Whiskers Rescue Ranch: Dallas and Ali

Dallas (above) and Ali (below) are two gorgeous little kitties up for adoption at Whiskers Rescue Ranch in Whiskers Holistic Pet Store in NYC.

When I went there last week, both seemed very stressed out still. There had been a third cat, Doc, in the space with the two of them. He is a very dominant cat and they were both afraid of him. Dallas grew more comfortable once I began to do some TTouch with her, but she seemed to be intimidated by Ali. Ali did not want me to touch her, so I sat down and began to offer her Reiki from where I was sitting, a few feet away. She went and sat on a perch near me to receive the Reiki and both cats became more relaxed.

This past week, I tried to see if Ali would be up for some TTouch at a distance, using two long-handled paintbrushes, one for her to play with and the other to try and stroke her. First, she batted the brushes away and then she went to hide on a perch way up above, so unfortunately that didn't work so well! I think I will have to simply do Reiki at a bit of a distance with her for a while until she becomes more comfortable.

Dallas, on the other hand, was SO much more comfortable when I went this week. She came right up to me for TTouch, and after a while I could put her in my lap for a short time. She walked back and forth, rubbing her body against my hand as I did llama ttouches, ear strokes, chimp touches and abalone ttouches with her. She still keeps her distance from Ali but she does not seem to be intimidated by her presence and seems to be at ease going to whatever part of the enclosure that suits her, unlike the week before, where there was hissing on both their parts when one was near the other.

I am glad to see Dallas so much more comfortable, and will send little Ali some distant Reiki this week in hopes that she will feel less stressed after a while, and then be able to be a bit more trusting. Much love to these sweet cats!

TTouch at Whiskers - August 29 - Lily, Lil Fred and Doc

Today I went to do TTouch on the rescue cats in the window of Whiskers Holistic Pet Supply store. As previously mentioned, the little tabby Lorraine had been adopted, so from the previous session, only Doc remained, and there were two new cats who did not have names yet as they had only very recently arrived, so I have given them the temporary names of Lily and Lil Fred.

Doc (pictured above) can easily get over-stimulated so I am careful to work with him in very short bursts and primarily with the back of my hand. Today, Doc greeted me and rubbed his face against my hand. I did TTouch on him, primarily on his forehead, base of ears, back of neck, and then a few strokes down the body here and there. He mostly sat in his favorite perch in the sun, though when I was doing TTouch on the others, he did come over to investigate and see what I was doing. I worked on him several times during the session, giving him breaks. He is getting more comfortable with TTouch, though I am still only doing a few strokes on the body, and mostly working on the head area.

Above and below you see Lil Fred, he appears to be a young little cat. He is a gentle, sweet guy, and he was sitting on one of the cat condos off to the side, a little out of the way . He was a tiny bit shy at first but was extremely receptive once I began to touch him. I did TTouches on his head with back of finger and hand, including TTouches around the outside of the mouth area. Then I began to gradually work in TTouches on his body starting out with back surfaces of my hand, using the chimp and llama TTouches, and then turned my hand over and did some clouded leopard touches on his body. I noticed that at the base of his tail there was a tightness, probably due to him being generally a bit nervous in a new situation. As he grew more comfortable, he was rubbing himself against me a bit so I felt comfortable enough to do some raccoon TTouches down his tail. I use extremely light pressure when doing these little circular TTouches on the tail, just barely pushing the skin around in a circle. These TTouches were done in several stages.

When working on cats, I will most often work on one cat a bit, give them a break and work on the next one, etc, so as not to be too overwhelming. Cats are so extremely sensitive that it is most often more productive to do a short bit, give a break and then do a bit more. Sometimes though, they just really get into a groove with it and you can do a longer session. You have to use your intuition and really stay in the moment with the animal to see what they are most comfortable with. It is a tricky balance.

As I was working on Lil Fred, I saw the other little kitty, a small, young-looking little tabby who I am calling Lily (pictured below), come down from an upper perch. She looked curious as to what was happening.

She seemed shy at first, but still seemed up to try some contact. To provide a safe distance between her and me, I first used a long feather to do TTouch circles and strokes on her head and body. Then I gradually began to touch her with my hand, a little at first and using back surfaces of my hands and fingers, as these surfaces are less threatening than front surfaces. These sensations seemed as though they were a bit new to her but she was responsive so I continued, first doing TTouches on her head and then on her body. Again, I gave her a couple of breaks as I was doing all this, working on one or another of the cats in between. By the end, she seemed quite comfortable - though she was not coming down from the perch where she was, she appeared to be extremely comfortable with the TTouches.

All the best to these three and I look forward to seeing them soon unless they are adopted :)

TTouch at Whiskers: Aug 21

Today I went again to do TTouch on the cats at Whiskers Holistic Pet Store in NYC. I was told that Marty had been adopted, but wasn't told til after I worked on Doc (the black and white cat pictured below) and Lorraine (the tabby pictured above) that Lorraine and Marty had been quite connected and that she was really missing him. I had noticed while I was working on these two that she kept coming to the door of the cage as though she was waiting for someone but I wasn't sure what that was about, as she had done that a bit the week before and I had assumed it was because she was waiting for food. This time I think she was waiting to see if he would come back.

This time I used a feather on both Lorraine and Doc, doing strokes down the sides of they body. When working directly with my hand, on Doc I mostly did small TTouches on the head, as he can become overstimulated quite quickly and swat or bite as a result. So I would work on him in quite short bursts, giving him frequent breaks.

With Lorraine, I sensed she was most responsive to a comforting touch, so I did slow, connected abalone TTouches down one side of the body and then the other. I would do a pause at the end of each touch, giving her time to process the work. She seemed to be really responsive to the slow, big TTouches. I also did a bit of Reiki on her as well.

As I am getting around to writing this post rather belatedly, I have to put here that this story of Lorraine and Marty actually had a happy ending. The following week, the person who adopted Marty came back to the store, as poor Marty had been so sad without his pal Lorraine. The person adopted Lorraine as well, so these two sweet cats are in their forever home together.

TTouch at Whiskers: August 13

Today I went to Whiskers Holistic Pet Store, where they always also have a few rescue cats in the window. I went to do TTouch on these cats today, and met for the first time three lovely rescue cats, Marty (below)


Lorraine (pictured below)

and Doc (pictured below).

All three were quite eager to receive attention, but were a bit over-stimulated (I think they were also near their mealtime so were anticipating food). This being the case, I alternated between using a wided, long-handled flat paintbrush, using a feather, and sometimes using my hand. Particularly Doc can get over-stimulated so I did extremely short bursts on him. I kept alternating from one cat to the next, and this worked quite well, as it is really good to give cats frequent breaks, particularly when they tend to get over-excited and can potentially swat, bite or scratch when this happens. When I used the paintbrush or feather, I did gentle but firm circular touches and strokes down their back, and occasionally did touches on their head as well.

Sunday at Whiskers

Sunday I went to do TTouch on the gang in the Rescue Ranch at Whiskers (http://1800whiskers.com) in NYC. Rascal, his sister Emily, and Brooklyn are still there and waiting for the perfect person or persons to give them their forever homes.
One of the staff at Whiskers gave me some nice treats for the cats, and Brooklyn (pictured below) came right up to me for a treat and began to rub himself against me. I did Ttouch on his head and very lightly on his body. He still gets over-stimulated with too much contact but he is craving contact much more and has come such a long way.


Later on Brooklyn went into the cat tent to rest, but look at how alert and confident he is here, pictured below:


He has come such a long way from when I first saw him. Below he is pictured in a cat tent when I first met him in June, he was very scared and hiding in there:

I am so happy that he feels a lot more comfortable now.

Rascal's sister Emily, a lovely tabby cat, was resting in a cat perch above, and was too cozy to move. One of the staff told me that if the cats seemed tired today, it was because they had gotten out of their enclosure the night before and among other things, had gotten into a lot of catnip! Anyway, I guess Emily was still sleepy from her adventure.

Rascal, however, was excited to have TTouch and came running up to me and plopped on my lap. He did not want to move from there! Below you see me with him.

And in the picture below, notice his right claw dug into my jeans!

Rascal is a dear cat and he spread himself out on my lap, so I did TTouch on his ears, head, body, even around his mouth. He was purring the entire time. Brooklyn came and sat on a perch nearby while I was doing this and I did some TTouch on him from time to time. At one point a woman came by with a little black dog, and Rascal seemed to want to make friends with him, rubbing up against the screen door where the dog was on the other side. When I finished the session, Rascal did not want to move from my lap, and it was very hard to want to move him because he also had touched me inside my heart! I told all three cats that I hoped the best for them - that I would see them soon unless they got adopted, and if that happens, I hope them the best with their new owners.

Brooklyn and Pals at Whiskers

Brooklyn, looking very handsome

Yesterday I went by Whiskers (http://1800whiskers.com/) to work on the cats in the Rescue Ranch there: Brooklyn, Rascal and Emily.

Brooklyn, who initially was hiding in a cat tent and now loves to sit in the window and watch everyone go by, first greeted me, rubbing against me. I did some TTouch on his ears and around his head, then did some TTouch on his body. He seems more and more comfortable every time I see him and each time I am able to do TTouch on him for a longer period of time, though I am keeping the sessions with him rather short because he gets over-stimulated after a short time, and Rascal also starts asking for attention after a time. But Rascal has been allowing me slightly longer sessions w/Brooklyn each time, waiting a little longer before he starts demanding attention.

Rascal, wanting me to do TTouch on him instead of take a picture of him!

After I finished with Brooklyn, he went back to his perch to the side of me and kept me company while I did TTouch on Rascal and then, later, Emily. From time to time I was able to do a few circles on Brooklyn. He has come such a long way!

So, next Rascal was at my feet, pawing at my leg and asking me to touch him. I sat down and he plopped right in my lap. He was very excited and started to dig his claws into my legs (I think I'll take a towel to put on my lap for next time! Anyway, he was very pleased for me to stroke his ears, do TTouch on his head, do some zigzags and then clouded leopard touches and/or chimp touches down his body. I was also able to work on the outside of his mouth today, which seemed like a good idea as he can get a little "mouthy" sometimes (not biting, just mouthing once in a while). He was fine with me doing this, and became more relaxed as I continued.

After a while I wanted to encourage Emily to come down from her upper perch, so I lured her down by calling her and tempting her with a little piece of kibble. It took a couple of minutes to convince her to come down but once she was on the lower level she stayed there for the rest of the time I was there. First I did TTouch on her head and body while she stood on a perch at about waist-level to me, then she came down and sat next to me, then finally came on my lap to receive more TTouch. Rascal is her brother and is more dominant so sometimes Emily is shy, but she was quite comfortable and seemed reassured once she felt me touch her. She and Rascal touched noses a few times, and Emily touched noses also w/Brooklyn, which was nice because Rascal and Brooklyn are basically fine around each other but Brooklyn swats at Rascal if he gets too close to him.

At this point, all three cats were very close to me and everybody was very peaceful. Emily then started kneading a nearby cat bed and settled there. Rascal was in the window and as you see below, teased Emily with his tail.


Emily, with Rascal's tail teasing her on the right

I started to get ready to go so I started telling the cats that I would be back soon, but that if they got adopted before I got back there, I hope that everything goes REALLY well for them and that I wish the best for them. At that point Rascal seemed to know what I was saying and plopped into my lap again, putting all of his weight on me and draping his legs over me, trying to keep me from leaving. So I stayed a little while longer, doing TTouch on Rascal and talking to the cats. Rascal seemed a little sad when I left, but I sent a huge feeling of love to all of them. All three cats are sure to be delightful companions for whoever decides to adopt them. If you are in NYC and interested in adopting any of these cuties, stop by Whiskers or give them a call. Rascal and Emily need to stay together.

Sunday at Whiskers

Rascal (above), who lives up to his name


Brooklyn (left) and Emily (right)

Sunday I went to Whiskers (http://1800whiskers.com/) and was greeted by Brooklyn, who had been looking out the window at everyone outside, curious and unafraid. As I came into the enclosure, he looked right at me and came right up to me to receive TTouch on his head, then he plopped on the ground on his side to receive TTouch on his body. It was such a pleasure to see him so relaxed - he has made such a transition over the past few weeks from the scared kitty hiding inside the cat tent. He would have stayed there for a while but I heard "meep meep meep", the sound of Rascal, who came running down from the upper perch and jumped up in my lap to demand my attention.

Brooklyn then went to a perch right near me to keep me company as I did TTouch on Rascal on my lap. Rascal at first was digging his claws into my legs but by the end of his paws and claws relaxed as well. I worked on his head and all the way down to his tail, little by little feeling his rather revved-up state become quite calm. Emily remained sitting on one of the perches above. She did not seem afraid, and I was able to do some ttouch on her head with the wand and with my hand, but she was comfortable where she was and so I did not want to force her to come down.

Afterwards, I spoke to the staff at Whiskers and they were very pleased especially with Brooklyn's progress (the other two cats were on the friendly side to begin with), and they feel that Brooklyn is now truly ready for re-homing. They thanked me and said they thought I had a lot to do with this. Here's hoping all three get new, happy homes soon!

Brooklyn and Pals at Whiskers

Above: Brooklyn (b/w cat) and Emily (upper left)

Yesterday I went back to Whiskers Holistic Petcare (http://1800whiskers.com), and Brooklyn, Emily and Rascal are still there and up for adoption. I was greeted with a lovely surprise - Brooklyn was down in the lower level and looked right at me with friendly blinks when I entered the enclosure. I was able to do some TTouch on his head and ears right away, instead of having to approach indirectly with the wand. It was a short little burst, but he was quite receptive. After working on Brooklyn briefly, he went back to an upper perch as Emily and Rascal came running down from above.


Above: Emily

Below: Rascal

Both Emily and Rascal were substantially calmer than last time, and were even more comfortable with me than last time. Rascal sat on my lap for a while and Emily was right next to me. They both wanted TTouch and so I worked on them simultaneously for a bit and then alternated back and forth between them, working on their ears, doing clouded leopard down their backs, some strokes down their legs and even some mouth work on Rascal. Last time I saw them they were both friendly, but a bit hyperactive but this time they really settled in for some TTouch. After a while Emily went back to an upper perch and Rascal remained with me and followed me for the rest of the time I was there. I enticed Brooklyn with a few bits of kibble to come within my reach and did a bit more work on his head. Then I went back to Rascal and workd on him more with abalone and clouded leopard touches. He was quire relaxed as you can see below, with his front legs draped over a perch as I worked with him. Quite a few customers noticed the cats collected around me in Whiskers' window - and I hope one of them will give these cats a new home soon!

Below: Rascal hanging out on his perch.

Brooklyn and the new crew at Whiskers

Yesterday I went back to Whiskers in NYC (http://1800whiskers.com/) to work on the rescue cats there. I was happy to see that two of the cats I had worked on previously, Hamilton and Beyonce, had been adopted, hooray! Brooklyn (the black and white cat pictured above) is still there along with two other cats, Rascal (black cat w/green eyes) and Emily (tabby). Rascal and Emily are brother and sister so Whiskers would like to adopt them out together. I could tell that these two were EXTREMELY connected.

One of the staff advised me that Brooklyn had come out of his shell a lot since I saw him but that Emily and Rascal needed some encouragement to come out of hiding.

Upon entering the enclosure, all three cats were on perches way up high. I began to do some small circles on Rascal and Emily with the wand and corndog (ace bandage wrapped around wand), and shortly after this, Rascal began to come down to where I was. I sat down and called to him and he actually came over to me, followed by his sister Emily. They both seemed to really long for attention. I first did ear touches and touches on the body with the back of my hand, Noah's march, llama touch and chimp touch, which they both really loved, and were rubbing themselves against me. Rascal was particulary interested, and kept calling "meep, meep, meep" whenever I paid attention to one of the other cats. Every once in a while I would locate Brooklyn on one of the perches above. When I put the wand w/the corndog up there, he wanted to play with it. I tried touching him with the second wand, but he wanted to play with that as well.

After a good while of TTouch, Emily went back up on her perch above. I had been able to do ear strokes with a fairly strong pressure, as well as TTouch on just about every part of her body. Rascal remained near me, asking for more TTouch. While I was working on him, Rascal and Emily's former foster mom came by to visit and was pleased that I was doing TTouch on them, she remarked at how relaxed Rascal looked. He had been pretty ramped up when I started working on him, walking back and forth, rubbing himself against me. After this, I had a moment with him when he looked me straight in the eyes and we had one of those powerful moments one can have with a cat when they seem to stare right inside of you.

After Rascal decided to go back to an upper perch for a nap, I managed to lure Brooklyn down to where I was with just a couple of little pieces of dry food. Once he was down near me, he seemed in an over-stimulated mode, with tail going back and forth, but he kept coming closer to me, would rub himself against me, let me do a few touches, then he would go back away again. We did this a number of times. Each time he came closer to me, he seemed to sit beside me a few seconds longer.

After a while he swatted at me to let me know that he had enough.

This was quite a move ahead for Brooklyn - a week ago, he stayed in his little cat tent the entire time I was there. He seems to now be longing for and seeking out attention, he is just still a little cautious, so needs a very patient approach.

All three of these gorgeous cats are up for adoption, so contact Whiskers if you are interested!

Another Update from Whiskers

I stopped by Whiskers again today, and lo and behold, little Wilma has also been adopted, so all three of the kitties I TTouched at Whiskers now have homes, hooray! They had a new little guy named Brooklyn in there, and expect to be getting some more rescue cats soon so I'll be posting on continued adventures there soon.

Update on Cats at Whiskers

Hi folks, an update on the 3 cats I have been doing TTouch on at Whiskers Holistic Petcare (http://1800whiskers.com/). On my way uptown yesterday, I walked by there and looked in the window and the two boy cats, Lokai and Bele, have been adopted, hooray! Wilma (the cat with one eye) is still there. She looked right at me and we exchanged winks as I sent her good thoughts.

The Way to A Cat's Heart Is...

Yesterday I was back at Whiskers Holistic Health Care, where I have been going to do TTouch on three rescue cats the past 3 Sundays. Above is a picture of one-eyed Wilma from yesterday and a picture of Bele from last week. The really nice news, sounds like Lokai and Bele are soon to be adopted and there is interest in Wilma as well, so I'm crossing fingers for all of them.
To get back to the subject of the above heading, yesterday in I went to visit these three cats and they gathered around me looking very eager. I opened my bag, as Wilma likes to go in and snuggle there. She was even more interested in it than usual, and started digging inside. I had forgotten that I had left some packaged samples of dry food in there. Anyhow, she was happy to receive TTouch as she was busy in the bag. She found the treats and tore into the treat bag. The other two cats got crazy about the food being in there as well. A few minutes later I found out from the people at Whiskers that the cats were probably hungry as they were going to be fed pretty soon. They were ok with the cats receiving treats, so we had treats and TTouch, alternating between one and the other. I took the treats out of the bag and put them inside another plastic bag and behind me to hopefully get them out of mind. We did get in some nice TTouch with the wand with an ace bandage wrapped around the end (we call it a corn-dog) and some abalone touch and other types of touch, including some belly lifts on Lokai. Their concentration and patience seemed to be less than usual because they were hungry and somewhat distracted, wondering when/if more treats would be produced, so next time I will try to go at a different time when they are not apt to be so hungry! On the very up side though, Wilma, who is by far the shyest and most reluctant of the bunch, is getting more and more comfortable around me, and likes to sit right next to me now for much of the time, even if she is not in the mood to be touched all of that time. It feels like a breakthrough for her to be comfortable and content in close proximity to a person. Another NEW thing we tried yesterday was using a fuzzy paint roller (no paint on it though!!) to do some TTouch and Wilma loved it. Also, I actually had two cloth bags plus a towel spread out on the floor around me and the cats really took to this, they were all snuggled around me on the soft surfaces.

TTouch at Whiskers

Hi everyone, what a week! Last week I took my next installment of TTouch training with Linda Tellington-Jones, wow. But I'll have to get back on that later, because I need to sort through my photos etc.

Meanwhile, today I went to work on three cats in the Rescue Ranch at Whiskers Holistic Pet Care: Wilma, the lovely cat with one missing eye but such a dear soul, and the charming duo of Lokai (Black with white boots etc) and Bele (white with black spots). All three are up for adoption at Whiskers on 9th Street between Second and Third Ave in NYC so give them a call if you are interested 1-800-WHISKERS or 212-979-2532, 1800whiskerscom.

Wilma is an extremely shy girl and did not want to be touched or approached at first. But I found that once I started doing TTouch on Lokai and Bele, she came closer and closer to me. Then she decided it was coziest for her under a towel which was in between the wall and my bag, and she let me do TTouch for a long time there. She laid down and went to sleep there, and seemed to be so relieved to be so relaxed there. I think having only the one eye makes her more fearful of the world but am grateful that I was able to help her feel more relaxed and less fearful. I think once she is reminded of that feeling she will be less shy, as I felt she deeply craves the warmth and security of contact and love. Lokai and Bele are two extremely friendly, sweet guys and are used to being together. Bele seems like the older brother and Lokai looks to Bele to see what to do next. They both loved TTouch and gave me kisses to encourage me to do more. I was happy to have the opportunity to do this and feel that a breakthrough was reached with Wilma. I truly felt that all three of these cats are dear beings and dreaming of a cozy home, so please give Whiskers a call if you can do that :)