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! 

My Journey with Max: Comfort for Physical and Emotional Stress

Above:  Max

Max is a handsome, elegant 14 year old cat with a very big presence.  When I first went to see him, though, his big spirit was quite diminished, due to prolonged physical troubles - probable asthma and then a very serious chronic sinus condition which required a lot of testing and subsequent hospitalization, etc.

Max also has a lovely sister, Chloe, who has a separate tale to tell, so I will speak about her in a separate blog post.

Max's people, Debbie and Jonathan, are doing everything they can to help him.  After all that he had been through with the medical treatments and hospitalization, they wanted to help provide comfort for him in whatever way possible.  Both Reiki and TTouch are wonderful modalities for providing gentle comfort, both physically and emotionally.  They also can help the body to be more optimal balance, and can help stimulate the appetite.  Keeping a cat eating can often be a challenge in this type of situation, and is, of course, crucial to a cat's survival.

In the first appointment, he had just come home from the hospital with medication and a feeding tube.  I showed Debbie and Jonathan some of the basic TTouches, but I was very gentle and careful with Max, because his condition was very fragile, and I did not want to disturb the feeding tube.  I spent more of the appointment offering Reiki to Max, keeping my hands several feet away at first, then moving in a bit closer. 

The first thing I felt upon offering Reiki to Max was a huge flood of gratitude which I felt from him.  The gratitude was to his people, for all of their love and care which they have given him.  It felt like beautiful ocean waves flowing from his heart to mine, filling up my heart with this powerful feeling.

I felt a very strong flow of Reiki from my hands, and kept picturing his nasal passages clear, and clear light and energy flowing from his nasal passages and all the way down his body, healing.  I still had my hands off his body, as the energy was so strong, and I didn't want to overwhelm him.  A few times I wasn't sure if I should stop and give him a break but then I felt a signal from him that he was ready to continue.  I felt him really pulling the energy into his body.

After we finished the session, he got up and went to his food dish and ate, which was a wonderful sight to see, and then went and laid down in his bed by the window, where he looked very comfortable.

Over the next sessions I saw steady progress with Max, both on a physical and emotional level.  The feeding tube was removed, his energy and appetite improved greatly, and Debbie and Jonathan said he was acting more like himself all the time.  I saw the light come back into his eyes and began to see and feel the strong being who he really is.  Prior to the hospitalization, he had been getting steroids on a regular basis for asthma-like symptoms, and after this recovery he was able to stay off the steroids for a good while. 

Over time, I had to adjust the way that I worked with him.  He had gotten so much of his personality and energy back that it sometimes took some strategy to nudge him into a more relaxed mode.  But this was not a bad problem to have really!  Sometimes he would settle in several different places during the course of the session, but that was fine. 

At that point, I also began working with his sister Chloe, who has her own health issues.  Often I will work with her first, to give him time to settle into a more relaxed state.  Usually by the time I finished working with Chloe, he would have settled into one of his cozy spaces.

One thing that Max's people had told me was that he was still spending a good deal of time sleeping in a quiet closet space in the back of the apartment, rather than hanging out with them, which he used to do before his hospitalization.  Jonathan had mentioned he wanted to try to get Max engaged in play again.  This was a great idea, as engaging Max in play would encourage him to become more engaged with them again altogether. 

On my way to the next appointment, I stopped at Petco on the way and purchased a Cat Dancer toy.  Something told me this would be something he liked.  Indeed, it turned out that he used to LOVE to play with this toy when he was younger, and he got right into it when they started playing with him with it.  They also said that he had started coming up on their bed and sleeping with them again. 

A couple of weeks ago, while I was working with Chloe in her usual place in the living room, Max came in and started lurking around.  I wasn't sure whether he wanted to take in some of the energy, or was a bit jealous I was working with his sister, or both.  There was a cat bed a few feet away from where we were working, and he started circling around there, looking like he may even settle there. 

I was finishing up with Chloe, and so I quietly began walking towards Max when I had finished the session with her.  At first I thought he was going to lead me into the back part of the apartment, where he usually settles.  But instead, he came back into the living room, settling on a little cat track toy near the bed he had been near before.  A while after I had begun offering him Reiki, he then got up and gently settled into the cat bed, where he remained for the rest of the session.  I felt such peace from him!!

After I finished the session, Debbie and Jonathan told me that he had not been in that bed since he had gotten back from the hospital, which was 3-4 months ago now.  So this was great progress!  The living room is a place where Max used to spend much more time before the hospital, so this was great that he was gravitating back to this room.  He has been sleeping in that bed again since then, and hanging out other places in the living room that he used to enjoy.  This also means that he is spending more time comfortably hanging out with his people, instead of isolating himself. 

Unfortunately, Max recently had another bout of sinus trouble, which resulted in a couple of more trips to the vet hospital (fortunately not having to stay overnight though).  He is now still on some medication, some of which will be long-term, but is feeling better again, and that has been within a pretty short time period, so that is good.  He seems strong, is eating pretty well, is getting back to playing again, and he is continuing to hang out in his places in the living room. 

Max and Chloe have never gotten along with each other, and still growl at each other even after being together their whole 14 year old life.  I am hoping that over time, there might be a bit more harmony between them.  Reiki can often help that to happen.  It is encouraging that they are able to peacefully hang out in the living room together now - which is something that they have done in the past, but maybe there is a bit more of a shift that can happen. 

In this week's session, I worked with Max first, back in his cozy space in the closet.  I felt a lot of energy especially coming from his heart chakra, which is interesting, as I feel like his heart has been progressively opening during our time working together, after having gone through so much with his hospitalization earlier in the year. 

Above: Chloe
Then I went to work with Chloe.  She was on the couch, one of her favorite places.  We did part of the session there, and she seemed almost mesmerized by the energy.  Then she took a brief break to eat, then came up on the coffee table, another favorite place.  She stretched out on her side as I offered Reiki to her, really absorbing the energy. 

Above: Max

At this point, Max came slowly into the living room, looking like he was sneaking in, and then settled in one of his favorite places on a chair by the window.  I opened up my visualization of where I was offering the Reiki, picturing it as an expanding area of light, encompassing more and more of the room.  I felt the Reiki like a rain of light, gently falling and soothing.  Max stretched out on the chair, looking very cozy, and Chloe continued to be very relaxed on the coffee table.

It will be interesting to see if this is a continuing pattern, Max joining Chloe in the living room for Reiki.  It will be wonderful if the energy can help them to feel better being around each other, as well as to feel better individually.

Many thanks to Max and Chloe for again reminding me to really be in the moment with what is happening, and to keep an open mind because one never knows what can happen in those special moments!!  And thanks to Debbie and Jonathan for all the love and care they have for these lovely animals.  Look forward to seeing you soon, and sending positive thoughts for continued health and well-being of both these cats :) xo

The Adventures of Emmylou and Natalia: Closer and Closer

Emmylou and Natalia are my two lovely kitties who I adopted from BARC Shelter in July.  They were brought into the shelter as feral cats, so I have been going through a very gradual process of helping them to become acclimated to the apartment and to us, which has been going so well - better than I ever could have dreamed.  Every day there is visible progress. 

When I get home, they greet me at the door, waiting for me to give them attention, which is so sweet.  As soon as I can after getting back home from somewhere, I sit on the floor to do TTouches with them.  Each day they are comfortable with longer periods of contact, and with me being in closer proximity to them.  I can pick Emmylou up briefly, and sometimes can put an arm around one or the other before beginning TTouches with them.  Natalia is starting to come up to give me nose-kisses. 

They still can get startled with sudden sounds or when friends come over, but even that is becoming easier for them to handle. 

It has been very important for me to continue to use the socialization tools which I have been using all along with them:  TTouch, Reiki, play, and often just sitting on the floor and hanging out with them.  Feeding them baby food off our fingers is also a great tool, as they will come right to us and even climb up on us to get to the food.  They are coming around for attention more and more, and emjoy hanging out near where I am.  For example, as I type this, Natalia is sleeping on the floor right near the computer chair.  Yesterday when I was in my art studio, Emmylou was watching me through the glass-paned doors that separate the living room from the studio.

Calm music is also wonderful for keeping the environment very peaceful.

Play is also a very important way to connect with the cats and to let loose any tension, and these two really love to tear around.  What a pleasure it is to see them chase a toy or each other around the apartment!  They also have a cat tunnel, which is fun for them to play in, as well as a place they can hide if someone comes over and they want to hang out in there.

When friends come over, the girls may initially go up to the platform bed and watch us from there, but sometimes they come down in the living room, especially if we give them treats, which we always do.  We are starting to let others try giving them the baby food off their finger as well, which works really well, as it gets them accustomed to being in closer proximity to other people and having something nice happen (the baby food treat!).  Others are starting to be able to pet them a bit too.

I am so grateful to have these two special creatures in my life every day.  They both have such a sweet, gentle nature, and it is so lovely to see them stretch out and feel like they are truly at home. xo

Connecting with Krishna: Helping Him to Feel Safe

Today I went to cat sit for Krishna, a beautiful cat who I have worked with and cat-sat for before a number of times. He is generally very fearful of people other than his human mom and dad, Rebecca and Tim, and I have been working with Rebecca and Krishna to help him to become more at ease in general, and more at ease around someone other than Rebecca and Tim. When I went to do a session with him on Friday, I think he was a bit miffed as he assumed that my presence meant that his people would be going away soon, so he went under the bed. I did have a good Reiki session with him there though, as I just calmly sat right near the bed, sending energy to him, and he visibly calmed little by little as I did this - I think we even heard a few snores from him as the session progressed!

Today when I went to cat sit for him, he greeted me with a hiss and meow, but once I began to speak calmly to him and sent Reiki to him, telling him that I was here to give him food and that everything was going to be all right, that his "dad" was coming back tonight, etc, he began to calm. When I first put down the food for him, he hesitated to eat, but once I put a couple of greenies leading to the food bowl and continued to send energy, he began to munch away.

After he was done eating for the moment, I took out a flashlight that I have used to play with him before (he loves to chase the light), and he perked up and began to chase the light around the living room. After a bit, I put the flashlight down and started to send him Reiki again. He wanted me to continue playing with him so, as he has sometimes done before, he walked up to the flashlight (which was a few inches away from me) and began to sniff it.

Then he looked at me as if to say, "OK, I'm ready for more!"

So we continued the chasing the light game for a while......
When he was finished, he got very brave and came up to me and began to sniff me, first my boots....

Then my sweatshirt...
I sat very very still as I did this, continuing to send Reiki, and in my mind telling him he was very loved and very safe. Even though I was talking to him with my mind, my voice was very soft and speaking slooowly.

Then he seemed like he wanted to hang out near me, but in a more protected spot, so he went underneath a high stool, which is one place he feels safe. I was just a foot or so away, continuing sending Reiki all the while. He grew more comfortable , and his eyes began to relax. He has very big eyes, which look about twice as big vertically as they do in the photo below when he is frightened or over-stimulated.

A bit later, I went to get him his dry food, and I was delighted to see him sitting nearby, quite comfortable, and then he stretched out completely, extending a front paw in my direction. It touches my heart so much when an animal who is generally very fearful becomes brave enough to start to trust.

As I gathered my things to go, he went under the bed, where he felt safe, and I told him his "dad" would be home tonight, and that everything was ok. Thank you so much Krishna, much love to you and look forward to seeing you soon.....

TTouch and Reiki with Tuco: Learning to Trust

Tuco is a beautiful black kitten who the police brought to BARC shelter (http://barcshelter.org) several weeks ago. She had been abused, apparently hit in the face, and the skin on her jaw was completely scraped off, and teeth knocked out as well. She has received medical attention from the wonderful vets BARC uses and a lot of TLC from everyone. She was understandably terrified of people at first, but she has been feeling more and more confident and comfortable each time I see her. I noticed that she often gets frightened when a hand is coming towards her, especially towards her head or face area, so sometimes I will touch her on her back first. But most recently what I have tried is just very gently touching the top of her head with the back of my fingers, doing the lightest strokes and circular TTouches. This seems to help her to be more receptive to the approaching hand, instead of swatting at it or moving away.
And, what has been wonderful to see is that often after doing some of these gentle touches with her, she will move forward on her own for more contact. Sometimes she moves forward, then retreats again initially, but then I touch her again very lightly, first on the head, then some gentle strokes down the body using the back of my hand (which is less intense than the front surface, and she will start to come forward again. The other day, when I took these pictures, she surprised me by leaning completely into my hand and arm, and pushing into me, then rolling on her back.

As you can see below, I am only using the back of my index finger (actually my fingernail) to do some gentle circular TTouches on her. I am just touching with enough pressure to move the skin around in a circle and a quarter, and I make the circles slower and slower, for a more relaxing effect. It is so important, too, to slow your own mind down before beginning to work with a frightened animal. Sometimes it is as if I hear my thoughts slow down like a record going at a slower speed.
Another thing I do with her if she starts to get into a mode where she wants to swat at me rather than have my hand make contact, is to stop for a few minutes, just sending her Reiki energy from a couple of feet away. When I do this, I see her body start to relax. She usually will lie down and her eyes get very sleepy. And then I will try again with some gentle TTouches.

The picture below was right after she had pushed her head up into my hand and was looking a bit surprised about doing that, I think! But you can see that her body posture is stretched out and relaxed in these pictures, not hunched up and tense.

Over the past couple of weeks, Tuco has realized she loves to play. Sometimes, as in the picture below, her facial expression looks as if the act of playing is a new discovery to her. It is so lovely to see her fear melting away and her true sweet, whimsical personality come forth. Many thanks to all those at BARC who have been so kind and understanding to her, as they are to all the animals at BARC. See you soon! xo

Taking it Slooow and Easy With a Shy Cat: TTouch, Reiki and Cat Sitting with Krishna: Day 2

Today when I arrived to feed and work with Krishna, he was sitting in his usual place on the couch. He got off the couch right away and started walking towards me. When working with him, I always start sending Reiki to him before I get to the apartment, and continue when I am entering the apartment. It is especially important to do this with him, as when it's someone other than his people entering the space, he can be very frightened and sometimes pounce. The Reiki energy seems to lessen his concern, and he has not pounced on my feet yet.
After giving him his food and water, we settled down for a little play, TTouch, and Reiki. First of all I engaged him in a bit of play to get out some of his pent-up energy. He loves to chase the light from a flashlight. This is a great toy to use with him, especially for someone other than his people, as you can do this and be quite far away if necessary. However, I actually was in quite close proximity to him most of the time I was there today. Quite often today when I would give him a break and stop playing or doing TTouch etc, he came closer to me all on his own, to sit closer to me or sniff me or, in once case, he actually pawed my sweater a bit as though to get me to continue.


After chasing around the light for a while, I gave him a short break and did a bit of TTouch with him using a paintbrush. As he can become easily overstimulated, I would just do a few TTouches and then stop, then start again. Though his tail was twitching, indicating he was rather ramped up, it seemed more in a playful mode rather than a terrified mode. He was rolling around and doing little somersaults, which seem to be part of his play mode. Another thing he did occasionally was let out a little "brrrring" or chirping type of sound, which felt like he was telling me he was ready to play.

I also did some TTouches using a thin dowel with a bit of ACE bandage wrapped around the end, but as he can sometimes want to pull the ACE bandage off, I went back to using the paintbrush. I continued to give him breaks and during the breaks I would also be sending Reiki to him to continue the flow of calm energy.

I could tell that he was still somewhat wary of me but curious at the same time. I'm sure that he misses his people too, which affects his mood. When cat sitting, I always make sure to tell the cat how many times it will get dark before their people return, and reassure them that the people are going to return.

So, back to the events today During the breaks as I sent him Reiki, he would often come up to me to sniff me a bit. I stayed very still while he sniffed me, so as not to startle him. One of the places he likes to go to, where it looks like he feels safe, is underneath a chair. I did a few TTouches on him with the paintbrush while he was under the chair, then gave him a break again, and he came back out from underneath the chair. When working with the paintbrush, I do circular TTouches and straight strokes on him, sometimes rolling the paintbrush on its side, improvising to see what the cat responds to the most. Today I was just working on Krishna's head area, as it seemed it would be too much to work on his body today.

After giving him a break and taking care of his litter box, I sat on the floor again with him. This time I made a conscious effort to slow the TTouches down a substantial amount as I did them on his forehead, and it really made a difference. This time he really settled into the TTouches for a while. I saw his body relax, and his eyes close. After we were done, I looked at him and he blinked at me, always a wonderful sign!
Rebecca texted me when they got back, saying that Krishna was doing great, which is always so lovely to hear.

Love ya Krishna, hope to see you soon!

Connecting With Krishna, Day 12: Balancing Play and Relaxation

I was happy to be able to tell Krishna today that his people are coming back tomorrow. I can tell he misses them, and he's probably starting to feel the energy of them getting ready to come back soon. Today when I arrived, he started rubbing his head on their shoes!


Each day I am trying to balance the energy work and the playtime with him, so he can feel the different types of connection that are possible, and I am trying to really stay in the moment and not push him too hard, to really listen to what he is ready for. I do feel him more comfortable and getting closer each day with me, though of course I know that it is all somewhat complicated by the factor of him missing his people who he loves so much.



Today, he became intrigued with the little sparkly ball pictured here, and as it is very light, I discovered he likes to play catch with it, so we did that for a while. I'd throw it to him, and he'd either catch it and throw it back or just hit it back to me.



I also played with him using the flashlight and again, while I held the light still, he calmed and was comfortable with me doing some TTouches with the paintbrush and a bit with my hand, mostly on his head. I just do a few TTouches at a time with him, the "less is more" approach which most often works best with cats who tend to be fearful. Again, at certain points he came right up to me and sniffed me. I so wanted to touch him at those moments but just stayed very still, so as not to startle him.


OK Krishna, one more meeting tomorrow and your people will be back! xo

Connecting with Krishna, Day 10: More Play

Krishna is teaching me more every day! Today I noticed he had knocked a few things off of shelves, so it said to me that he needs more playtime, so he can get more of his energy out while I am there :)

Above you see him in the bathtub. He loves to drink water from the bathtub, but he is not always so comfortable walking past me to go into the tub, so today I lured him there a bit with the flashlight. Once he was near the bathtub, he saw the water running and so hopped over the edge to drink from the faucet. I get a very thin stream of water going, so he can drink directly from the stream if he wants to.

After he ate and drank, we went into the living room and I did some Reiki with him for a while. I had the flashlight on the floor next to me. He moved closer and closer to me, then walked over to sniff the flashlight.
I didn't pick up the flashlight yet, so he took his paw and moved the flashlight closer and closer and closer to me . . . . til it was touching my hand.
It was clear what he wanted me to do! so I picked up the flashlight and shone the light on the floor, playing with him as he chased the light around. What I like about this too is that it gets him used to being in close proximity to me without concern.

Today I also did some TTouches on him using the paintbrush as he played with the light. He seemed to be pretty comfortable with this.
After we were done, he went under the bed, which is a place he seems to go to take a break and feel safe, and is also a place he seems to like to rest.
I offered him Reiki from a short distance away while he was under teh bed. Little by little he moved closer and closer to me, receiving the energy. I continued to praise him in a very slow, soft voice.
As always, I reassured him that his people would be coming back, and told him how many times it would get dark before they returned. I also reassured him that I would come there every day to take care of him until they returned. At whatever level the animals receive this, they do seem to be reassured by this.

Thank you Krishna - much love to you and look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Connecting with Krishna: Day 9, Keeping Calm and Casual

Today I went again see Krishna, who I am cat sitting. I have also been offering him Reiki, giving him some playtime and generally doing what I can to make him feel at ease while his people are away.

We have a bit of a routine going now. I enter the apartment, he comes from wherever he is resting (usually on the bed, on the cound or sometimes under the bed) and as I send Reiki energy to him, he generally sits down near where his food bowls are, waiting for me to wash them and put new food and water in. Then, after he eats some wet food, either we go into the bathroom or I lure him with the flashlight into the bathroom, where I run a trickle of water and he goes into the bathtub to drink the water coming from the faucet. While he does this, I scoop the litter in the litter box. Then when he's finished, we go into the living room.

Today we played using the flashlight again, he loves to chase the light! I vary the speed and direction of how the light moves. He is very fast!

After we had played a bit, I realized I had a message on my phone (I mute my phone when working with animals, as the sound often scares them), so I had to make a quick call. He seemed to be calmed by just hearing me talking to someone (I was trying, too, to keep my voice on the low-key end!).

After I hung up, he came up to the flashlight and nudged it in order to get me to play with him again, which I did. After that, I sent him Reiki from a short distance away. He seemed to be still a little stimulated from running around, so I didn't touch him with my hand today, but maybe we'll try that tomorrow! I think it does help him to keep a casual attitude about how much direct contact is made. Slow and steady!

Connecting with Krishna, Day 8: Reiki and Play

When I went to feed Krishna today, the poor boy initially seemed more stressed than he has been. I think it was a combination of missing his people, and me getting there a bit later than usual and so he was hungry. This is the longest they have been away from him, and I'm sure it is hard for him.
Anyway, there were some angry MEOWs when I first entered. I started sending him Reiki energy right away, and he started to calm, and of course after I got some food out for him he started to chill a bit more.

Once again, as I have been doing every day, I reassured him that his people will be coming back, and told him how many times it will get dark before they return. I think this does help them.

He likes to drink from the bathtub faucet and he seemed hesitant to go in there, when I realized that he wanted me to pull the curtain from the end of the tub away from the faucet instead of near the faucet, as he wanted to jump in there. So sure enough, once I pulled it there, in he went to drink his water.
Then we went into the living room, where I sat with him and offered him Reiki from a distance. First he was sitting with his tail switching, but little by little he came closer and closer to me and his tail stopped twitching. Again I had brought a flashlight with me, as he loves to play with the light from it. I had set it on the floor near me. I was trying to decide whether to play with him today or just keep calming him w/Reiki, when he let me know what he wanted to do by coming near the flashlight, as you see, and he touched his nose against it and rubbed against it. So I turned it on and he started chasing the light around. It is so interesting that he seems to realize it is all a game, that the light does emanate from the flashlight, as opposed to it being something alive all on its own. He is so smart!!
When we were done, I gave him his mouse to play with, thanked him and gave him his dry food, which he loves, so it is always a great way to end my time with him. Love you Krishna, and thanks for all you are teaching me!

Connecting with Krishna - Day 5, Engaging in Play

Krishna's human mom and dad were back for a day, and then went off on their honeymoon. So I went back to cat sit for Krishna today, and for the next week while they are away. I wasn't sure how he would react to me today, but he really was quite sweet. After I came in, he started rubbing himself against things, and rolling around on his back. As soon as I enter the door, I start sending him Reiki energy, and he appears to feel it and calm down.

After I fed him, gave him water, changed his litter etc I sat down with him in the living room. He seemed in a rather playful mood so I thought it would be fun to try engaging him in some play. He has a little squeaky mouse he likes, so I threw it toward him. He caught it and threw it back to me, so we continued for a while in a game of catch. So sweet! then I did some Reiki with him, and again was able to touch him with my hands briefly on his head. At one point he got comfortable and stretched his paw out to me, touching my hand.

I was getting ready to leave and took my phone out to take a couple of pictures. Suddenly he sat up and ran towards me, with big eyes. I was sitting on the floor with my legs bent, feet on the floor so there was a space under my legs, which he ran through.

I realized that my phone, when the camera function is turned on, was making a little spot of light that appeared on the floor, so Krishna was attracted by that and started to chase it. So we played chase for a bit, then I gave him one of his "actual" toys so hopefully he wouldn't be too frustrated at not being able to catch the light :)

Each time I see him, I feel like he gets more comfortable with me, but I still keep reminding myself to just take it slow and easy with him. He reminds me too sometimes! At one point I got closer to his paw than he wanted so he batted me with it, but with no claws out :)

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow, little guy!

Beach Morning in San Francisco

Hi folks, I'm in San Francisco and am near a wonderful beach near Crissy Field where people can let their dogs off-leash so they can run and play to their heart's content. Today this lovely dog, instead of bringing the ball back to its owner, laid it right at my feet, and I was only too happy to continue to throw the ball for him over and over. What a charming creature he is, and it did my heart good to see him having such a good time. Of course I asked his caregiver if it was all right if I played with his dog and he was perfectly happy about it. Every time the dog broght the dog right to me, rolled it to me gently and then did a play bow to let me know he was ready to have it thrown for him again. Eventually, he met up with a couple of other dog friends and went merrily chasing them down the beach. There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun felt so good. What a lovely morning!