The Cat Loft at BARC: Patches Settles in my Lap

Patches is one of the beautiful cats at BARC who I have had the opportunity to work with lately. She came to BARC from an abusive situation. Sometimes she can suddenly become very frightened. She is particularly frightened of other cats, but can usually only tolerate short amounts of attention, so one needs to really be patient with her.

I have been doing both TTouch and Reiki with her recently. Generally I will do TTouches on her head, then do some Reiki on her body, and when she is comfortable, do some TTouch on her body. She is more comfortable being touched on the head than on the body, so this approach gives her time to settle and get used to being gently touched on her body.

Recently she was put in a cage on the lower level, which enables people to sit in a chair right at the same level as her cage and if she is comfortable she can come out onto a person's lap, which she has done for several people, including me, lately. The other day, she did that for me the first time, and I realized that I needed to have her face her cage or the wall when she is on my lap so she will not be scared by seeing the other cats who are out loose.

So yesterday when she came onto my lap, I made sure that she was facing her cage once she came onto my lap, and I decided to offer her Reiki. She settled and absorbed Reiki more than ever before. She settled and spread out in my lap, draping her front legs over my knees. It was as though her entire being let out a gigantic SIGH. She was purring a beautiful silent vibrating PURRRRRR. There were no visitors at that particular time, which gave her more opportunity to really BREATHE and relax. Even a couple of the other cats who are loose in the space who usually come up to me when I have another cat on my lap were curled up taking a nap. It was so sweet to truly feel this cat relax - that she felt safe enough to do that with me. I moved my hands to several positions while she was there, but it felt that the optimum position for my hands was around her shoulder area (which is also the brachial chakra). Patches did not want to move, even after we had remained there for a very long time. I did a few TTouches on her, but it felt like she was so responsive to Reiki that I mostly continued Reiki with her.

Finally I gently lifted her back into her cage. Here she is (pic directly above, as well as top pic in this post) shortly afterwards. Her eyes are just so open and expressive. I feel that if a very patient, quiet person were to adopt her, she would do very well in a home with no other animals. She feels like she is so craving of that connection.

Thank you Patches for trusting me in these moments, and thanks to the others who come to BARC to help socialize these cats as well.

The Cat Loft at BARC Shelter : Sept 25-Oct 1

There have been a lot of adoptions at BARC lately, and Chairman is one of the lucky kitties who recently went to a loving home - congrats to all!



Muffin and Mittens (Muffin above, both below and then following is pic of Mittens) are so sweet, it is really exciting to see them come around. Mittens is completely friendly and lays on his back when you touch him now. One of the days this week he actually startled himself (and me) and came right out of the cage. Unfortunately as I knew he would be hard to catch, I got him right back in.

Muffin is still a bit more hesitant but she is getting there little by little. The two main TTouches which she really responds to are raccoon ttouches around the outside of her mouth, going back to her jaw area. She starts laying on her back and purring almost immediately when I do this. She also really relaxes to connected abalone ttouches (circular ttouches which use the whole hand). Sometimes Mittens comes over while I'm working on Muffin, so I work on one kitty with each hand.

As I'm writing this blog post a little after the fact, I can tell you that over the weekend, Mittens was adopted. Muffin probably misses him but she seems to be adjusting and has been letting other people pet her more, so that is great.

Patches (above and below) still has to be approached very calmly and carefully, as she can have her moods, but she is getting a lot more comfortable with me. Generally I start out by doing little circles either with the back of my finger on te outside of her mouth area and little circles on her head area. Then I do a little reiki with my hands slightly above her back, until she gets really relaxed. Then she is usually ready to be touched on her back. It is wonderful to see her becoming more relaxed - sometimes it really looks like she is smiling at me! Below you see her all stretched out and relaxed.

Princess is a very challenging cat. Some days I am able to make contact with her, and other times she is just not in the mood. Most often, it seems to be good to start out by offering Reiki to her, as this can make her very relaxed and I can offer it to her from a couple of feet away.

One of the days I went, they had moved many of the cats, and she was hiding under her little bed. This was a great opportunity for me to try a different kind of contact with her. I did circles and strokes on her with the bed in between, so she would feel safer about me touching her. She was very responsive to this, and I could see her really relax.

Just to prove to me that you really need to meet the animal where they are each and every time, I tried this approach the next day and she was not in the mood at all - what she responded to that day was simply for me to offer her reiki from about a foot away. Other days I have been able to touch her directly, doing small circles on her forehead and other places on her head. She still is not comfortable with me directly touching her on her body. I need to continue to be patient to her, listen to her and see what she is ready for each time.

Looking forward to more adventures with these cats, and I have to always thank them for all that they teach me. And thanks to all the loving folks at BARC shelter who help to socialize these kitties as well, and who work so hard to get these dogs, cats and other critters loving homes.

TTouch and Reiki at BARC's Cat Loft - Sept 23

There are a bunch of kittens at BARC shelter in Brooklyn now and they are just too endearing! As you can see, they love to sleep in a clump. The bottle you see here is filled with warm water, which is ver cozy for them to cuddle next to. These little darlings are very friendly as well.

Above is Laverne, a senior girl who had been adopted from BARC as a kitten and was recently brought back as the owner said they didn't have enough time to spend with her. you can see how stunning she is, and she is just as sweet. I have done TTouch on her a few times - so far it seems every time I get ready to do some TTouch with her, someone is already holding her or giving her love. I'll get to you soon though Laverne! I just couldn't resist including her picture though, as she is so sweet.

I started out the day there with Tiny Tina, who is a small, young kitty who had been found by the highway, having been hit with a car. She recently was spayed and had to have one of her hind legs amputated, so the dear girl has been through a lot. I want to get a picture of her next time, and will put it up here once I do. She is a very friendly, purring cat. I decided to be very gentle with her because of the recent surgery, and held my hands on either side of her back end, about 6" away, offering her Reiki. She was very responsive to this and it appeared to be really relaxing for her. I also did air TTouches around the area where her amputated leg used to be, as she may have some phantom pain in that area. I gave her a break and then did some gentle TTouches on her head, and then did Reiki with her for a while longer.

While I was working with Tiny Tina, I felt a paw tapping my leg below, and when I finished with Tiny Tina, I realized it was Baby (pictured below) who was pawing me. Baby has really started coming around since the first time I saw her. I sat down on a stool next to her cage and she came out of her cage onto my lap briefly, then relaxed inside her cage. As she had a cold and so had nasal congestion, I offered Reiki to her, putting my hands directly on her body, and then later I did raccoon TTouches on her forehead and near where her nose is. Baby was very receptive to Reiki energy and flopped on her side as she grew more comfortable.

Cher (above) is one of the more challenging cats there and she has really been coming around for me. I started out working with long-handled brushes with her, but now she comes to the front of the cage and steps into my lap. I have been doing circles and strokes on the sides of her body with the back of my hand, just a little at a time, giving her frequent breaks, during which she goes back in her cage for a few minutes, then comes back out. I also did circles and strokes on her using the long-handled brushes - and if she starts to attack and play with one brush, I stroke her with the other. The key with her seems to be to really be in the moment with her and give her a lot of space, pausing frequently and letting her set the pace of what she is ready to do.

Patches (above) was a bit on the moody side today, so I focused on doing TTouch on her head and then did some Reiki with her, with my hands a few inches away, as too much direct contact with her can be too overwhelming. She looks pretty comfortable here!

Above is Mittens and below is Muffin. Mittens is SO friendly now, it is a pleasure to see. I did ear ttouches, abalone, and chimp ttouch with him, and he was purring and so comfortable. He almost seemed ready to come out of the cage to me a number of times.

Muffin is really coming along, she is just taking a bit more time to become trusting. Today, when I first put my hand in the cage, she started to play with my hand (with paws but not with claws out), then the minute I began to do abalone TTouches on her she really settled. I did the circles REALLY sssslllloooowwwly, with a pause at the end, which can be so relaxing, I really felt her energy change. She also becomes very settled when I do little raccoon ttouches on the outside of her mouth, going back to her jaw area, and these were very relaxing for her as well. She put her head back and leaned her head into my hand as if to ask me to continue. Below she is enjoying some of her food, which many of the cats do after TTouch or Reiki.


I am enjoying working with all these cats so much, and look forward to seeing them again soon (unless they are adopted!)

TTouch and Reiki in the Cat Loft at BARC - Sept 18

Above is one of the adorable kittens they have at BARC shelter in Brooklyn, where I have been going a couple of times a week to offer TTouch and Reiki to the cats there.

The two young black cats I have been working on a lot, Mittens (above) and Muffin (below), are continuing to really come along. Muffin, who has been the more shy of the two, is getting more and more comfortable being touched, and is not so startled when you first touch her. Mittens now will purr a lot when you touch her and wants to come out of the cage. Muffin may take a minute to become accustomed to your touch, but she settles right in pretty quickly. She especially responds to abalone touch (circular touches with the whole hand), which can be very comforting, and raccoon ttouches around the mouth area, which can sometimes be a key area for relaxing a nervous cat.

Cher (below) is also really coming around - though I realize she looks skeptical in this photo! She usually responds to people reaching their hand towards her by swatting at them. I have been working with her using two long-handled brushes, which I think are used for putting sauce on barbeque. so if she starts to attack one brush, I can do circles and strokes on her with the other. This time I ended up not even using the brushes, as she came to the front of the cage for me and began to rub her head against me. I did strokes and circles using the back of my hand on her body and a few chimp touches on her head, and she stepped right out of her cage and onto my lap. I think she was a bit startled to find herself there!

She can be unpredictable and sometimes go from friendly to swatting, so I was careful to stay pretty still and just give her a few touches while she was there, and only as she moved towards me to receive them. As they didn't want her to get loose in the shelter, I encouraged her to go back in the cage after a few minutes there. I came back to her later and did a bit of TTouch on her again, and again she seemed to want to come out of the cage. I think this was a good breakthrough for her.

I also worked again on Baby (below), who is shy but very sweet. She is extremely sensitive and so I needed to go slowly and gently, as she is ultra-sensitive in some parts of her body. She is very comfortable being TTouched on the head and less so as you go towards the back end of her body. I did Reiki on her for a while, and she really settled with me as I did this. I could feel her relax as she was absorbing the energy.


Patches, the lovely tortie cat pictured below, is also really coming along. When I first started working with her, she could only take a very little bit of TTouch at a time and then would tell me that was enough with a meow or swat. I have been working on her just a little bit at a time, giving her breaks. Today I began as I usually do, doing TTouch on her head and around her mouth area and she was extremely receptive to this so I began to work in a few TTouches going down her body and then going back to the head. She got more and more comfortable and really stretched out her back. I started doing a circle and then a long stroke with the back of my hand down her body, on one side and then on the other, and this was very relaxing for her. I did this whole procedure several times when I was there, and was able to work with her a little longer each time.

There are a number of kind, dedicated staff and volunteers who also help in their own individual ways to help socialize the cats. A big thanks to these folks! And I look forward to going to BARC again soon.

The Cat Loft at BARC Shelter - Sept. 4

Today I went again to BARC shelter out in Brooklyn to work on the cats.

Below is one of the resident cats who is quite a character, Cody. He loves to come and sit on your lap. You do need to watch his body language though, as he can get over-stimulated with too much attention, so a short time span with him is ideal. He is really a sweetheart though.

Mrs. Skeffington, pictured below, is a dear senior kitty. She especially responded to ear TTouches and clouded leopard touches, she really settled and stretched out as I worked on her.

Patches seemed a bit under the weather today, and not really in a mood to be touched, so today I did Reiki on her, keeping my hands about five inches away from her. She really started to relax as I sent Reiki to her in this way, and contentedly went into a Reiki nap.

I also worked on kittens Teddy (below) and his cagemate FDR (the grey and white kitten pictured below Teddy. Again, FDR was more shy, but they both are becoming more comfortable being touched. I tood them out of the cage one by one, sitting in a chair right by the cage so they could just jump back in if they wanted to, but they each settled in and stretched out on my lap as I did some clouded leopard TTouches down one side of the body and then the other, and some quite firm ear strokes going from the base all the way out to the tip of their ears.

The kitty pictured below is Pan. He is one of the cats loose in the shelter and I didn't get around to TTouching him today, but he is a very sweet guy and, as you can see, very handsome!

Mike and Marie are two dear little kittens. Below they are sniggled together, and you can barely see where one begins and the other ends, it looks almost like a two-headed kitten! They are very bonded with each other and extremely friendly. They respond to ear TTouches, mouth TTouch and raccoon or clouded leopard ttouches on their bodies.

Below is Clarice, who, as you can see, got quite sleepy after some TTouch and her cagemate and pal Billy Joel was also quite responsive. He initially was towards the back of the cage but once I started to do a few strokes with the back of my hand down his body, he came to the front of the cage for TTouch, and I mostly did strokes and circles down his body as he walked back and forth, rubbing himself against my hand.

I also worked again on Cher, who I need to get a good picture of. She is a tabby with very striking markings who can really get worked up easily, so I have been using two long-handled brushes that look as though they are used for putting sauce on barbecue - long metal handles with a brush on the end. As she becomes engaged in play with one of the brushes, I do circles and strokes on her body with the other brush. Little by little I am able to do a bit more work on her with this technique.

Thanks to all these wonderful animals and I look forward to seeing tham again.