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!

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 shelter: update on Dr. Teeth

Dr. Teeth is a very shy female cat who arrived at BARC shelter some time ago along with a bunch of other cats whose owner had passed away. She was the shyest of all these cats. I have been working with her very quietly, and she has very gradually been getting more comfortable in general and more comfortable being touched.
She is more comfortable with being touched on the body than on the head, so that is usually where I start. For quite a while, I was only touching her with a long-handled paintbrush, doing little circular touches and strokes going down her body, starting just a few touches at a time, taking a break, and continuing. I could see her realizing that these touches were actually very relaxing, so she became very comfortable with me doing this.
The next step was to start incorporating touches with my hand, so I did a few touches with the brush, then some circles with the back of my fingers or back of my hand, then back to the brush, still mostly doing TTouches on the body. Then I started integrating a few touches around the base of the neck, working up to doing touches on the head.
Last Saturday I decided to try a bit of Reiki with her before I began doing the TTouches. First I held my hand slightly over her body, above one side of the brachial chakra. Chakras are energy centers of the body, and the brachial chakra is one that apparently only animals have, that is located near the two shoulders. That is a good place to start, as it connects to other energy centers. Then I held my hand slightly over her heart chakra, and this seemed to be a really important area to work, as I felt a real response and relaxation by her there. Below you will see a video of me doing a bit of Reiki with her over this chakra, and she really settles after a minute of doing this. Sorry it is dark and a bit hard to see. I alternated between doing the energy work over this chakra and doing some circular TTouches with my hand down her body, and then working in some TTouches around her neck and forehead. I felt a relaxation as a result of the Reiki that I had not felt with this cat before.

When I next came back into the shelter on Tuesday, Dr. Teeth greeted me at the front of her cage, which is something really new for her, to see her seeking human connection. When I was doing Reiki with a cat next to her, I saw her watching me, as though she was watching and feeling the energy waves.
Then when I worked with her, again I alternated between doing energy work with my hand slightly off of her, then doing some TTouches. When my hand first touches her, she still will move to the back of her cage initially, then settles into it. She doesn’t hiss anymore. And then when I do energy work with her, she starts to move forward in her cage again, settling.
When a cat starts to really settle like she is now, I can feel her personality starting to come forth, and in this case I felt that balancing the heart chakra helped me to start to feel a deeper, more tangible connection.When I left, I thanked her for trusting me enough to make that connection. I look forward to working with her again.

TTouch and Reiki at BARC: Dr. Teeth

Dr. Teeth is a beautiful grey and white cat who arrived a few weeks ago at BARC Shelter after her owner passed away. I believe she was given her name because she has very few teeth (you can see her tongue sticking out sometimes, probably because there are not teeth to keep it in her mouth). She is extremely shy. When you approach her, she still hisses and will swat towards you, but I have never had her actually swat me. I don't believe she is aggressive, just frightened.

When I began working with her, I used a long-handled plastic back scratcher, using the back of the hand of the scratcher to do circles and strokes on her back. In the beginning I could only do a few strokes or touches, and then would back off, always facing sideways to the cage, and would wait to see her breathe and calm down, speaking in a quiet, calm voice to her. After some days of doing this, she started to settle as I did the touches on her with the back scratcher. It is very important to orient your body sideways to the cage, especially with a frightened animal, as this is a much less threatening body posture.

I then wanted to try a tool with a shorter handle, so began to use a flat long-handled paintbrush, sometimes doing the circles and strokes with the tip of the brush, sometimes with the flat part of the brush. She responded to this tool well, and though she still would start out with a hiss, once I touched her with the brush, she settled, tucking her front paws underneath her body, blinking and licking her lips.

Each day I worked with her, I tried to just push her a teeny bit past her comfort level to get her used to a bit more contact. Little by little I started working in a few touches and strokes on the head, then would go back to her body, as she is frightened of being touched on her head. I then changed tools to a back scratcher with a shorter handle and what looks like a small plastic hand at the end of it, using the back of the hand to touch her. She responded to this new tool as though she found it possibly more relaxing than the brush.

Then, a couple of days ago, I decided to take the plunge. I worked my hand slowly down the back scratcher handle, with my hand behind her head, and began to do some circular touches on her body with the back of one finger. I was afraid she would be startled at this different, warmer and more flexible surface, but she settled right in. And I was able to start incorporating some little circles, sometimes with the back of my finger and sometimes with the front, on the back of her head and neck area, and she started to actually relax into this. I sometimes went back to touching her with the back scratcher, doing gentle strokes, and she really stretched her back out.

It is such a pleasure to see this sweet cat start to be more relaxed, and to be more comfortable being touched. When she first came into the shelter she was always in the back of the cage. Now she often is in the front of the cage, very interested and engaged in what is going on. And though she is still initially frightened when you approach her, I believe that with more time, she will begin to be more trusting and less frightened on initial approach as well. I can't wait to work with her again.

TTouch and Reiki at BARC: Dr. Teeth

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!

New Cats at BARC: Dr, Teeth, Waldorf, and Statler

The past week I have spent a lot of time with some new cats who arrived whose owner passed away. Many of these cats were very frightened upon arrival at the shelter, and are gradually coming around.

One of them who is having a very hard time is Dr. Teeth (pictured above). She has no teeth, which is why her tongue sticks out sometimes. She is too frightened to be touched right now, and always still remains at the very back of her cage. Yesterday I stood a few inches from her cage, offering Reiki to her. Little by little I saw her eyes relax and nearly close, and I felt her sigh a bit. Her breathing began to get easier, even though there were people who needed to pass by her cage (her cage is on the corner of a row so I was actually standing around the corner from the pathway where people were passing). I stayed there for quite a while, mostly silent, but every once in a while speaking softly to her, reassuring her that she was in a safe place and that she would be treated kindly here. We need to be very patient with her and know that because she is frightened, that what to us may seem a very small step is a very big step for her. I have been sending her and the others distant Reiki when I am not at the shelter as well.

Right next to Dr. Teeth is Statler. As you can see, he is a very handsome cat, with long, soft fur. He looks very skeptical here, but he has been gradually betting more comfortable with being touched. I mostly focus with ttouches around his mouth area and head area, with some strokes and circles going down his body. His tail is very tight so there have been a few times when I have been able to hold the tail and do a few very subtle, small rotations with it, to remind him that it is there and that he has the option of relaxing it more. As I continued working with him, now he will rub his face against my hand when I do the strokes and circles around his mouth area, and he will stretch out and move his body a bit, instead of being always stuck in a frozen position.

To the left of him is Waldorf (pictured above). He also looks a bit grumpy in his picture, but he has also started to become "unfrozen" after doing TTouch work with him for several days. Yesterday I brought some extra-yummy treats made by Halo called liv-a-littles. I put a few of these on his shelf and he loved them. He is still a bit wary of touch, but once I start doing a few soft strokes on his head, he starts to settle a bit, though he also holds the back end of his body quite tightly, so I am starting to do connected circular touches on him that go from the head to the base of the tail to help him have more awareness of his whole body. A few minutes after I worked with him yesterday, I saw him actually get off the shelf and come to the front of the cage, where I had left a few treats to entice him and where his food bowl was. He began to eat the treats and then eat out of his food bowl. This was a big step for him, as usually when people are around he will not get off the shelf in the back of his cage.

Bravo to all these dear ones and I look forward to working with them more and thank them for trusting me with them. :)