TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats, June 27

Today I went to work with the Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats thru Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue Program, which I do once a week. As usual, some of these cats I have worked with for a while and some are new. I mention quite a few of the TTouches here, and I welcome you to check out my youtube channel (http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat) so that you can see demonstrations of these TTouches.
Blackie (above) usually is eager for attention, but she can get over-stimulated, and she started out in a bit of an over-stimulated mode. When she is like this, it is sometimes best to use the jelly scrubber instead of my hand with her. The jelly scrubber is a horse-grooming tool, and has two textures on it. Most cats like the texture with the smaller rubber things on it, as Blackie does. I do the TTouch circles using the jelly scrubber, going very slowly and working along the top of her head as well as going down her back. She can be a bit sensitive around her hind end so I don't always go all the way down. I only worked with her for a short time today, as that seemed to be what she preferred.


Blackie 2 was a bit shy when he first arrived at the shelter but now he is super-friendly and seeking of attention. He was very excited and was rubbing his head against my hand. I did the llama and abalone TTouches with him, as these use large surfaces of the hand and are very calming for animals who can get over-excited (or who are nervous). These began to calm him, and then I started doing some ear strokes with him, and I noticed a real shift in him when I did this. Suddenly his whole energy calmed down, and I felt so connected with him.


Honey (above) is a sweet kitty, but today she mostly wanted to just hang out outside of her cage and wasn't in a mood to be touched too much. She generally prefers more contact around the head than the body, so I did some gentle raccoon TTouches around her forehead, top of the head and around her ears.


Ices has a very gentle, sweet personality. She immediately began to rub her head against my hand. I did chimp TTouches (uses the back of your fingers), and she settled right into these and stretched out.


King Kong is a friendly little guy but can get over-excited easily, so I do the TTouches using the back of my hand and fingers such as the chimp TTouch and llama TTouch with him, which can help bring him back into his body.


Lee was very very shy when I first started to work with him, but now he meows to be let out of his cage for some interaction. He can still startle easily, so I wait for him to come to me, then do a few abalone TTouches or llama TTouches, then let him walk around some more. Eventually he is becoming more and more comfortable with contact.


Lil Panther, Tiger Lily and Sweet Mama are new and extreeeemely shy. Sometimes when there is more than one shy one together in a cage, I start with the one who seems to be the most dominant, since if they come around, then the others usually follow what he does. Lil Panther seemed to be the "top cat" here, so I worked with him first, using the back of the hand part of a back scratcher to make contact. I did gentle TTouches on his head and a bit on his back. I would do some TTouches, give him a break, then start again. He growled at first, then after a while he closed his eyes and his body began to relax. I did a few TTouches on his cagemates but didn't want to push the issue with them so kept it short.


Marette still can get startled quite easily but she has gotten so sweet. When I let her out of her cage, I sit on the floor with my legs bent up, and she walks back and forth under my legs, and I do TTouches on her as she goes by. She did a real shift today when I did little circles using my fingernail and back of my finger to do the circular TTouches first on her head, then ou her body. The forehead is an especially calming area for her. She was purrrrrring.


Mila is a very sweet girl and seeks attention, but she can get a bit worked up, so I do very slow chimp TTouches with her, mostly on her head, and it brings down her stress level.

Otto is a new little guy, he is adorable, of course, and quite friendly. He started rubbing his face against me as soon as I began to do TTouches with him, he really relaxed into them.

Thanks all, look forward to seeing you soon, unless you get adopted, which would be even better!

TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Cats: June 13

When I went to work with the Mayor's Alliance cats on June 13, Blackie 2 (above) was still there but his cagemate Kitty had been adopted. He was more affectionate than ever, coming out of his cage right away, rubbing against me. Very sweet cat! I did slow abalone and llama TTouches with him, which use large surfaces of the hand, so they are very soothing and calming.


Bastet is pretty new there, VERY friendly and loving. She gets so excited for attantion that she starts drooling when I do TTouch with her. She rubbed her face against mine as I did slow llama and abalone TTouches with her. I think she is a bit reticent about coming out of the cage, so I just worked on her while she remained in her cage.

Blackie gets excited for attention but can get overstimulated pretty easily so I find that using the jelly scrubber to do TTouch with her works well. It also serves to get off some of the extra loose fur, as some of these cats really shed a lot in cages, especially in the summer. With the jelly scrubber, actually a horse-grooming tool, I use pretty light pressure, just enough to move the skin around in a clockwise circle and a quarter. I also do some strokes with it, to get the loose fur off. there are two sides to the jelly scrubber - I generally use the one which has rubbery bristles rather than the one with larger pointy thngs on it.

Honey is very sweet but very hyper-sensitive so I make sure to work in very short bursts with her, generally doing TTouches using the back of my fingers like the chimp TTouch.

Isis (or Ices, I'm not sure how they want the name spelled) is a big, very gentle kitty. Often I find that cats with more gentle personalities respond best to TTouches using larger surfaces of the hand, so I did abalone TTouch (using the whole hand) on her body). I did TTouches using the back of my finger around her forehead area. The forehead can be a very soothing place to do these TTouches, and the back surfaces of the hand and finger have a more gentle feel to them than the front surfaces.

King Kong is new. He was hiding partially under his bed at first, but he pretty quickly became more comfortable as I did gentle circular TTouches with him using the back of the hand part of a back scratcher. This can be a great tool to use to introduce yourself to a cat who is new to you - it is a much more gentle way of introducing yourself than directly touching a cat with your hand. It can also protect you from being bitten or scratched if it turns out the cat does not want to be touched at that moment!

Kobie is a super-friendly, playful little guy - as he is such a peppy guy, I generally do TTouches using the back of the hand with him, such as the chimp TTouch. I did connected chimp TTouches working down either side of his back, then did some ear strokes with him as well.

Lee is so sweet and has so much personality in his little face. He can startle easily, so I approach him especially gently. I did llama and abalone TTouches going down his body, which are very soothing to him. I also did chimp TTouches on his head. As you can see, he was feeling pretty relaxed!

Marette has come such a long way. She still is on the shy side, but is more and more confident each time I work with her. I found that she really gets into a relaxed zone when I do TTouches using the back of the top digit of my finger - my fingernail actually. It is pretty dramatic - she can go from very alert and peppy to just settling right down with these TTouches. She also really responded to TTouches with my fingernail working along the outside of the mouth area, which is connected with the limbic system, or emotions.

Milla is very sweet and friendly and seeks attention, but she can get easily over-stimulated, so I mostly did TTouches on her head, as the TTouches on the body can be a bit too much for her right now.

I didn't get a pic of Hank today - he's a lovely grey and white cat. As he is also a cat who can get over-stimulated, I just did a few TTouches at a time with him, primarily abalone TTouch and llama TTouch, which use large surfaces of the hand and are less intense than some of the other TTouches which are more focused.

If you would like to see demos of many of these TTouches, please visit my youtube channel at http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat. Thanks one and all and look forward to seeing you soon!

TTouch with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: June 6

Today I went to work with the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats through Tavi and Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program.

During the posts about these cats, I refer to many of the TTouches, so if you would like to see demos of these TTouches, please visit my youtube site at http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat

Milla, a lovely tortoise-shell cat, was extremely friendly, purring up a storm. She gets so excited for attention that she can get overstimulated, so I give her frequent breaks, doing abalone TTouches and LLama TTouches, which use large surfaces of the hand, as they are less intense than other TTouches. I also did some ear strokes with her, which can be very calming.


Honey is very sensitive, so I generally use TTouches which use the back of my hand, so I did the chimp TTouch and llama TTouch with her, which she finds calming. I just do a few TTouches at a time, giving her frequent breaks.

Kitty (above) and Blackie 2 (below) are both very sweet now. They are in the same cage, and both came right out of the cage and onto the couch with me today for ear strokes, ear circles and, as they tend to be on the more gentle, timid side, I did soothing touches using larger surfaces of my hand such as the abalone TTouch (circular TTouch using my whole hand) and the llama TTouch (circular TTouch using the back of the fingers). Both were extremely responsive to these TTouches.

Blackie can be quite sensitive, so with her, I generally do mostly TTouches around her head area, then work in some of the larger TTouches going down her body, for example, doing an abalone TTouch and then a stroke going down her body, then giving her a break to see what she wants to do. The jelly scrubber is also something she really enjoys.

Bastet is very sweet. She is reticent about coming out of her cage, though, so I did TTouches on her in the cage. She really settled into them, purring and drrooooling. Drooling is something that some cats do when they are very cozy, which seems to be the case with her :) I did ear strokes, abalone TTouches and hair slides with her.

Ices (or Isis, sometimes her cage has one spelling and sometimes the other) is more brave than she was last week but still is on the shy side as far as coming out of the cage or interacting with the other cats when they are out of the cage. She preferred to remain in the cage today. She started rubbing her head against me as I did the TTouches with her. I did llama TTouches, clouded leopard TTouches going down her bac, and slow abalone TTouches. She became very relaxed and at ease as I did this.

Today I let Hank (below), Kobie (below that) and Lee (below Kobie) out at the same time. Hank and Kobie are quite comfortable and social, and Lee loves people and gets along with Hank - they were playing together, which was very cute.

I alternated between the three cats, doing TTouch on one, then the other, so they were able to have some playtime as well as some TTouch time. This worked quite well for these three, as they are active and generally extremely eager to get out of their cages.

Lee has the most amazing face, he is so expressive! his eyes can't help but touch your heart.

Last but not least was sweet Marette. What seems to be most comfortable for her is for me to sit on the floor, with my legs bent up. She likes to walk underneath my legs, and I do TTouch on her on either side. Today she really settled in when I did some TTouches on her forehead with my fingernail. The forehead can be an area which is extremely relaxing for shy cats, and it is usually best to work with a small finger surface there. I like to use my fingernail as it is a back surface of the finger, therefore more gentle.

Thanks one and all! look forward to seeing you all soon.

Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: May 30

It was a pleasure, as always, to go to work with the rescue cats from the Mayor's Alliance.

Munchie (above and below) is very sweet, he started weaving all around me, rubbing against my hand. I did clouded leopard circular touches combined with a stroke going down his body. Ear strokes were especially comforting for him. As you can see by the pic above, he really cuddled in and got comfortable with me today.

Hank is a very affectionate cat, but as you can see by his big eyes, he can get a bit over-excited, so I tend to do TTouches on him using the back surfaces of my hand, which are less intense.

Below is Kobie.

Kobie is a lively little young cat. He likes to walk back and forth past me, so I often do a circle and a stroke down one side of his body, then the other, as he walks by.

Blackie is sweet but can get over-stimulated, I use the jelly scrubber to do TTouches with her, which she finds comforting. Abalone TTouches, which use the whole hand, are also great to do with her as the energy is dispersed over a larger area so they are less apt to be over-stimulating.

Blackie 2 (above) and Kitty, who are both in the same cage, both jumped out of the cage immediately today, very excited for attention. When they first arrived in the shelter, they were on the shy side, not feeling comfortable coming out of their cage. I di dllama, clouded leopardand chimp TTouches connected going down their bodies. Both came up on the couch with me for attention. both at once and then they took turns.

Honey (below) always seems to crave attention but short little bursts with her are best, as she is ultra-sensitive and gets irritated if you have contact with her for too long a period of time. I generally mostly do Raccoon and chimp TTouches around her head and a few chimp TTouches or llama TTouches on her body, then either give a break or go back to working on the head.

Isis (below) is a new kitty there. I started out working with her with a paingbrush on the sides of her head, then rolled the paintbrush along the sides of her body. As I worked with her, she started to rub her face against me. She startles easily so I gave frequent breaks, letting her come to me to initiate contact. After a while I began to transition to using the back of my hand for TTouches with her, and she really relaxed into it.

Lee gets more comfortable all the time but he still gets startled easily with any sudden sound or movement. The TTouches using the larger surfaces of the hand, such as the abalone and llama TTouches, work best with him.

Marette still is very sensitive and will startle easily, but I had a breakthrough with her today. I started out by doing some llama TTouches and abalone TTouches going down her back. Then I tried doing some little TTouches around her forehead area using the back of my finger (actually my fingernail). She literally stopped in her tracks and really began to relax into the TTouch, purring. It was a great sound to hear coming from her! and wonderful to make this connection and feel her become so comfortable today.

Mila is friendly and sweet but can become over-stimulated, so I do TTouches with her which use the back of my hand. These are less intense than TTouches using the front of the hand.

Bastet is a new, lovely black cat with golden eyes (didn't get a pic of her today). She is very friendly, and came right to the front of the cage, rubbing against my hand. I did chimp TTouches on her head area, followed by circular TTouches followed by a long stroke going down her body. I didn't want to overwhelm her, since she is new, so I kept the session short.

Thanks all, look forward to seeing you soon!

TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: May 23

A very sweet day, as usual, with the Mayor's Alliance Rescue cats thru Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program. Lee (above), who initially was crouched in his litter box terrified, now can't wait to come out for attention, and he waits at the front of the cage meowing to me. He immediately jumped out of his cage when I opened it, and began to rub his head against my hand. With him, I feel the very comforting TTouches which use larger surfaces of my hand, such as the abalone TTouch (circular TTouch using the whole hand) and llama TTouch (circular TTouch w/the back of the fingers) seem to be the ones that fit him, as they are warm and soothing. I also did some zigzag TTouches with him, which is a great connecting TTouch, and some ear work.

Sorry Blackie, this isn't the best pic! Blackie also really responds to the abalone TTouch, and I use the jelly scrubber with her also, as she finds this soothing and since it is a tool instead of a hand, it is less apt to be over-stimulating to her. She was PURRRRRRING today, a lovely sound to hear from her :)

Kobie is a sweet little guy, who is completely relaxed and friendly, responsive to any of the Ttouches, especially the chimp TTouch. He is an active guy, so I just do a few TTouches here and there, let him go on his way, then do a few more.

Honey is very sweet, but still seems a bit hyper-sensitive, so I am careful to just do a little TTouch at a time with her. I mostly do chimp TTouches (which use the back surface of the middle section of the fingers) and raccoon ttouches (tips of fingers) on her head, and then incorporate some slides down the body with the back of my fingers and hand.

Blackie 2 (above) and Kitty (below) were both friendly from the beginning but a little daunted by the other cats. They are now both more outgoing. Kitty is more dominant than Blackie 2, and sometimes pushes Blackie 2 away. Blackie 2 is getting more brave though, and today readily came out of his cage, came up on the couch with me and started rubbing against me. With him I did hair slides, abalone TTouches and chimp TTouches, all done slowly, for a soothing effect.

Lucky (below) has a sweet personality but I am very conscious to be especially gentle with her as she can be hyper-sensitive, especially reacting to any sudden sounds. I did TTouches with the back of my finger on her forehead, which can be a very soothing place to work for frightened cats.

Marette is still a little shy, but very sweet. I feel that she really craves attention, but is just a little hesitant. I let her out of her cage and wait til she comes to me, do a few TTouches on her, then she goes away a bit, then comes back for more, etc. I started out with chimp and abalone TTouches but then found that she REALLY settled when I did ear strokes and mouth work (doing little raccoon TTouches along the outside of her mouth area). The mouth area can be connected w/the limbic system, which is connected to the emotions, so this is a great area to work for frightened cats, if you can work there safely (not be bitten!). In the photo below, she seems to be wondering what my hand will do next :)

Mila is very sweet, and gets very excited once I start to TTouch her gently on the head. She came forward in her cage, rubbing against her cage and against my hand. So her energy didn't get too over the top, I gave her frequent breaks (with her today, just a break for a few seconds, watch her body language, then if it seems ok go back to TTouching a bit). I primarily did TTouches with her using the back surfaces of my hand and fingers, which is a less intense feeling than the front surfaces.

Munchie (above and below) is really coming along. He started out a bit on the skittish side, and still often will initially be in the back of the cage. But when I opened the cage and waited for him, he came right to the front for me, as I did chimp TTouches and llama TTouches with him, and then he came out of the cage and up onto the couch w/me, rubbing against me. I could feel his energy go from a bit overwhelming to a more relaxed energy as I worked with him.

Thanks, all you kitties, look forward to seeing you soon, unless you get fostered or adopted, which would be great :)