Bringing Balance and Confidence to Chancey Lou at Bideawee Through TTouch, Reiki, Treats and Love:)

Chancey Lou is a beautiful black and white kitty at Bideawee.  She was terrified when I first met her, hissing and swatting when people opened her cage.  She also has ear issues which affect her balance, so I am sure that makes her more apt to be anxious as well.

This photo is from when I first started working with her.  I sensed she really wanted to connect - actually she WAS connecting with me in the most direct and beautiful way one could imagine, heart to heart with her energy.  But I could sense she also wanted to connect with touch, but that she was just afraid at the moment.  At first, I mostly offered Reiki to her, sharing the gentle energy with her and fostering that connection with her.
Her thoughtful eyes connected with me deeply right away.  I sent her the feelings that I understood she was scared, but that she was very safe here.  That she would be very loved and cared for here.
That I loved her dearly.
Then after she got more relaxed, I started slowly trying a back scratcher or stick end of the stick toy with her.  The back scratcher seemed like it was too big a tool, so I just used the stick for a while.
At first, she was unsure about this, and would walk away.  So if that happened, I would give her a break, continuing to let the Reiki flow, and perhaps try again a bit later.  Over time, she started to understand that the stick was going to be used in a gentle way.

I also found that talking to her in a calm, slow voice was helpful.  The power of a soothing intention, combined with the calm voice, can be so powerful.
After a few weeks, she stopped the initial hissing, and I sensed she was looking at me to see what we were going to try next.
I started using treats with her, which worked out really well.  At first I would just put them near where she was, and after a bit of practice, she would take them from my hand.  I put my hand very flat on the bottom of the cage, so that it was close to the feeling of her taking the treat off the floor.  I was able to get her to come a bit closer to me for the treat as well.
After incorporating the treats, she started to come forward in her cage when she saw me.
Her face had started to look more and more open, and she was starting to trust others in the shelter who interacted with her as well.

At about this time, I brought in a long-handled paintbrush with a rather small brush at the end, thinking something small would work well, and maybe the softer surface of the brush would help.
After a bit of work with the treats, I gave her a break, then started to stroke her under her chin with the brush, and she started leaning into it a bit - yes! I love those moments when an animal really starts to respond on their own to touch, letting you know that they are starting to enjoy it, and that they are starting to trust you as well.

With a bit of gradual work, I was able to start to stroke and TTouch her on other parts of her head, always going back to under the chin when I sensed she needed that.  At times, I was able to touch her directly with my hand. She began to stretch her body completely out, sometimes kneading with her paws as well:)

About a week ago, I started to stroke a bit down her body with the paintbrush, and she got up and started to walk away from the brush.  I thought I had done too much, but actually she came to the front of the cage and began to rub her head against my hand!  You will see this breakthrough somewhere in the middle of the following video.  I know it is a bit lengthy, but it will show in more detail my process with her.

On this same day, she kept coming to the front of the cage, rubbing her face against my hand.  I was able to do some circular TTouches, strokes and zigzags on her body as well.

It literally felt like a wall or shell that had been in between us had melted, and that she was celebrating our connection.

I felt like my heart was completely open, and that a circular energy was moving from her to me to her, with such an expansive, opening feeling.  This beautiful, loving energy filling our hearts and filling the room.

She jumped up on a little shelf and started to stretch and roll around when I stroked her with the paintbrush there.  So sweet!
And things have continued to progress from there:)
Even people who don't have as much contact with her are noticing the change.  She will come to the front of the cage to say hello and ask for pets.
She has also started to venture out of her cage a bit, which is great.
Can't wait to see her again!
Love you, Chancey Lou!  Thank you for sharing your love with me, and for reminding me to be patient and in the moment, always.
And thank you to all the lovely Bideawee staff and volunteers who do so much to help these dear animals:)

Slow and Steady with two Fearful Cats: Pearl and Georgi Girl (and a bit about Amy) at Bideawee Westhampton

Some months ago, I began to travel to Westhampton Bideawee to offer TTouch and Reiki to the cats there, in addition to volunteering at the facility in Manhattan.  This happened as a result of two Manhattan cats being transferred to Westhampton - but that is another story which I will explore at another time.

 Above: Pearl

As my heart particularly connects with feral and fearful cats, of course I was drawn to Pearl and Georgi Girl.

Above: Georgi Girl

Pearl and Georgi Girl were abandoned in carriers outside of the Adoption Center back in July. They were in separate carriers from one another and there was a note attached. The note said that the girls' original owner became ill and went to a nursing home and left the two cats behind with no one to care for them. The note was written by a neighbor who had taken over the responsibility of caring for them. The neighbor then had to move, and explained that the neighborhood was hostile towards cats, and they feared for the cats' lives if she left them behind. They provided the names, and a description of each of them, so the shelter could tell who was Georgi Girl, and who was Pearl. They wrote on the note "Please take care of us, you are our only hope."

Upon meeting the two girls, I could tell how scared they were.  And at the time, I did not know their whole story, and did not realize they had been in a home previously.  I just knew that they had been dumped at the shelter.  Actually I didn't know that they had previously been in a home until quite recently.  

So I thought that they were feral, because of their behavior.  They seemed so dazed and were afraid of anyone approaching them.  Yet I could tell right away that they are so gentle and sweet under the fear.  They remind me a great deal of my dear formerly-feral cats, Lulu and Natalia. 

Initially, they were in a cage, but fortunately the shelter soon had a nice room available for them to live in, where they have shelves to climb in, cozy hidey places to hang out, etc.

 TTouch with the handle of a paintbrush with Pearl

  Right away it became clear that Pearl was the less shy of the two - she would allow just a tiny bit of touch.  She was wary of tools as well as hands, so I kept switching up the tool that I was using with her.  Sometimes it was a paintbrush, sometimes a toothbrush, sometimes the handle of a paintbrush.  Sometimes she preferred a hand to a tool.  

 TTouch with a toothbrush with Pearl

But it was in tiny increments of just a few seconds.  I would let the Reiki flow the whole time I was there, so that she and Georgi Girl could feel the calming energy. I could see both of them relaxing their eyes and their bodies with the energy.  

I also spoke to them in a gentle, slow, calm voice, and they both respond to that as well.  

I have tried to connect with Georgi Girl with the tools, and touching her with a tool is still too scary for her, so I most often will work with her with Reiki, and with "Air TTouches".  I do the air TTouches either with a tool or with my hand, quite far away from Georgi Girl, sometimes even several feet or more away.  I do the circular motion of a TTouch, and then usually a pause or slide.  And my internal feeling, intention and energy is as though I were touching her.  And I feel that connection with her as I do it, that our energies connect.  It is a very definite feeling.  And I can see her respond as I am "touching" her.

 Georgi Girl

Here is a video which shows some of the processes I have done with these two kitties:

In the first part of the video, you see me connecting with Pearl with gentle play.  This can be a great way to help shift the dynamic with a cat if they are afraid to be touched at first.  And it is always done so it is at their comfort level.  Pearl didn't want to come out of her cave just yet, so I let her just reach for the mouse from where she was.

 Pearl

Another great tool to use with Pearl was treats, Temptation Treats in the yellow package, to be more specific.  I found right away that she is very treat-motivated.  Little by little I was able to urge her to come closer to me for the treats, even to come out of the cave.  And in later sessions, she would come right out of the cave for the treats.  As she grew comfortable with this, I was able to touch her occasionally while she was eating.  Mostly, she was too hesitant to do that though.
But Pearl did start to be more receptive to touch in general, just a tiny bit at a time.  I would do literally just a few TTouches or strokes under her chin, or on the side of her face, then give her a break, then try again in a while.

Above: Georgi Girl

Georgi Girl is too afraid to play, or to take treats, or to let me touch her still, but is continuing to respond to air TTouches and Reiki at a distance, and her face looks more open when I see her now, rather than being terrified that I am in the room.

Amy and me

For a short time, there was an orange and white senior kitty named Amy who was in their room.  Amy had just recently arrived at the shelter (she was surrendered by her owner who is in poor physical condition and couldn't care for her), and so she was scared to be there, but loves people.  

I immediately made a connection with Amy, and she has a REALLY loud purr.  So when I came in the room, the room would resonate with Amy's purr.  

Though Amy and the girls did not appear to want to have much to do with each other, I think there was something about Amy purring and being so comfortable that helped them.  

One day I sat on a couch in the room, with Amy near me, purring away, and the other kitties in their respective cozy places, and I felt such a positive and peaceful feeling throughout the room, connecting all of us.  Calm music was playing on the radio, adding to the beautiful feeling of unity and connection. 

I had been working very steadily and gradually with the girls, and was really happy with their progress, but nothing prepared me for the breakthrough that happened a couple of weeks ago with Pearl.
I entered their room and saw right away that the cave beds had been removed, probably to clean them.  I wondered if they were scared not to have them in there, but Pearl was out and about, and when I said hi to her, she came up to me, purring, and began to rub her head against my hand.  After she did this for a minute, she would get momentarily scared and run away, but then if I called to her again, she would come up to me again and rub and purr.  

It is hard to describe in words the joy one can feel when that beautiful kind of connection can happen, when an animal really trusts you, when you feel that you have been able to reach through the fear and touch the heart of another being.  It has to be one of the most beautiful things that one can experience.

It is interesting, too, that Pearl was now responding to the type of voice that I had been using with Amy.  Instead of a really quiet voice, it was a happy friendly voice, like "hey Pearlie! what's going on Pearlie? such a good girl", that kind of thing.  Not a loud voice, but an enthusiastic happy voice.  I had started using that voice with Amy when I first met her, just intuitively.  It worked, and just felt right.  And now, it seemed that Pearl was ready for that kind of voice. 
Please do have a look at the video embedded in this post, and if you have any trouble accessing it, it is on my youtube channel, 
direct link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKSVTLDJwtc

I look forward to seeing these girls again soon, and to my continued work with them.  They are such beautiful, gentle souls.  It is such a delight to see Pearlie actually enjoying contact with me.  

I feel that it is only a matter of time, patience, and continued love and work with Georgi Girl before she follows Pearl in feeling comfortable with being touched.  Usually when there is one in a pair that starts to feel more comfortable, it will help the other to come along, at least to the extent they are able. And in the meantime I will give her all the time and space she needs for that.
 
Thank you so much Bideawee.  It is a pleasure and honor to work with the dear animals in your shelters, and thank you so much for taking these dear girls in and for all the love and care you show to the animals. xoxo

Buddy and Jayne at Bideawee: The Importance of Play

Buddy and Jayne

Generally the work I do is focused on helping the animals relax, but sometimes taking a different tack and connecting through play can provide another way to connect with an animal, and at times can prompt a breakthrough.  Buddy and Jayne reminded me of this the other day...

Jayne

Buddy and Jayne are two very shy cats at Bideawee who I have been working with for a while.  Jayne is semi-feral, and Buddy is not feral but quite shy.  Buddy and Jayne have been in the same room at Bideawee for a while, and there have been a few other cats who have come and gone from that room as they have been adopted.  At the moment they share the room with a sweet senior kitty, Calliope.  All three cats coexist peacefully, though Buddy does try to steal Calliope's food!

Both Buddy and Jayne initially would hide inside the litter bench a good deal of the time.  Now Jayne spends most of the time out in the open, and Buddy is out most of the time, but Buddy will still usually head for the litter bench when someone enters the room.

Buddy knows me well and is really friendly with me now.  He comes running up to me when I come in the room.  If he is in the litter bench and hears my voice, he comes running or rolling out of the litter bench to see me.  Jayne is still quite reserved, but progressing slowly and steadily.  She seems to really enjoy being nearby, and often I will sit in the room and share Reiki with all three cats, and she is quite comfortable with that.  At times I can do TTouch directly with my hand with her, at other times I need to use a tool such as a feather or paintbrush or the like.

Reiki with Calliope (calico), Jayne and Buddy

The other day I had been working with all three cats in there, and I picked up a toy that Calliope usually likes - a toy with a long stick and shiny strands coming off of the end.  Calliope was not in the mood, as she was more in sleepy mode, but Buddy and Jayne were both looking at me to see what would happen next.

I have never seen Buddy play, and I don't think I have seen Jayne really play, though once in a while she will hit a little ball around, just a bit, so she may do that when people are not around.

Buddy and Jayne were both underneath a cat tree,  so I started to move the toy near one cat, and then the other.  And they both started to play with the toy.  Both of them started to roll and scamper around in such a relaxed and joyful way that I had never seen before with either of them. 

After a while, Buddy came out from under the cat tree and stood up on his hind legs to catch the toy.  I am so used to seeing Buddy very low to the ground, this was really different!

Buddy looking up, about to leap up at the stick toy

This was such a delight to see, I felt my heart opening as I felt a huge energetic feeling of opening happening in the room.  I felt such joy as I saw Buddy leaping for the toy, and Jayne rolling onto her back and stretching and reaching for the toy.  The free feeling of seeing them playful, unafraid, happily engaged in play.  It was such a beautiful, spontaneous thing that unfortunately I didn't get video of it, just a few quick still shots which you see above, but hopefully I will next time! 

That night, as I went to sleep, I still could picture the two of them rolling and scampering around, and it made me feel such joy in my heart.  I felt again that beautiful sense of opening.  I can't wait to see them again - maybe next time we will get Calliope to join in a bit!