The Power of Quiet Connection

 

Hi folks, today I am referring you to Bideawee's site, where I have a blog post up.  I work with the kitties at Bideawee, and share about my experience there and about the work I do.  Thanks Bideawee! you are awesome and I am delighted to be there!

https://www.bideawee.org/Blog-The-Power-of-Quiet-Connection-1

Buddy and Jayne at Bideawee: The Importance of Play

Buddy and Jayne

Generally the work I do is focused on helping the animals relax, but sometimes taking a different tack and connecting through play can provide another way to connect with an animal, and at times can prompt a breakthrough.  Buddy and Jayne reminded me of this the other day...

Jayne

Buddy and Jayne are two very shy cats at Bideawee who I have been working with for a while.  Jayne is semi-feral, and Buddy is not feral but quite shy.  Buddy and Jayne have been in the same room at Bideawee for a while, and there have been a few other cats who have come and gone from that room as they have been adopted.  At the moment they share the room with a sweet senior kitty, Calliope.  All three cats coexist peacefully, though Buddy does try to steal Calliope's food!

Both Buddy and Jayne initially would hide inside the litter bench a good deal of the time.  Now Jayne spends most of the time out in the open, and Buddy is out most of the time, but Buddy will still usually head for the litter bench when someone enters the room.

Buddy knows me well and is really friendly with me now.  He comes running up to me when I come in the room.  If he is in the litter bench and hears my voice, he comes running or rolling out of the litter bench to see me.  Jayne is still quite reserved, but progressing slowly and steadily.  She seems to really enjoy being nearby, and often I will sit in the room and share Reiki with all three cats, and she is quite comfortable with that.  At times I can do TTouch directly with my hand with her, at other times I need to use a tool such as a feather or paintbrush or the like.

Reiki with Calliope (calico), Jayne and Buddy

The other day I had been working with all three cats in there, and I picked up a toy that Calliope usually likes - a toy with a long stick and shiny strands coming off of the end.  Calliope was not in the mood, as she was more in sleepy mode, but Buddy and Jayne were both looking at me to see what would happen next.

I have never seen Buddy play, and I don't think I have seen Jayne really play, though once in a while she will hit a little ball around, just a bit, so she may do that when people are not around.

Buddy and Jayne were both underneath a cat tree,  so I started to move the toy near one cat, and then the other.  And they both started to play with the toy.  Both of them started to roll and scamper around in such a relaxed and joyful way that I had never seen before with either of them. 

After a while, Buddy came out from under the cat tree and stood up on his hind legs to catch the toy.  I am so used to seeing Buddy very low to the ground, this was really different!

Buddy looking up, about to leap up at the stick toy

This was such a delight to see, I felt my heart opening as I felt a huge energetic feeling of opening happening in the room.  I felt such joy as I saw Buddy leaping for the toy, and Jayne rolling onto her back and stretching and reaching for the toy.  The free feeling of seeing them playful, unafraid, happily engaged in play.  It was such a beautiful, spontaneous thing that unfortunately I didn't get video of it, just a few quick still shots which you see above, but hopefully I will next time! 

That night, as I went to sleep, I still could picture the two of them rolling and scampering around, and it made me feel such joy in my heart.  I felt again that beautiful sense of opening.  I can't wait to see them again - maybe next time we will get Calliope to join in a bit! 

Little Steps Add Up - Buddy (and a bit about Jayne) at Bideawee

Buddy is a sweet, extremely timid cat at Bideawee.  Apparently he jumped into a moving car from the street.  He is about six years old and had been neutered and ear-tipped.  He has recently been in a room with two shy female cats (actually since beginning this post one of the females, Zoe, has been adopted and a sweet male, Figuero, is now in there with Buddy and Jayne), and he is very comfortable with them, snuggling up in the litter bench with them. When I open the bench, he is usually a bit startled, sometimes even hissing, but once I begin to do TTouches with him, he becomes calmer and settles into the TTouches.  He is also extremely responsive to Reiki.
I am also working quite a bit with Jayne, who is in the same room and quite fearful. I will write more about her sometime. Sometimes when they are laying side by side, I will do a few TTouches with one, and then the other.  Jayne is much more afraid of direct contact, so I will touch Buddy first, and then sometimes she is comfortable with me touching her.  I can touch him directly with my hand, whereas with Jayne, I will usually start out with a feather or paintbrush or the like, as she prefers some distance between me and her hand.

Here is a video which I took on a day which was very quiet, and Jayne was relaxed and comfortable with me touching her directly after I had done some TTouch with Buddy.
Buddy has gotten to recognize the TTouches, and once he feels me starting to do them, now he will start pushing into and rubbing against my hand, which is so sweet to see.
He had to have some dental surgery recently, so he was in a cage by himself for a while.  I wanted to help him to relax, which hopefully would encourage him to eat as well.  I offered him Reiki with my hands slightly off him, and also did some TTouches with him.  A TTouch that can often work well to help energize a cat who can become "frozen" is the Zigzag TTouch.  The Zigzag TTouch helps to connect the body, as well as helping the animal to feel more inside of his body.
After he went from the cage back into the room with his friends, he also went back to camping out in the litter bench (a bench which is hollow inside with an opening so cats can go in. A litter box is usually in there, but if cats are hanging in there, often the litter box will be removed).
When I opened the bench he was a bit startled, as usual, but once I began to speak to him softly and began doing some TTouches with him, he began to rub his head against my hand and roll around as he had been doing before.
I put my hands underneath him and gently lifted him a couple of inches off the ground.  This prompted him to stand up and come out of the litter bench, which was great!
He began to head butt me and roll around as I did circular TTouches and Zigzag TTouches with him. I find that after doing some of the circular TTouches, the Zigzag TTouches can help a shy, held-in cat to be so comfortable and often can get them to start moving around.

After a few tries of picking Buddy up and placing him in my lap, he decided to settle there for a good while for some Reiki.

And after he came off my lap, he settled right beside me for a longer period of time and more Reiki energy.  It was beautiful to feel and see him so relaxed.  When I have that type of connection and opening feeling with an animal, I feel my own heart opening as we connect with each other.  It is a feeling of pure love that fills me with pure joy.

Buddy even napped for a while under my legs as we continued the Reiki session.

And above is another shot of him on my lap.

In another recent session, I began to try some subtle body work which I have been learning by reading Mary Debono's book, "Growing Young With Your Dog", which describes body work for both you and your dog (can be applied to cats as well).  She is a Feldenkrais practitioner who has developed her own method which can be applied to animals, which is extremely similar to TTouch in philosophy and feeling, as it influences the nervous system.  When I started doing this very gentle work with Buddy, it was a new feeling to him, and he stopped and stared straight into my soul, as if to say, "Thank you for being there for me".  Time slowed down and there we were, just Buddy and me, our energies merged and we were connected in this beautiful moment which felt beyond time and space. A connection of love and trust and opening. 

 Now Buddy will readily come out of the litter bench for me on his own. 

And last time I worked with him, he took a nap with his head on my foot and settled in for some TTouches on his paws:)

Buddy still starts out frightened with someone new, but I know that in time, the right person will enter the shelter and make a connection with this sweet cat.  He is a gentle, sweet soul, and just needs a little time to let go of his shyness. Look forward to seeing you soon, little guy! xoxoxo

The Arrival of "Monster": and Calming Alice and the Gang

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.

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.

TTouch with Mayor's Alliance Cats: April 25

It is always a pleasure to go to work on the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats. Today was especially exciting because Lee (above) is getting so much more comfortable and confident in such a short time!

Lee hissed today when I first opened his cage, so I started out with him doing TTouches with a paintbrush. He quickly became VERY comfortable, coming out of his cage into the room, purring and rubbing against me as I did chimp, abalone, and clouded leopard Ttouches on him. I also did very gentle hair slides on his head and body. He came up on the couch with me briefly for TTouch, though he seemed to prefer if I sat on the floor with him and waited for him to come up to me to do TTouch for a bit, then he would walk away for a break, then come back again. He has come such a long way in such a short time! He is so filled with love, and the more he comes out of his shell, he seems to be just so eager to share it :)




Honey is a lot more comfortable now, though she is still somewhat on alert, and can get startled at times. So the best strategy with her is to open her cage, wait and let her come to me for TTouch, instead of reaching out to her. With her, I do just a little bit of TTouch, give her a break, let her walk away if she needs to, then when she comes back, try again. Hair slides, raccoon Ttouches on her forehead, and clouded leopard TTouches going down the side of her body are what she responds to most.

Blackie is an extremely sweet cat but can get over-stimulated with too much TTouch done directly with your hand, so I used the jelly scrubber with her. The jelly scrubber is a horse-grooming tool but it works very well for doing TTouch as well. You can do the circular TTouches with them, as well as plain strokes. This can be a nice way to introduce a cat to the idea of being brushed, as it is very gentle. Blackie really settled with the jelly scrubber TTouches today – I did a circle, a long stroke down the body, paused, then did it again, etc.

Buddy, who is FIV positive, is extremely gentle and sweet, he's like a fuzzy teddy bear. I discovered today that he can be very playful as well! He particularly responds to hair slides and raccoon TTouches.

Blackie 2 (above) and Kitty (below), who started out being a bit shy, have gotten so much more comfortable. Both of them came up to me and rubbed against my hand. Kitty put her pays up on my chest and came out onto my lap. I did clouded leopard TTouches and raccoon TTouches on her head, as well as some ear strokes, done very slowly, and she settled right into my arms.
Blackie 2 didn’t come out of his cage yet but he was completely at ease with me, totally settling while I did connected clouded leopard TTouches going down his body, as well as earstrokes.

Next I worked with Hank, who looks a bit like Kitty!

Hank (above) is very sweet, and is very responsive to any of the TTouches, with him, the more, the better. He is very humorous as well. Today he was doing somersaults in his cage, trying to get my attention!

Maddie is a character, she is so friendly and so excited to come out of her cage for attention that she drools, dripping as she walks along, purring. Hair slides and ear strokes were particularly calming for her, enabling her to settle a bit with me. I also did what is called a “coiled python”, meaning you do a circle, followed by a stroke.

Marette is very sweet and seeks attention, but she is still a bit afraid of it. So with her, I did TTouches using the back scratcher, which is less threatening than using the hand directly, and she was comfortable with this. Sorry about the blurry picture, she is still a bit skittish so is often on the move!

Pedro is also super-friendly and can be a bit overwhelming with his energy. Today, however, I decided to start out with Reiki instead of TTouch. I focused primarily on his heart and solar plexus chakras. This was so calming to him that he completely settled on my lap as though I was at home with him. Great to see this guy, who can get a bit worked up, completely let go.

Spock came right out of his cage and settled right on my lap, purring. He really settled there as I did slow abalone TTouches on him, as well as ear strokes. Ear strokes can be so important for calming cats, as there are many acupressure points in the ear.

Thanks, guys and gals! look forward to seeing you soon unless you are fostered or adopted, which would be great! xo

TTouch and Reiki with the Mayor's Alliance Cats: April 17

Today when I went to work with the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats through Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program, it was shortly before the cages were cleaned, so I worked with Lee, Kitty and Blackie 2 before she started, as she was going to let the rest of the cats out of the cages all at once, and these three cats are now a bit too shy to mingle with the others.

Kitty (above and below) and Blackie 2 (below) are both very sweet, and friendly once they get to know you, but they start out shy, at the back of the cage. As I quietly did clouded leopard TTouches and chimp Ttouches on them, they soon came forward towards the front of the cage, and began to nuzzle right into my hands. They are pretty new there, so they presently appear to be most comfortable if you work with them while they stay in their cage.

Lee is coming along so well and becoming more at ease all the time. He was sitting at the back of the cage in the litter box initially (below) but once I began to do some circular TTouches on him using a plastic back scratcher, he quickly came forward in his cage and it became clear that he was comfortable with me TTouching him directly with my hand. I first did TTouches which use the back surface of my hand (llama TTouch, chimp TTouch, Noah's march using the back of my hand), as these TTouches are less intense than those using the front surfaces of the hand and fingers.

Today Lee came out of the cage altogether and was very interested to look around at his surroundings and at the other cats, which felt like a brave step forward for him. He head-butted me for TTouch, and was very comfortable and responsive to TTouches. He also was perfectly fine with me gently picking him up to return him to his cage (though he did seem to want to stay out of the cage!). I always tell a cat if I am going to pick them up, letting them know in a very calm voice.


After this, the rest of the cats were released from their cages out into the room.

Maddie is just as sweet as can be, she comes right up to me for TTouch, and is so excited that she starts to drool. I did clouded leopard TTouches going down each side of her back, as well as ear strokes. Then I did zigzag TTouches very slowly with her, and these seemed to calm her energy as I did them. The zigzag TTouches also connect all the parts of the body, so they can bring an over-excited animal back into its body - but they need to be done slowly in that case. If an animal is over-stimulated and apt to bite or scratch, I would usually not do a zigzag TTouch initially, but Maddie is friendly and not aggressive. Her little face really steals my heart too, I have to admit!


Pedro is very sweet to people but he can be a bit overwhelming and bossy to the other cats, especially if he senses that they are a bit shy - and of course since he is such a strong character, a couple of the shyer cats like Nene and Marette are a bit afraid of him, so we had to keep our eye on him a bit when he's out with the other cats.

Pedro sat with me on the couch as I did slow abalone TTouches with him, which were very calming to him. He settled right on my lap as I did this.

Mishu is a friendly young cat but gets a little overwhelmed when he's out with all the other cats, which is why you see him underneath the furniture here! I held him briefly and did clouded leopard TTouches with him as well as earstrokes, which he found to be calming.

Nene (below) also gets intimidated by some of the other cats, but he is very comfortable with me, as I have worked with him for some weeks now. So I did slow abalone TTouches with him while he was on the couch, and he settled close to me for a while.

Spock is an extremely friendly cat, and he settled with me on the couch as I did ear TTouches, zigzag and clouded leopard TTouches on his body and raccoon TTouches on his head. He was very responsive and cuddled against me as I did this.

I worked with Buddy after the other cats were put back in their cages, as he is FIV positive. He is an extremely gentle soul, and I generally do very slow, calming abalone TTouches (which use the surface of the whole hand) on his body and chimp TTouches and ear strokes on his head.
Look forward to seeing you all soon, kitties!

TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: April 4, 2011

I had a lovely time, as usual, with the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats who I work with thru Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program.
Spock (above) is such a sweet, friendly guy. He came out of his cage and settled on my lap while I sat on the couch and did TTouch with him. I did little raccoon TTouches on his head, connected chimp TTouches on his body, and did ear strokes and mouth work with him as well.



Pedro is quite a character. He was very excited to have attention when he got out of his cage and came right up in my face to give a kiss. I did some slower abalone TTouches with him, as he can get over-stimulated. Abalone TTouches are circular touches using the whole hand, so they have a more relaxing, calming effect, which some of the TTouches uisng less of a surface of the hand and fingers are more focused. Another touch that worked really well to calm him was doing an abalone TTouch followed by a long, slow stroke down his body.

Nene is a sweet cat and loves people but can get a bit intimidated by other cats. I do generally take these cats out of their cages one by one to work with them, but you can tell by his interaction with the cats that are still in their cages that he is a bit of a shy boy when it comes to the other cats. Today, as he seemed to be a bit keyed up, I did gentle, slow raccoon TTouches (using the tips of the fingers) on his forehead. The forehead can be a wonderful area to work to calm a nervous cat.

Munchie is a young little guy who often wants to play instead of being touched. He is still a little hesitant to be touched directly with a hand, so I started out using the back scratcher and the paintbrush to do little circles and strokes on his head and body. He became very relaxed with this, and playful as well, sometimes playing with the tool, other times relaxing into the touch.

Maddie is just too cute. She gets so excited for contact that she drools. I sat on the couch and at first she was walking back and forth across my lap, as I did some circles and strokes on her. Then I began to do some hair slides, which are a bit hard to describe, but you hold on (not hard) to a bit of fur and stroke it out to the tip of the fur, a bit like combing the fur with your hands (fingers kept together). I found that these were particularly calming for Maddie, and she settled as I did these going down her body.

Mack is a sweet little guy. When you first open his cage, sometimes he can seem a bit shy but once I bring him out onto the couch, he is extremely affectionate. I did chimp TTouches going down his back, and ear strokes are very calming to him. He was rubbing against my hand as I did this with him.

Honey can still get a little over-stimulated and swat or meow, she still seems a bit nervous. She warmed up and got quite comfortable as I did TTouch with her. Because she is still shy, I alternated between TTouching her with the back scratcher and doing chimp and llama TTouches with her. Both the chimp and llama use back surfaces of the hand and fingers, which are less intense than using the front surfaces of the hand, so these are great TTouches to do when you are just starting to get an animal used to being TTouched. As always, you can see demos of many of these touches on my youtube site, http://youtube.com/sarahsuricat. Please feel free to visit the site, and email me with any questions you may have.

Marette is a sweet cat, but is still a bit unsure, so I am still very gradual in my approach with her as well. Today I found that she was especially receptive to being TTouched with a small (one inch) foam brush. I did little circular TTouches and strokes around her head, as well as strokes going down her body.

Blackie is generally eager for attention, but can get over-stimulated with too much touch, so I was extra-quiet and slow in my approach with her. I did small circular TTouches and hair slides around her head, and a few hair slides around the top of her chest area. I also discovered that she is quite sensitive around her hind-quarters. I tried using a jelly scrubber (actually a horse-grooming tool) to do some gentle circles and strokes around the lower half of her body. Initially, she was resistant to this, but then I eased up with the pressure I was using and she settled into it.

Buddy is such a gentle soul. He is FIV positive, so will have to be adopted either as a solo cat or into a household with other FIV-positive cats. I don't know if it's just coincidence, but it seems that all the FIV positive cats who I have met seem to be the most gentle, sweet cats. I did gentle hair slides on his head, and abalone TTouches on his body, and he really spread out and let go, which was such a pleasure to see.

Thanks to all of you sweet cats, I'll see you soon, unless you get adopted :)