TTouch and Reiki with the Picasso Cats: Quick Breakthrough with Cinder

I work with some of the cats from the Mayor's Alliance Picasso Veterinary Fund through Tavi and Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program.
Working with TTouch with a frightened animal can be a gradual process, but sometimes the effect can be immediate and dramatic.
Today when I arrived, there was a new cat named Cinder. He was in a tight ball in the back of the cage, staring at me, and when I opened the cage, he growled. As I usually do when working with a new cat, I started out using a tool, in this case a back scratcher, to first make contact with him.
When I began to do little strokes and circles on his head with the back scratcher, he began to lean into it and roll on his side and then his back. The growls continued at the same time for a moment but then subsided as he became more and more comfortable.

I gave him frequent breaks, so he wouldn't get too overstimulated, then I would start again. He rubbed himself against the back scratcher, and once in a while I would slide my hand down the handle to do some TTouches on him directly with my hand, then I went back to using the back scratcher.
He got extremely cozy, and when I closed his cage to give him a longer break, if I was near where his cage was, he came to the front of his cage, looking at what I would do next.

I worked with him several times during my day there, the same thing happening each time, and he more and more easily came up to the front of the cage. One time he did get overstimulated and meow at me, but other than that, he just seemed to get more and more comfortable. I did circular TTouches and strokes first around his head, then began to work down his body a bit, then went back to the head, sometimes workking in some TTouches with my hand as well.

I took these pictures last week, and when I went to see him this week, again at first he was in the back of the cage, but when I opened his cage and he saw the back scratcher, he again rubbed into it, and very quickly I was able to transition to doing TTouch on him directly with my hands. When I was working with other cats in the room, he often was standing up at the front of his cage, as though he wanted me to come back there. He was curious of the other cats around him, instead of being frozen in fear.

Thank you Cinder, for being brave enough to trust me so quickly. xo

TTouch and Reiki Breakthrough with King Kong - A True Heart Connection

This is King Kong, a rescue kitty from the Mayor's Alliance who I have been working with for a while through Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program. He had not been in the holding space for a while (possibly fostered), and then was returned recently. Since his return, he has been more shy with others than he had been before, and I had been told that often he wasn't coming out of his cage readily, as he had before. He has still been very friendly with me but when he comes out of his cage to make contact with me, generally he has been more interested in wandering about than in a lot of contact. and I was always a bit careful so as not to get him overstimulated. As he has seemed a bit on edge, I generally do TTouches with him using the back surfaces of my hand and fingers, as these Ttouches are less intense. I let him wander around, use the scratching post or play with a toy, then call him to me and he will come over, usually rubbing against my legs or against my hand as I do some Llama TTouches (circular TTouches using the back surfaces of my fingers) or chimp Ttouches (using the back surface of the middle section of the fingers) with him.

But today was really different. Sometimes I may be working with an animal at a certain level for a while, then one day our connection just clicks in a different way, and we move to a new level of connection.
I started out as I usually do, with llama TTouches and strokes using the back of my hand as he walks back and forth by me. Then he got a bit more settled, and I did some Reiki with him from a short distance, and I felt him much calmer than usual.
After sending him Reiki for a while, he just laid down calmly, and I began to do slow raccoon TTouches on his forehead. I felt him completely relaxed and totally in the moment with me and with the TTouches really settling into the peacefulness of the circular TTouches, closing his eyes, really letting go. I felt that direct heart connection that I often feel when some of the tension is able to truly fall away. Even the air and the space around us felt very quiet, just him and me connected and in the moment. He laid down next to me and stretched out, and we really connected on a much deeper level. It was beautiful to experience him truly relaxing and leting go. It was hard for me to leave today. When I leave, I always hold my hand up and send them energy and tell them I love them before I leave. Today he responded by waving goodbye to me, as you see here.
Love you, King Kong! 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 the Mayor's Alliance Cats: April 11

When I went to work with the Mayor's Alliance cats today thru Tavi and Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue program, there were some new cats there, as well as some who I have worked with for a while. Above is Blackie 2, who was in a cage with a grey and white kitty named Kitty. They are both a little on the reticent side, so I began working with them by doing TTouch using a feather. Blackie 2 responded to the feather, and started rubbing her body into the touch. I did some Ttouch with my hand as well, and she was quite comfortable with that, but was hesitant to come out of the cage and into the room. Kitty also responded really well to the feather and then to TTouches directly with my hand. She came out of the cage, but was a bit startled once she got out, walking very low to the ground. She was more comfortable being touched inside the cage.






Hank (above) is also new, and he looks a little wistful here, but he is actually extremely friendly and outgoing. As I wasn't sure what his personality was at first, I began with him using touches with the back of my hand, such as the chimp touch and the llama TTouch, followed by Noah's March (straight stroke using the back of my hand).









Honey is very sweet, and is becoming more outgoing. She can get over-stimulated though, so with her I also used TTouches with the back of my hand - chimp TTouch, llama TTouch, then Noah's march using the back of my hand. I give her a lot of breaks, waiting for her to be ready, and this works very well with her.









Lee is a new guy, with such a sweet, endearing face. He was frozen, terrified in his litter box when I first opened the cage. You can see a clip which shows my work with him from this week and next week (yes, I'm a bit behind on my posts!) at my youtube site at http://www.youtube.com/sarahsuricat#p/a/u/0/H_DnnXau-WE


I started out with him by using the back scratcher, doing little circles and strokes on his head at a very slow tempo, on his forehead and ears. I gave him frequent breaks. As I worked with him, I felt his ears soften and his face began to look more calm. Later on, I worked with him again and he REALLY responded to the back scratcher this time, rubbing against it. Gradually I could touch both his head and his body using the back scratcher (initially his body had been frozen stiff and he had been growling and hissing), and he even came forward in the cage and out of the litter box, continuing to rub his head against the back scratcher and against the cage.









Maddie is so sweet and funny, she gets so excited about coming out of the cage for contact that she starts drooling. I did chimp TTouch and clouded leopard TTouch as she walked back and forth across my lap, purring and drooling all the while. She would bump her head up against my hand as well.












Marette is very sweet, but is still a little shy. She can get nervous easily, so I do a few TTouches on her, stop, give her a break, then try again. The Ttouch she responded to most today was the chomp TTouch on her head and a bit on her body, followed by Noah's March using the back of my hand.






Mishu is a gentle, friendly kitten. She was purring the entire time. I did chimp TTouches on her, as well as ear strokes, and she was pushing her body into the touches as I did them.




Munchie is getting more and more friendly. He still can start out a little shy, or swat a bit since he is playful, so I start out with him using a paintbrush or other tool, then do TTouch on him directly with my hand.

Nene is so gentle and sweet. As he can be a bit on the timid side, the TTouches he responds to best are the abalone TTouches, which use the whole hand and can be very comforting.

Spock is an extremely affectionate cat, also quite an inquisitive cat. He came right out of his cage and onto my lap as I sat on the couch. I did TTouch on his head, connected chimp touches down each side of his body and he stretched out and became quite relaxed.

TTouch and Reiki with Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats, March 28

There is a bigger gang of kitties at the boarding facility where I work with the Mayor's Alliance rescue cats these days, so I had my hands full when I went there. Blackie is a friendly cat, but I think she was a bit over-excited today and she started to hiss after a few TTouches on her head. So I decided to back off, and did Reiki with her from a short distance away (about a foot). Within a fairly short time, she really became relaxed. Buddy is a gentle, very sweet cat. Initially he was in the back of the cage, but after a few TTouches he came to the front of his cage. He was in a relaxed mood, and seemed to feel like staying in his cage this time. I did gentle TTouches around his ears and forehead, which he found to be very calming. He has such a wise, kind face! Honey was extremely shy last week when I worked with her. She is still a bit shy initially, so I worked with her very gradually. She was comfortable with TTouches on the head, but seemed a bit startled when I started to work in some TTouches on the body. To help her relax, I backed off doing TTouches on her in the cage, and instead offered her Reiki from a short distance away. After a few minutes, she walked out of her cage and came right towards me. She rubbed herself against my corduroy pants (around my shin area - and betan walking back and forth, rubbing against me. I decided to try moving my legs in a circular motion as she did this, then did some very light llama TTouches going from her head to her back as she walked by. What helped her really turn the corner today was backing off, offering her Reiki and letting her come to me as she was comfortable. I continued sending her Reiki energy as I did the TTouches on her as well. Kobie, is a friendly, but active little guy. As I did some TTouches on him, he laid on his side for a bit, then got up and ran around for a bit again. As he is generally pretty high energy, I try to use slow, calming TTouches, so I used the abalone TTouch on him (circular TTouches using the whole hand), then tarantula pulling the plough, which helps to connect down the back, and some slow zigzags. I offered him some hands-on Reiki as well, which helped to calm his energy. Maddie is very friendly, and gets so excited for contact that she actually drooled while I was interacting with her. She walked back and forth across my lap as I did abalone TTouches and slow mouth TTouches with her. Marette is so cute and quite a character, as you can see from the photo above :) She is still somewhat shy and can get startled easily though. I used a small one-inch foam brush to do some small circular TTouches around the outside of her mouth and around her ears and head. After this, she decided to come out of her cage, so I did some slow TTouches on her, just a few at a time, and offered her Reiki as well. Munchie still shys away from contact initially but then starts seeking contact. He is very playful. After I opened his cage, today he started rubbing himself against the cage instead of staying at the back of teh cage. He batted at the back scratcher when I started to use it with him, but then was more receptive when I used two long feathers to work with him. He played with one feather while I touched him with the other feather. When I do TTouches using a feather, I do very light circular touches, making the usual circle and a quarther, starting at 6 o clock and going all the way around and back to 9 o'clock. I intersperse these with straight strokes going down the body or stroking on the head. Nene is a gentle, sweet cat. He can get a bit frightened of the other cats, and today he seemed to feel like staying in his cage, so I did TTouches on him there. I did very slow, soothing Abalone TTouches on him, as well as ear strokes. These helped to calm and settle him. Pedro, who had initially been a bit reticent, is now extremely friendly and comfortable. He came right up to me and rubbed his head against my head. I did slow TTouches on his forehead, which can be a great place to do calming TTouches. He came out of the cage and came to me when I called him from the couch and settled on my lap I did slow abalone TTouches on him while he stayed there. Great to see him so outgoing and affectionate. Spock (above and below) is a very engaging, friendly new tuxedo cat, seems to be a very young cat. He had been meowing and waiting at the front of his cage for attention. I sat on the couch and called to him and he came and spread himself out right on my lap, very sweet. I did little raccoon TTouches on his head and ears, then did clouded leopard TTouches going down his body on either side. I also did some slow zigzag TTouches for a very connecting, calming feeling. Tango (below) has been there for a while. He has a bit of trouble using his back legs completely (thought to perhaps be a neurological issue), tends to swing them around his body instead of fully bending and using them, but his walking has been getting easier, more natural and smoother little by little each week. I have used a Ttouch wrap on him a few times, but he really was not interested in having the wrap put on him this week, so I did very slow octopus TTouches (like double zigzag TTouches) going all over his body from front to back and down his legs as well, sort of like a slowly moving wrap going around his body. This can have a similar effect to the wrap in that it gently increases body awareness and connection. I also did slow connected clouded leopard TTouches going down either side of his back. Mack (below) is an extremely gentle, sweet cat. Sometimes he is a bit reluctant to come right out of his cage, though, as you can see, he waits right at the front of his cage for attention. He is very friendly and receptive to touch when I bring him out of his cage and is completely fine with being picked up. I did gentle ear strokes with him, which can be extremely calming. His ears are on the big side, and he especially responds to the ear strokes. I also did slow, connected clouded leopard TTouches down his body to give him more body awareness and confidence. When I had finished working with all the cats, I spent a little time standing in the middle of the room, sending gentle Reiki energy to all of them. Much love to all these cats and hoping for them all to go to wonderful forever homes soon.

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)!

TTouch with the Mayor's Alliance Rescue Cats: March 14

Blackie is a female kitty who recently arrived at the boarding facility where I work with the rescue cats from the Mayor's Alliance through Tavi & Friends' TTouch-in-Rescue Program. She looks a little serious in the above picture, but I think that is just a reaction to the camera, as she is actually extremely friendly. She started purring right away when I started doing TTouch on her, and as I wanted to slow her energy down, I used LLama TTouch (circular TTouches using the back of the hand) and abalone TTouch a circular TTouch done using the front surface of the whole hand. I did these quite slowly. The more slowly these touches are done, the more relaxing they can be.

Brie tends to get over-stimulated, so I work with her quite slowly and let her dictate how much contact she is in the mood for. Our usual pattern is for me to offer the back of my hand to her, and she rubs her head against it. Then I did some chimp and abalone TTouches going down either side of her back. I didn't do this for too long, and then tried again in a bit. Then I did Reiki on her from a short distance away, maybe a couple of feet away. I could see her eyes starting to close and she got quite settled as I sent her the calming energy.

Kobie is extremely playful, and the TTouch is very relaxing to him. He is comfortable being touched most places on his body, but today he especially responded to raccoon TTouches done on the outside of the mouth. This area connects to some emotional centers of the body, so it can be extremely soothing to work there. He is an extremely gentle cat, and unlike many rescue cats, he is gentle with his paws and already seems to know how to play with people without extending his claws. I was able to do some TTouches around his paws, which can be a difficult area for some cats, but it is a great area to work if you can, as it can get a cat used to being touched there, which is helpful when you want to clip the claws.

Mack is such a sweet, friendly cat, and now is always eager to come out of his cage for some attention. I sit on the couch and he comes right up on my lap. He especially responds to ear strokes, really leaning into them. He also responds to llama TTouch and clouded leopard TTouch, but the ear strokes really bring his energy into calm focus.

Nene is very sweet with people but seems to be a little startled and frightened of other cats. When I am working with him outside of his cage, when he sees or smells other cats, he may growl or hiss. However, after I did TTouch with him out of his cage on the couch for a while, he got SO comfortable. Sometimes he licked my hand. I did very slow abalone TTouches on his back, and he began purring and purring. I also did Llama TTouches and Noah's March with the back of my hand, then more abalone TTouches. What a sweet face.

Pedro is new. He was strongly seeking attention, meowing a lot. When I opened his cage, he leaned against me, purring. As he leaned and rubbed against me, I did clouded leopard TTouches and abalone TTouches on his back. I also offered him Reiki, putting my hands first on the brachial or key chakra (near his shoulders), then held my hand slightly over the heart chakra, which can be an especially powerful energy center to focus on for rescue cats. I could feel a lot of heat there, and could feel him really soaking the energy in.

I did a half-wrap with Tango again (below see link for how to do this)

http://www.youtube.com/sarahsuricat#p/u/23/N83oXBZy0KM

Again, I put it on him a little at a time, first placing it folded across his back, then putting it on part way and taking it off, etc. until I had it all the way on him. As he has done before, he seemed a bit confused by the different sensation of the wrap. He walked a few steps, then stretched out on his side with the wrap on. After I took the wrap off, I did notice him walking a bit better, using his back legs more fully. I also did Octopus TTouch with him, which is like a double zigzag touch. It is a wonderful TTouch for connecting the body. I did it going down his front legs, around his body and then down his hind legs. He really responded to this TTouch and it appeared to make him feel very good. Before I left, I also did some Reiki with him while he was back in his cage, and I was outside his cage, about a foot away. I could see that it really was soothing to him, and he stretched out and put his paw up to the plexiglass on the front of the cage, as if to make better contact with the energy.

Thanks to all you cats! and look forward to seeing you again soon.