The New Gang at Whiskers, Brooklyn in da House

Yesterday when I arrived at Whiskers, kitty Brooklyn (above in his cat tent) had two new friends, Beyonce (the grey and pink girl) and Hamilton (the orange and white boy).

When I entered the window cat enclosure, Hamilton was on a perch up near the ceiling, hidden, Beyonce was hiding behind a cat bed near the litter box, and Brooklyn was in a cat tent. I approached them one by one very quietly and carefully.

First I approached Brooklyn in his cat tent. I asked him if it was all right to touch him. He was very shy, but let me touch him on his head and a bit of llama touch on his body. Then he hissed, so I used the wand a little bit and then backed off.

I then approached Beyonce, asking her if I could touch her and she was receptive right away, rubbing herself against me. I was able to do TTouch on her ears and all over her body. After a few minutes I moved away from her and more out in the open in the enclosure. I called to her and she slowly came out to me. Once she came to me out in the open section in the window she stayed there, receiving more TTouch and rubbing herself against me. There was a soft cat bed near where she was and she started kneading that with her claws. We did this for a while, then I gave her a break.

By this time, Hamilton was peering at me with his little face and paws hanging over his perch. I used the wand and corndog to do circles on his head and face, which he responded to and rubbed against the corndog. I then touched his ears and head with my hand. Soon came down from his perch and I did clouded leopard touches, hair slides (which all 3 cats really responded well to), chimp ttouch, zigzag and more ear touch. He was really craving the attention. I began to alternate between him and Beyonce, and before too long, both cats were in close proximity to each other and very eager to receive TTouch. He began kneading the soft cat bed with his paws, which was calming to him, and I was able to do TTouch on him for quite an extended period, as he kept nuzzling against me for more.

For a while I was working on Hamilton and Beyonce simultaneously. Sometimes I would just have my hand resting on Hamilton's back while I was doing slow clouded leopard touch on Beyonce. They seemed to be getting more and more comfortable with each other while this was happening.

Every once in a while I would then go back to Brooklyn very quietly. He was still very shy, so for a while, I would just do a few circles with the corndog and then back off. Sometimes he would initially hiss but if I persisted and just did light circles on his body or head with the corndog, the hissing stopped and he settled down. Later, after I had done a considerable amount of TTouch on the other two cats on every inch of their body and head, he was peering out of his tent, and I did some light, very slow raccoon touches and stroking of his ear, and he was blinking at me.

I was toning nearly the entire time I was doing all of this, which created a very calm bubble of space inside the enclosure. Both Hamilton and Beyonce began to groom themselves, and when I left, Beyonce was sleeping on the cat bed out in the open and Hamilton was on a perch more out in the open. I blinked at Brooklyn before I left and I know that he began to trust me more by the end of the session. I am holding good thoughts for all three of these dear beings to be in new homes soon! Please contact Whiskers (http://1800whiskers.com/)

if you would like to adopt any of these beautiful cats.

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.

More Quiet Moments in the Shelter

Yesterday I went back to Social Tees (http://socialtees.com/), and one of the three kitties I had worked with has been adopted, yay! So I spent my time there yesterday with these two little sisters pictured here, who are the other two I have been working with. The striped girl in the front has been the most reluctant of the three to being touched (let's call her Kitty 1), and the white-and-tabby girl in the back (Kitty 2) has been the most accepting of being touched. Kitty 1 looks a little grumpy here, maybe it was because I interrupted doing TTouch to take a picture!) I started out as I have before, standing with my body sideways to the cage, using a wand with the ace bandage (corndog) on the end, doing small circles on the back of Kitty 1 first, then gradually doing some small circles with the corn dog on her head, toning the entire time. I actually started toning (speaking in a calm, low, soft voice) before I started doing TTouch on the cats, telling them I to be v-e-r-y quiet, that I would touch them v-e-r-y softly, etc. I think of Linda Tellington especially when I do the toning, as she has a very special way of toning that is so relaxing.
I had not touched Kitty 1 on her head before, so I did not know what would happen, but she really liked it. I continued with the corn dog on her head and body, then alternated to Kitty 2, using the wand and corn dog on her body and then her head.
I took some deep breaths and slowly reached in to try doing some TTouch with my hand. First I did it with a leather glove on, first one cat and then the other, light llama touches to see what the reaction would be. There seemed to be a general bubble of calm and the cats were blinking at me. Then I tried working with my bare hand on Kitty 2 first, on her body and head, raccoon touches on her head and then stroking her ears, and she was quite happy with this. She was very settled and just got more relaxed as I continued. As I had to reach over Kitty 1 to do this, she was also feeling my arm brush against her and she was also relaxing, and closing her eyes more, as I continued toning as I did this. As Kitty 2 was so accepting, I think it helped Kitty 1 to trust me more. I went then to Kitty 1, a little scared to touch her on the head as she can try to bite, but she was fine with this, and let me continue doing raccoon touch on her head, stroke her ears and do gentle touches on her body. I alternated doing between the two cats, so that each could have a break. So by the end of the session, I had been able to touch these cats all over their bodies and heads, whereas they had been reluctant to being touched at all just a week or two ago. This morning when I woke up, I saw myself doing TTouch on them again in my mind and am holding such good thoughts for these girls to have a wonderful home soon.

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.

Fiona and Banksy

AAAAH! No, don't worry, I didn't torture this cat, she is simply letting out a large yawwwwnn after receiving some TTouch. On Friday I worked on two of my brother Pierre and family's animals (there are two more cats, a bunny, turtles, am I missing anybody), Fiona and Banksy. Fiona gets a bit stressed out because the dog is always wanting to tease her and play with her and the other cats. The family has also recently moved to a new space, so that is taking some time for to get used to for everyone, I'm sure. I did some slow chimp TTouch and Abalone circles on her, which she loved, and made her very sleepy. She wasn't so fond of the ear touch at the moment since she has had some problems with ear infection, but she was ok with small raccoon touches around the base of the ear. I am finding that working around the base of the ear is often a good way to get an animal used to being touched on the ear if they are hesitant at first. I used a very light touch (1 pressure) because she is SO sensitive.

And, here is Banksy, a young, lively, sweet Tibetan terrier. Not to mention adorable! I had not seen him for a bunch of months and he has calmed down substantially since his youngest puppy days. However, he is still bursting with life! I tried doing a wrap on him which initially seemed like a good idea but he got a hold of one of the tied-off ends of the wrap and suddenly it became a chew-toy. At the suggestion of some of my other TTouch-ers, next time I will try putting the ends underneath, and if he still does the same thing, try something else and go back to it. Anyway, he did enjoy receiving TTouch on his body and on his ears. I did have to do lighter pressure on his ears though as that seems to be a place he is not accustomed to being touched. We also tried some different leash configurations in Pierre's hallway: the balance leash and the balance plus with his collar, and then we tried him walking with a step-in halter on, which is a new feeling for him. He was a little confused with the halter at first but got used to it fairly quickly. The balance leash is constructed by using a simple collar and leash, then looping the leash around in front of his chest from left to right, then standing on the dog's right hand side and holding the leash doubled over coming from the left and the end of the leash on the right. I'll have to take a picture of him with it on to clarify soon! The balance plus is similar, but with the leash under the left leg. Banksy seemed to be pleased with the balance leash, at least within the controlled environment of the hall. It was raining outside, so we will have to try this all with the added crazy NYC stimulus of outsideness next time. I also want to have a chat w/Banksy about the cats and see if we can get a more amenable relationship going there too. Banksy means well, I think he doesn't realize that the cats are frightened by the way he approaches them when he is trying to play with them.

A Few Thoughts on a Friday

I have been in contact with my fellow TTouchers, including Linda Tellington herself, for advice on the work I've been doing with the animals. One thing she reminded me of is how important INTENTION is when doing this work, and also remaining in the moment and not being focused on outcome.
Something else floated around in my mind last night. I could see the faces of the animals I had worked on during the day so clearly in my mind and I could feel from them how sweet their intentions were, and the power of their longing for love and contact. In so many of these animals with difficult backgrounds there is simply the barrier of fear there that keeps them from what they long for so much. Of course, "simply" is not the right word to use exactly as it is not so simple, but I think when there is a point of clear realization by the animals that you are approaching them with the most gentle and loving intention, then they are able to release that fear. They always seem so relieved at that moment, you can sometimes feel them sigh as though they are thinking "oh, finally, yes, I am comfortable in this moment in time and space and can truly relax."
Have a great weekend everyone! more adventures to come soon!