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 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.

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 :)

TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: May 2

Today when I went to work with the Mayor's Alliance Rescue cats through Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program, there were some new cats, as well as a bunch who I have been working with for a while.

Lee was great today, he is making such progress. Today he came right to the front of the cage, purrrrring, to greet me. I was able to do TTouches on his head and his body, and he was comfortable with all of them. He also even was at ease being picked up, which I did to bring him up on the couch with me. He settled in there for a while, as I did abalone TTouches and ear strokes on him. He was purring (and sometimes meowing, a content meow) the whole time.

What a sweet boy! The woman who cleans the cages told me that now he is comfortable being let out of the cage with other cats. Previously, he had been too frightened to be out with the others and needed to be let out alone. He also had initially been referred to by some as a “mean cat”, which of course couldn’t have been more inaccurate!





Talbot and Diyala are two new kittens. Talbot (above) is completely friendly, and came right to me for TTouch. Diyala (three pictures below) is more shy, so I started out with her doing TTouches on her head using a soft toothbrush. She soon became more relaxed. I could feel her ears becoming more soft, and could see her eyes and the rest of her face relax.



As she became more relaxed, I began to incorporate TTouches using the back of my hand.

After she settled into the circular TTouches with the back of my hand, I did some using the front of my hand around the base of her neck, also occasionally incorporating a few TTouches on the body, then going back to the head. I kept the toothbrush in my hand in case she became nervous, in which case I would have gone back to TTouching with the toothbrush. I gave frequent breaks, seeing if she was ready for more or wanted to rest a bit. When I was finished, even though she was still at the back of the cage, her face and body looked much more relaxed, so that was great progress for her.

Next was Pedro (below).

Pedro is hilarious, he gets very excited to come out of his cage for attention. I did raccoon TTouches on his forehead to get his energy a bit more settled. I also did some Reiki with him, and he was absorbing the calm energy like a sponge. Today I noticed the most heat over the solar plexus and base chakras.

Mila is a new, very sweet tortie cat. She began to purr right away when I opened her cage and started to work with her. As I hadn’t worked with her before, I used the gentler TTouches, such as the llama ttouch (uses the back surface of the fingers) and the abalone TTouch (which uses the whole hand). These big TTouches are especially gentle because the pressure is dispersed over a larger area.

Lucky is also new, she was super-friendly and laid right on her side as I did abalone and clouded leopard TTouches going down her side.

Honey is getting more friendly and more brave every time I see her. The TTouch I used most with her today is the chimp TTouch, as it uses the back surface of the fingers. These types of touches can be good for a cat who gets easily startled or scared with too much contact or heat.

Hank is such a love. He laid right on his side. His ears were relaxed and soft as I worked with him. I did abalone TTouches and ear strokes with him..

Kitty (above) and Blackie 2 (below) are coming along really well too. Kitty jumped out of her cage and onto the couch, and Blackie 2 came out of the cage briefly as well, which is great for him, as he didn’t do this before. So Kitty I TTouched while she was on the couch with me and Blackie 2 got TTouch both in and out of the cage. He is definitely getting braver, he just needs time and patience.

Blackie was purring like crazy. I primarily used the jelly scrubber to TTouch her, as she can get a bit overstimulated. I also did very slow abalone TTouches and ear strokes with her, which have a very soothing effect.

Angel is a new cat there and was friendly right away. She was sweet, purring and laying on her side as I did slow abalone TTouches with her.

Marette gets more brave every time. Previously I have mostly used the tools with her, as she can be hyper-sensitive. But today I was able to do some TTouches directly with my hand, doing a circle and a stroke on her body. She began to rub herself right against my hand when I did this, to my surprise!

TTouch with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: May 9

Lee is doing so great, it is incredible to see his progress in just a few weeks’ time. Initially he was frozen in his litter box, hissing at most people when they opened his cage. Now he just can’t wait to come out of his cage for attention. He is so sweet! Today the TTouch that he seemed to respond to the most was doing gentle ear strokes on him.

Angel is super-friendly. With her I did ear TTouches and clouded leopard TTouches.

Blackie was so sweet again today, she knows me and comes right out of her cage for attention. Again, I used the jelly scrubber with her but have also been able to do more TTouches directly with her without her getting overstimulated. I do use the larger TTouches with her, the abalone (using the whole hand) and llama TTouches (using the back of the hand), so that the pressure is dispersed. She was purring the entire time.

Kitty (above) and Blackie 2 (below) both came out of the cage right away today. Blackie 2 is now so much more confident than he was initially. Both of them came onto my lap and rubbed against me. I did slow ear strokes, chimp and clouded leopard TTouches on both of them.

Hank is such a friendly cat, he came right up on the couch with me, as I did llama TTouches and clouded leopard TTouches on his body and a few ear strokes on him.

Honey can still get startled easily, so I make sure to use especially gentle energy with her. I did raccoon TTouches o nher head, circle and a stroke using the comp TTouch on her body, as well as the llama TTouch.

Munchie (above and below) was back in the room today, not sure if he had been fostered previously, etc. He has made wonderful progress. I started out with him using the back scratcher, as he seemed a little shy. After a bit of using the back scratcher, I was able to do circles and strokes on him directly with my hand. The chimp TTouch and ear TTouches were what he was most comfortable with.

Kobie was also back today. He is sweet. Both he and Munchie seemed to recognize me, and it seemed as though we picked up where we left off, that we didn’t have to get to know each other all over again. As Kobie can bet a bit over-excited, I used the chimp and abalone TTouches with him, and he became quite settled with these.

Lucky is very friendly, did circle and a stroke with the chimp ttouch on her.

Marette is becoming less shy, but I still feel I need to be mindful that she needs to come to me in her own time. When she comes to me, she is quite friendly, rubbing her face against me. Today, I mostly did chimp TTouches on her back.

Mila can start out shy but she warms up right away, I started out with raccoon TTouches on her head and she began to rub her head against my hand, as I did clouded leopard TTouches going down her body.

Talbot (below) and Diyala (above) again, Talbot is super-friendly, sort of overly-excitedly so. As I did clouded leopard Ttouches very slowly, followed by ear strokes, he started to slow himself down a bit and began licking me. His sister Diyala starts out a bit scared and was hanging in the back of her cage initially. As I began to do gentle TTouches on her head with the toothbrush, she began to lean into the touches. I began to incorporate Ttouches on the body as well, which she was less comfortable with, so I would do a couple of TTouches there, then go back to the head, etc, and she began to settle into them. She actually started pushing her head into my hand, which was so sweet!