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 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 :)

TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: March 21

Fun day today with the Mayor's Alliance Rescue cats through Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program, some new cats and some cats I have been friends with for a while. It is great that the setup often allows for the cats be let out of their cages to work with them. The first cat I worked with today is Blackie. She is a cat who is sensitive being touched on her back end, she will grown a bit if you go there. I did manage to work in a few slow abalone touches in that area, gently working down her back. Then I went back to working on her upper body, and did some raccoon TTouches on her forehead, and some ear strokes. I work very gently and slowly, giving her breaks, as she is quite sensitive in general and can become overstimulated. I worked with Honey a couple of times during my session there today. She is new, and was rather frightened, so I first did TTouch on her head, then did some Reiki with her, focusing on the key chakras and heart chakras. Hands-on seemed to be too intense for her, so I then moved a short distance away from her, and she was very receptive. When I came back to her later in the session, she rubbed her head against my hand as I did some TTouches with her. I kept that session short as I didn't want to overwhelm her. I've worked with Kobie (above) for a while, and he is always excited to come outof his cage, waiting for me with his paws up against the front of his cage. I did some llama TTouches and chimp touches on him here and there, as he was really more in a mood to play today. Mack is very familiar and friendly with me now, and was in the mood to play, so I mostly did some TTouches on him with the back of my hand, calming his energy a bit. Maddie is new. She was in the back of the cage initially, and slowly came towards me, meowing when I opened the door to her cage. I wasn't quite sure whether it was a friendly meow or not so I was a bit cautious with her at first, but soon she was rubbing her head against my hand, and even sitting up on her back legs and pushing against my hand. I did Chimp TTouch, Llama, TTouch, Noah's march using the back of my hand as she came towards me and started walking back and forth, rubbing herself against me. Turns out it was indeed a friendly meow at that! Magette was also new, and is rather skittish. I started out using a foam brush, doing little circles on the outside of her mouth area, which is a great area to work on fearful cats. She was very responsive to this. I also tried using the back scratcher with her, but she seemed to think this was too large a surface and seemed frightened of this, so I stopped. Then I was able to do a few TTouches on her body using my hand, but I kept this short. Munchie is new, and was hiding in the corner initially. I began doing some circular TTouches on him, using a plastic back scratcher, and he really responded to this. Within a short time, I was able to work my hand down the handle of the back scratcher to do some TTouches directly with my hand on him. Later I was able to do more TTouches on him using my hand, and he was very responsive, rolling around and looking very comfortable. Mack is a very sweet, gentle cat who can get a bit startled around other cats. I find that with him, the TTouches he responds to the most are abalone TTouches, done very slowly going down his body. He finds these very relaxing. Pedro is quite a character. Sometimes he puts his paws on my chest and comes right up to say hello. I did connected clouded leopard TTouches and abalone TTouches on his body. I also found he really responded to Reiki - I worked on the key chakra, heart and solar plexus chakras, and he really settled into the energy. He can be a bit on the tense side, so this worked really well.

With Tango, I used the Tarantulas Pulling the Plough touch, clouded leopard TTouches down his back, and the zigzag and octopus TTouches. All of these are great for connecting the front and back ends of the body, which is especially important for him as he has a bit of an issue with his back legs, which seems to be easing up as time goes by. I also put a folded-up ace bandage across his back (instead of doing a body wrap with him using the bandage) just to remind him of his back, and help bring him back into his body. Sometimes I have done a half-wrap with him, but this time I felt that placing it over his body was enough.

Thank you one and all, look forward to seeing you soon (unless you get adopted, which would be even better)!