with my back to her and not staring at her, I moved closer til I was close enough to touch her with the paintbrush. Initially she hissed at me, but as I began to do some circular TTouches on her head, she began to relax. I kept it fairly short, gave her a break, then tried again.

Over the next sessions, she eventially stopped doing the initial hiss, and at times I was able to do some TTouches using my hand directly as well as doing touches and strokes with the paintbrush. I also at times was able to approach her when she was not sitting in the cat bed. And one day a new volunteer just sat down near her and was able to pet her! So all of this was really great progress.

Initially I was using a paintbrush with a rather stiff bristle. But when I was shopping for art supplies a couple of days ago, I came upon a really soft paintbrush, like a makeup brush with a long handle. I had a feeling this would be a great texture to try with Hilda.

Sure enough, the soft texture was one she REALLY responded to, leaning into the brush and pushing against it, closing her eyes.

I did little circles and strokes with the brush, on the top of her head, the outside of her mouth, underneath her chin. Then I started to work in some strokes down the body. I did some TTouches directly with my hand as well, but since she was enjoying the soft brush so much, I mostly stayed with the brush. It was such a pleasure to see her truly relax, and for her to feel so comfortable connecting that way. I gave her several breaks, turning away from her for a few moments and then starting again. All the while I was doing this, I had my body position oriented sideways to her, which is a good position for working with cats, particularly very fearful ones. Facing them directly is usually way too intense for them and can be scary for them.

I still have to be very conscious of my energy and approach her very quietly, as if you approach her too fast, she will still run away, but I am sure over time she will become more and more comfortable connecting with people. Much love to you Hilda, and thank you for being so brave and open to trying something very different and new. See you soon......

Sweet Moments with Dr. Teeth and Ice Cream at BARC Shelter

Dr. Teeth is a very dear, shy kitty who arrived at BARC shelter a bit over a year ago, along with a bunch of other cats, after her owner passed away. She was terrified to be touched, and I showed some of the volunteers how to use a paintbrush to make contact with her, so that we could collectively help her to feel more comfortable being touched. She has come a long way! I have been able to TTouch her directly with my hand for some time now, and the BARC staff and volunteers are more able to have contact with her as well. She is still shy, though, so you still need to approach her with a very quiet energy, and let her show you what she is ready to do.
In general, she has been more comfortable being touched on her body than on her head, but little by little she has been getting more at ease with that. This past week, I discovered that she now is very comfortable being stroked under the chin, and will rub against my finger when I do this. I have also started doing slow zigzag TTouches going down her back (that TTouch was a bit too overwhelming for her before), and she really responds to these, often pushing up into my hand, which is quite a step for her.

Something else that happened recently was that she was put in a larger cage, which was right next to one of our sweetest, gentlest cats, named Ice Cream. He is a super-friendly, super-mellow kitty. The two of them are very drawn to each other, and sometimes Dr. Teeth stares at him as though she adores him. They often will hang out next to each other (so they are next to each other on either side of the bars of the cages). Last week, while I was TTouching Dr. Teeth, Ice Cream put his paw through the bars of the cage to give her a pat.

And when he put his paw on her, it truly looked and felt that he was giving her such loving, reasurring energy. I know that his presence has been helping her so much as well.
A big thanks to the wonderful staff and volunteers at BARC for giving these creatures and all the animals at BARC so much love too. It really makes a difference!

TTouch and Reiki at BARC: Tuco's New Adventure

Tuco is a beautiful kitten who I have been working with for some weeks now. She was brought to BARC shelter by the police, and had apparently been abused by people - her face had been smashed, her jaw dislocated, teeth knocked out and the skin scraped off the front of her jaw. Her condition was very dire, so it was really touch and go at first, but thanks to all the medical help, care and love by the BARC vets and vet staff, BARC staff and volunteers, she was nursed back to health. But she had been severely traumatized and so it has taken some time to gain her trust. Every time I work with her, she is more and more brave, has gotten more and more comfortable with contact and now seeks contact and is very playful as well. I always use an extremely quiet energy with her, as she still can get a bit startled by sudden movements or sounds if you are working with her.
Yesterday she gave me such a huge surprise. First of all, when I opened her cage, she came right to the front to say hello, and tapped my leg with her paw. We did some TTouches, then she ran to the back of the cage, then came right back to the front, tapping my leg again. I wondered if she was considering coming out onto my lap. She was a bit unsure still though, and so after some TTouches ran to the back of her cage again, looking at me as you see here.
In the pic below, you can see she's a bit tentative, but I just kept talking to her gently, sending her gentle Reiki energy, and before I knew it...

out she came onto my lap! I held her there and she settled as I did gentle TTouches and strokes and hair slides, PURRRRING very loudly!

I wish I had some pix of her on my lap but I didn't want to scare her by getting my camera at that point :)

After a while, some movement in the space startled her so she went back in her cage, but then came out onto my lap again. We did this several times yesterday, and I could tell she was a bit frightened to come out but once she was there, she realized it was very comfortable. It was incredible to hear and feel this sweet creature purring, especially having in my mind the trauma she must have gone through before she arrived at BARC.

She also started to look around the room at her surroundings, and did jump off my lap at one point to explore. When Colin, our wonderful keeper of the cat loft, went to catch her, we were a bit afraid that she might be difficult to catch, but he has a very calm energy and was able to retrieve her very gracefully.
When she was back in her cage, she had a quizzical look like "What just happened?" I think she surprised herself with her courage. Much love to you Tuco, and thanks for trusting me. It is beautiful to see you coming out of a shell, and I feel it won't be long before you will be going to a furrever home. Thanks so much to all the wonderful BARC people for all you have done for her and all the animals at BARC.

TTouch with a Feral Kitten at BARC Shelter

Recently, two "older" kittens (maybe 6 months old?) were brought into BARC shelter. They are really quite feral, and appeared terrified, hanging at the back of the cage. I started out by working with the more fearful of the two, who generally will loudly hiss and swat if you approach her (you can see her friend behind her in the above photo). As she was much more frightened than the other cat, I will focus on her in this blog post.

I used a very long feather, and began by not even touching her, but by stroking about an inch or so away from her whiskers, parallel to where the whiskers are, from where the whiskers meet the face to the tips of the whiskers, on one side, then the other.

She began to calm as soon as I began to do this, settling down into her body and her eyes started to close a bit. Little by little, I progressed to lightly stroking the whiskers, then doing little circular TTouches on her cheeks, head, under her chin, and then on her body.

I went a little at a time, stopping along the way to give her breaks. After a few sessions, she still moved away at first but then settled into the feather TTouches. It is always important to really be 100% present and in the moment when working with animals, but even more so with very frightened animals. You need to watch their body language and sense what they are ready to do, and really let go of any agenda or preconceived notion of what you think should happen. This is for their well-being, but also is important for your own safety.

After a few sessions working with her this way, I decided to take the plunge and gradually worked my hand down the feather and began to do TTouch circles on her head with the back of the end of my finger. Initially she was at the back of the cage, and then what she did next was so interesting.

She figured out a way she felt more comfortable receiving the TTouch. She has a little pillow/bed in her cage, so she went under the bed along the edge of it, so I could still touch her but most of her body was under the bed. She stayed there and settled as I did TTouches on her head and a few strokes down the body, just using the back of my fingers.

The next day I tried this with her, she did the same thing, going under the edge of the bed. But this time, she actually started to move forward, still was under the bed, but her head got closer and closer to where I was.

Thank you, little one, for being brave enough to trust me, and for reminding me once again of how important it is to just stay in the moment and do this work, what can happen surprises me all the time. xo

Dusty: R.I.P.

Dusty was brought into BARC Shelter some months back. He was returned after being in a home for ten years, apparently because he was urinating outside of the litter box (to my knowledge, that didn't happen in the shelter). He was given medical attention, great food and treats and an incredible amount of love and care from the BARC staff, vets and volunteers.

From the first day he was brought into the shelter, he was one of the most loving beings I have known, with a heart constantly emanating love and reaching out to share it. He was always ready to come out on a lap for cuddles, and in my case, for Reiki and TTouch as well. I felt him to be a very deep soul, and there was something that felt otherworldly as well, as though he was a sweet angel that had come to earth for a short while. As much as people gave to him, he gave back three times as much in pure love and light.

As time went on, it was clear that his health was waning, and so I began to spend even more time with him than before, feeling him absorbing the Reiki energy from my hands into his body, stretching out and letting go, feeling my being merging with his as the energy flowed.
The shelter people and vets did what they could to help him with medication, fluids, diet, etc. Though he rallied for a while, the past week or so he began to take a nose dive. Yesterday when I was at the shelter I spent a couple of hours with him on my lap, the warmth from my hands being absorbed into his body. I shared Reiki energy with him and did gentle TTouches going down his body, feeling him r-eI spoke to him softly and told him that it would be all right, that I knew he was trying to stay for the benefit of all the people who loved him, but that it was ok for him to let go. At one point he completely stretched out on my lap, laying his head down, some of his energy starting to let go. I knew he was tired, and his time was soon.

Later on that day the decision was made to let him go. Everyone was so sad, but knew it was his time, and was the right thing to do. We all said goodbye to him, and let him know he would be able to be at peace now. I pictured him with light and angels all around him, a bright, warm light.

Thank you Dusty, for being the selfless, generous, beautiful being you were and are, you will live forever in my heart. And thank you to all the BARC staff, vet staff, and volunteers for giving so much love and care to him. xoxoxo

Update on Tuco at BARC Shelter: Slowly Learning to Trust

Tuco is a beautiful kitten who was brought into BARC shelter some weeks ago by the police. She had apparently been abused by people who had hit her in the face. She has received veterinary care and a lot of love and attention from the BARC vets, staff and volunteers. I have been working with her very gently to help her to learn to trust people again. Other staff and volunteers have given her a lot of attention as well. She has been gradually coming out of her shell, which is amazing to see.
She will still start out a bit tentative, as you can see by the above photo, but now with me she will often walk right up to the front of the cage. Understandably, a big hurdle for her to deal with has been her fear of a hand coming towards her face or head. I may start out by doing some llama ttouches (circular ttouches with the back of my hand) along the sides of her body, but she has also gotten comfortable with circular TTouches with the back of my finger (actually my fingernail) on her forehead or the top of her head, as well as straight strokes going down the sides of her back. The back surfaces of our hands are less intense than the front, so usually I will at least begin with the back surfaces of my hand when working with her.

The past couple of times I have worked with her she has started doing something new. She has started pushing her head up into my hand (either the back of the hand or the front of the hand). I then will continue the stroke gently going down her back (using either the back or front of my hand). Once in a while she may get uncertain and get ready to swat at me (she has not been using her nails with me though, even when she does swat), so I will move away from her if I see her start to do that, then wait a moment and try again. It is wonderful to feel her moving forward into my hand rather than being tentative or moving away.

Sometimes she will still retreat to the back of the cage, but usually will shortly thereafter come to the front of the cage again, curious about what will happen next. I give her little breaks in between our moments of contact, so she doesn't feel crowded.

It is so important to remain in the moment and read the body language of fearful kittens and cats, to be respectful of what they are ready to do.
She has come a long way, and I think she just needs time and patience to continue to come around at her own pace. See you soon, Tuco! xo

Thawing a Shy Cat: Lord Greystoke

Lord Greystoke is a beautiful grey and white who arrived at BARC shelter after his owners were evicted. He was terrified at first, cowering in the back of the cage, looking as though he was frozen in that position. When I first opened his cage, he hissed at me, so I started out by doing gentle TTouches with him using a paintbrush. He began to relax his body, and as I went along, I gradually began to work my hand down the paintbrush til I was touching him with my hand. Very slowly he began to stretch out his body a bit and did a few sighs, really letting go. When I see those sighs that look like the animal is finally really letting go, it touches my heart so much.
From then on I found that I could touch him directly with my hand. Each day he has responded a little more and a little more, first by rubbing his face and head against my hand, then his body against my hand, as I was doing circular TTouches and gentle strokes on his head and body. Sometimes I would bring his food bowl from the front of the cage to where he was, and he was very comfortable eating in my presence. Initially I was doing a lot of TTouches using the back of my hand, as that is less intense than the front of my hand, but now I can do all of the types of TTouches with him.
Often he especially responds to TTouches around the outside of the mouth area. The mouth area connects with the limbic system, which relates to the emotions, so this makes a lot of sense.

When I am working with him, I am completely in the moment with him, completely connected with his being, and try to imagine a bubble of light around us, to help him to feel safe.
Sometimes I would stop and send him Reiki for a few minutes, to help him to relax further.
A few days ago, he began to stand up and walk towards the front of the cage, which was a big step for him, as most of the time when people are around you see him lying down. He came all the way to the front of the cage and began to eat his food. Now when he sees me open his cage, he will usually get ready to stand up.

Yesterday he surprised me by rolling over onto his back and pushing into my hand for belly rubs. It is such a pleasure to see him become so much more comfortable, and I feel that soon he will start to be less frightened when unfamiliar people come into the shelter and want to interact with him. Yesterday he was also staying in the middle of his cage, rather than all the way at the back, which was a great step for him as well.
It is beautiful to see him really coming out of his shell, and to experience the gentle, loving being that he is.

Feral Kittens at BARC Shelter: Belly Lifts, Ear Work and Mouth Work

I have been continuing to work with a batch of feral kittens who arrived recently at BARC shelter. First two arrived, then a third (the tabby you see on the right above), and then one more black and white kitten (sorry didn't get a pic of him).

They started out hissing and very frightened, but have been getting increasingly friendly. I have been doing a lot of TTouch and Reiki with them, and others have been working with them to help socialize them as well. As you can see from the pictures, they are getting very playful, which is a big improvement from the initial cowering in the litter box!



Recently I was working with Crazy Horse, the tabby and white kitten who is the shyest of the bunch. I noticed that when I happened to put my hand under his belly, he got very comfortable. So I began to do some gentle TTouch belly lifts with him, lifting my hand up just a very little bit, holding my hand there, then slowly releasing. This prompted him to want to eat, so I continued doing a few TTouches with him while he ate. In general, the belly lifts can help a cat to feel more comfortable, as it releases the muscles there, enabling the animal to breathe more fully, etc. It can also be helpful for digestion. At times I also held my hand still and let Reiki energy flow to him.





Most recently, I have started to get them used to being picked up, little by little. I will lift a kitten up with two hands under its belly, gently lifting it, still within the cage, then set it back down and do some circular TTouches, zigzag TTouches and octopus TTouches (like a double zigzag TTouch, using both hands at the same time. Hair slides and ear strokes are also helpful. I do the TTouches for a minute or two, then lift it up again, put it back down and do the TTouches again, helping them to associate the lifting with very gentle TTouches. The next step will be lifting them up and out of the cage, but I wanted to acclimate them to the process of being lifted up in a very gradual way so that the lifting out of the cage is not such a big deal when it happens. See you soon, little ones!