Appreciating the Moment with Monk: Comfort, Peace, and Optimal Balance for Chronic Renal Failure, Part Two

I have been even busier than usual, so it's been hard to squeeze in time to write! 

I had been out of town for about a week after my first few sessions with him and at that point was not sure whether he would pass while I was gone, especially as his person Suzanne had texted me that he was not eating much while I was gone. 

Fortunately Monk was here on earth and ready to resume his sessions when I returned.  I have been working with him at least several times a week, sometimes more.  Since my previous post, his energy and appetite have continued to improve, which is great.  He is still a frail cat, but his life force energy feels so much stronger since I began to work with him.  And he really seems to enjoy his food, which is a huge change.  I am so happy that Suzanne is able to have more time with him.  She and Monk are so deeply connected, and have such a sweet bond with each other.

It also is interesting to see how things are evolving with his general habits.  When I first began to work with him, he wanted to be out on the terrace 24/7, but in the couple of weeks or so he has been content to be inside more of the time.  Of course, some of that is influenced by the weather, as we have been having some tropical-like rainstorms, but his need to be outside doesn't seem urgent as it was with him initially. 

He seems to really welcome my visits, and settles into the Reiki sessions with me very quickly now.  Sometimes we are completely hands-on, other times I need to have my hands maybe about 6 inches or sometimes more off his body.  I always follow his cue as to what he would like.  Quite often he will settle right in my lap or with his head resting on my leg or hand.  It feels that as we go, his body trusts me more and more, so that the energy is absorbed in an increasingly deep way. 

During a Reiki session, when things are really flowing, it feels as if my energy merges with that of the animal.  Sometimes it is as though my hands are actually inside of the animal. 

I use a lot of positive visualization at the same time I am offering him Reiki energy.  Lately, it seems his skin is irritated or itchy, as he is pulling off chunks of fur.  Apparently this is something that can happen with cats with Chronic Renal Failure.  So I imagine cool blue energy soothing his body.  I imagine I'm inside of his skin, and am feeling comfortable inside of the skin, feeling a coolness soothing from the head down to the feet.  I imagine relaxation, and see his fur growing back in the areas where he has pulled the fur off. 

I also do TTouches with him which feel like they should be soothing.  I do little hair slides going down his body, using a light touch.  I also do abalone TTouches, which are TTouches using the whole hand, to try to calm the whole body. 

Another interesting aspect of working inside with Monk is that his cat "sister" Jade is around him more and Reiki seems to be helping them to have some peaceful moments of connection.  Often Jade will curl up right next to where we are working. 

There is something so special about my time with Monk.  He is a dear, gentle little soul.  I know that I am traveling with him on this last part of his road on earth, realizing that we don't know how short or long it will be.  I appreciate these sweet times of love and connection with him.  When I work with him I feel there is light all around us, that we are sharing our hearts.  I am so honored to have these moments with this sweet being.

Sharing Energy with Monk: Comfort, Peace, and Optimal Balance for Chronic Renal Failure, Part One

Monk is a dear cat who I initially was called to work with because he was urinating outside of the box.  I taught his owner, Suzanne, how to do some of the TTouches, and then the subsequent appointments I did with him were Reiki sessions.  He came to recognize the energy and would completely relax into it, stretching out on the bed with a look of bliss.

More recently though, he was diagnosed with chronic renal failure.  I had not seen Monk for quite a while, and Suzanne had called me to cat sit for Monk and his cat girlfriend Jade, and when I saw Monk, I felt so strongly that I wanted to help.  I could see that Monk’s appetite and life force was rapidly diminishing.  I had such a strong sense that the work would be of help to him now, not to mention that I have a very strong bond with Monk - and I felt that sessions should be as often as every day at first, so Suzanne and I worked out an arrangement for that to happen without placing a financial burden on her, as she was out of work. 

Monk has taken to basically living outside on Suzanne’s terrace, resting in the plant boxes, and sometimes stretching out on the deck.  Unfortunately, for the first appointment, it was raining, so we had to bring him inside.  Though he was resisting being inside, I did feel him absorbing the energy, and I knew it would be good to follow up with another appointment soon, when I could work with him out on the terrace.

A few days later I came to see him.  I sat with him outside on the terrace.  I moved a couple of times to get a bit closer to him but really let him set the pace.  I felt he wanted me to be at least 4-5 feet away, for the most part.  But at times he would come closer to me.  And I could feel him really settling into the energy again, as though he was becoming re-acquainted with the energy, and with me, gradually trusting more and more and letting me in.  Throughout the appointment, I silently sent him the message to only take as much or as little energy as he wanted, and reassured him that I was there to help him.  I kept picturing the energy as a soft white blanket that was moving over him and being absorbed into his body, and the white light moving through the inside of his body and healing his body.

Suzanne had left a handful of dry food out for Monk to eat, and at various points he wandered to it and ate it little by little.  Quite often during a Reiki session, an animal’s appetite can be stimulated.  By the end of the session, he had eaten all the dry food.  Suzanne said that was really a lot for him, as in recent days  he usually will only very reluctantly eat about four kernels of the dry food.

At various points during the session, Monk stretched out on his side, looking very comfortable.  It was a hot day, but where we were sitting, in the shade, it was really quite comfortable, and hearing the sounds of the birds, the sound of the breeze , the rustling of the leaves of the plants, it made so much sense to me that this is where he is comfortable right now.  The energy was very quiet and peaceful.  It felt a bit like a dream state.  When I heard the nearby church bells ringing on the hour, they almost seemed a bit distorted.

When I left, I kept feeling like Monk was in this curious limbo – obviously he is in very fragile condition, but he still has energy and is engaged with his surroundings and situation.  As if some greater force is giving him a bit more time, quiet time on earth, before he moves into the spirit world.

I was leaving town in two days, and wanted to go with the momentum of what was happening with him, so I went the next day for another appointment.  This time, he came right to me, wanting affection, so I did some gentle TTouches with him.  At various points during the Reiki session, he would come to me, rubbing his face against my hand.  This time, he settled even more into the energy, and wanted me to be closer to him to send the energy, though not directly hands-on.  Especially with animals who are in frail condition, it is usually most beneficial to send Reiki with your hands at least a bit off of the body, as it can be too overwhelming. 

This time, Monk ate even more of the food than he had the day before.  And Suzanne had said that after the appointment the day before, he had eaten more food.  So this was really a shift.

Again, I kept picturing the white light energy moving through his body, soothing and healing.  Recently I have been incorporating the essences of colors into the Reiki work that I do.  Sometimes I will purposely send a specific color with a certain intention, but sometimes a color will come to me, though I may not be sure of the why of it.

Monk seemed to be more comfortable in his body this time, and there even seemed to be more life in his eyes. 

At the end of the session, he was laying near me, on his side, doing the cute thing of having a paw partway over one eye.  I felt so much love passing back and forth, such an energy of pure love, healing and love.  Reiki feels that way, an energy filled with light and love that strengthens and expands as the animal becomes comfortable with you and trusts you.

Since I returned from town, his energy and appetite has improved even more, and I will tell you more about that in the next posting!!

If At First You Don't Succeed... Tiger Lily Teaches Me What She Needs to Feel Safe

Tiger Lily is a gorgeous grey tabby with a very distinctive face.  She is one of the cats from the Picasso Veterinary Fund who I have been working with through Tavi and Friends and the Mayor's Alliance.

She arrived at the holding space extremely stressed, growling and swatting at anyone who tried to approach her.  She proved to be a challenge for me, as well, as I tried tool after tool to try to calm her.  Above is a picture of her fairly soon after she arrived, looking very wary indeed.

I tried a feather, various types of paintbrushes, a back scratcher, etc, and mostly she seemed irritated if I tried to touch her with the tools, even if I went slowly and quietly.  After a while, I tried a variation on a technique which I used successfully with my own cat Emmylou when she arrived as a feral cat at BARC.  I stroked slightly in front of her whiskers with a paintbrush, very slowly, talking to her in a very quiet voice.  I could do this just a very little bit at a time with her.

I would always send her Reiki from where I was standing outside the cage, and speak to her calmly.

Sometimes when she seemed to start to get comfortable, she would start rolling on her back and rubbing against the floor of the cage, looking like she wanted to play.  Which is what finally led me to what I did next with her.

As Tiger Lily is a young cat, and seemed to want to play, I tried playing with her with a string toy, and then every once in a while I would stroke her with the stick part of the string toy.  This was the most successful contact I had with her so far, and it was after these sessions which you see in the videos above and below that she started to appear much more comfortable.

She would be at the front of the cage instead of at the back or up on a shelf in the cage, and when I approached the cage, she looked as though she wanted to play with me.  Her whole facial expression and body posture changed, as you can see in the photos below.

 

 

After a number of sessions with the TTouch and play concept, she would still sometimes get overstimulated.  I felt like I needed to change up what we were doing, and decided I needed to spend some very quiet time with her.  I began to just sit with her with the cage door open, sending her Reiki energy from where I was sitting.

 

She grew more and more comfortable with me, and one day she came up to me and licked my arm! I stayed perfectly still, as I didn't want to startle her.

 

Last week when I was at the space, when I opened the door of the cage, she started peering outside the cage into the room.  And finally, out she came!  I think this may be the first time she has ventured out of her cage in her time at the space. 

 

I got off the chair where I had been sitting, and crouched on the floor. At times I would dangle a string toy to see if she wanted to play, but she was more interested in sniffing around.

 

She ended up settling on the chair I had been sitting on, as you see below.  She started rolling on her back and on her side, stretching and ended up settling there for a while.  I just stayed pretty still, speaking to her in a quiet voice, telling her what a good girl she was and telling her I loved her very much. 

 

 

 

When she had enough, she went back into the cage.  This had been a really big step for her!

 

She kept looking at me, maybe wondering if I would let her out again, but I wanted to stop on a positive note, so just told her she was such a good girl, and that I would be back soon and we would do this again :)

 

It is a lesson the animals tell me so clearly each time:  we really need to listen to what they are comfortable with, and keep our minds and hearts open so that we can hear them and so that we can keep our creative side of our brain working so we can keep trying new approaches that we may never have thought of before.  Sometimes it is just a matter of sitting and being truly quiet with an animal, to give them that time and space they need in order to start to trust us.

 

Love you Tiger Lily! Can't wait to see you again! xo

 

 

Update on Nadia, Slow and Steady Work Facilitates a Heart Connection

 

 

Nadia is a gorgeous, very shy cat at BARC Shelter, who I have been working with for some time now.  She was dumped in front of the shelter with another cat, who was adopted fairly quickly because she was friendly.  Nadia is very cautious of most people, though she has been slowly starting to trust people more and more.  If someone approaches her too quickly, she may hiss or snap at them, but that behavior has been increasingly subsiding.

 

I have worked with her very slowly, often using a paintbrush to touch her, as that gives her the space she needs to feel comfortable.  More recently, I have also been luring her to the front of the cage to lick baby food off my finger, which has been really helpful as well.  If you want to try this with a frightened cat, I would suggest first putting the food on a spoon or if the cat is very afraid and may bite, something else with a longer handle so that you can try it with some space in between you and the cat, to assure that you don't get bitten!  Also, use only all-meat baby food with no onions.  Gerber's Turkey in Turkey gravy seems to be a pretty universally popular flavor.

 

Though I most likely could touch her right away with my hand without reaction, I am still starting out with her by doing TTouch circles and strokes with the paintbrush, and then transitioning to using my fingers, so it gives her a chance to get comfortable with me.  It feels very important to give her space.  Touching her with the paintbrush also gets her accustomed to the sensation of being touched without having a feeling of being threatened.  So, once she gets very used to that, then eventually she will feel the same way about being touched with hands.  I have found that it helps so much with a very fearful cat to take everything in very small steps.

 

I have shared how I work with Nadia with the regular volunteers and staff, and it has been helpful for some of them to be working with Nadia with the paintbrush too.

We have in her cage a cave-like little bed so that she can go in there to feel safe when things get noisy or hectic in the shelter.  A while back, I started taking the bed out of her cage for part of the day so people could socialize with her more easily, and so she could gradually start to realize that it is ok to be out of the cave-bed.  I would gently turn the bed so the entrance was facing sideways to me, and then tip it a bit til she came out.  Most often, she would loudly hiss at first, but little by little she has become accustomed to that as well. Lately, I don't take the bed out any more, but speak to her and put the paintbrush so she can sniff it, and she will come out of the bed on her own and walk towards me, as you see in the clip below (she was already out of the bed). 

 

 

What has been especially sweet is that now after she walks to the front of the cage, she will nuzzle against my hand or lick it a bit.   It is beautiful to see her seeking out attention on her own, and really responding to attention and touch as well.   I'm happy, too, that others are also starting to see the sweet, loving cat that Nadia truly is, underneath her fear.  She even looks more beautiful, as her face has gotten so much more open, and her body language more comfortable.

It is easy to be impatient or to have out ego want to make contact with a cat right away, but it is so much more beneficial for the animal to really slow down and go at the pace that they need.  In the end, you will be able to facilitate a connection with the animal that is more powerful and deep than you could imagine!

Love you Nadia, thank you for teaching me so much, as do all the animals who I work with every day.  And thanks to all the BARC Shelter people for all they do for the animals.

Peaceful Moments with Deuce: Easing Arthritis through TTouch and Reiki

Deuce is a stunning senior cat who I have been working with for a couple of months.  His person, Alice, volunteers at BARC Shelter (where I volunteer) and she had told me he has arthritis. 

I have been working with him primarily with Reiki, but with TTouches mixed into our session.  Alice has told me that before we started working together, Deuce had stopped a lot of the activities that he generally enjoyed, but that now he is much more interested in being up and about, which is great!

Deuce is a friendly, affectionate cat, and was certainly game for giving TTouch and Reiki a try pretty much right off the bat.

Most often, we will start out by doing some TTouches, and as we do this, he gets comfortable and will decide where he wants to settle.  Then I transition into a Reiki session with him.  After the Reiki session, sometimes I will do some TTouches with him as well.  That is not to say that I would treat every animal with arthritis in this way, but this is the way of working that feels right for him at this time.  Each animal is different, and I feel that what will most benefit an animal as far as treatment can shift and change over time. 

Something so beautiful that can happen in the course of repeated Reiki sessions, that I am feeling with Deuce, is a deepening connection with him.  I nearly always feel this type of progression with repeated sessions of Reiki.  I feel that he absorbs the Reiki energy at a deeper level each time that I work with him.  It feels that the deepening level of trust allows the energy to permeate him at a deeper level each time. 

The other thing that I have been incorporating into our sessions at times is the concept of color therapy.  I have been studying this lately, and so sometimes I will send the energy of a color to an animal while I am working with them.

The first time I did this with Deuce was an especially interesting experience.  While on the subway on the way to an appointment, I always start sending Reiki to the animal I will be working with.  This time I also began to send the essence of the color turquoise.  This color is a mixture of green and blue, which are both very cool, healing colors, and turquoise has to do with restoration and dissipating pain, so it felt like a very appropriate color to ease his arthritis.

When I got to the appointment and began to work with Deuce, he began to get himself settled as usual, but the interesting thing was that he settled right on top of a turquoise blue bag!  For the rest of the session, I kept picturing that he was surrounded with turquoise light.  And for the rest of the session, he remained settled on the bag.  I also began to see turquoise highlights on his fur as I worked.

I always feel an intention to offer Reiki to an animal for the highest good, but sometimes on top of that I will have a more specific intention.  In Deuce's case, it is to help ease his arthritis.  Sometimes I will feel my hands guided to certain parts of his body, but most often with him, as with many animals, he will shift himself until my hands are where he wants them to be.  Sometimes the hand positions will shift several times during an appointment, other times I may stay just about all the time in one position.  Reiki energy will go where it is needed, regardless of hand position :)

A little side note, there is another kitty in the house, a shy, sweet boy named Gruff.  Quite often, he will come to me for a few TTouches, or settle somewhere near where I am working with Deuce to pick up some of the energy.  Below is Gruff, on one of his favorite chairs, in an inquisitive mood.

Below is Deuce in one of his favorite spots, where he settled for our most recent session.  I was feeling the pinkish-red of the chair enveloping him with such a warm, loving feeling during the session.  Like he was sinking into that very soft feeling.  He went completely into what we call a Reiki nap, which feels like a rather daydreamy type of state.  He is giving a rather funny expression here, though, as it was right after the session.  I had felt him really go down into a very deep place of relaxation, and I think he wanted to get back to napping!

Thank you Deuce! I look forward to seeing you soon! xo

The Power of Patience: TTouch with Pumpkin

 

 

Pumpkin is a dear little cat, probably about 2 years old, who I have been working with through Tavi and Friends, Mayor's Alliance and the Picasso Veterinary Fund.  Apparently he had been kept in a basement for a long time, with very little contact.

When he first arrived (photo above is from early on), he was quite shy, and could suddenly get very insecure and hiss or meow very loudly.  I remember the first time I picked him up, he meowed so loudly, it sounded like I was touching him somewhere that hurt him, but it was just that he was terrified. 

I began to do TTouches just a little bit at a time with him.  Fortunately, in the space where he is, he can be let out of the cage so that I can do a few TTouches, let him walk around and come back to me as he likes.  As I do with the other cats in this space, I let him out without any of the other cats, so we can really have a private space, without intervention from any of the others.

Initially, I would literally do a few TTouches on his head or body, then he would walk away from me, then come back to me when he was ready for more. 

Over time, he was more and more responsive to the TTouches, and was right at the front of his cage when I got to the space, putting his paw through the holes in the cage door and meowing to me to let him out.  He would still come to me and go away from me, but would settle for longer and longer periods of time.  I kneeled, crouched or sat on the floor so I would be on his level.  I mostly sat or kneeled up until very recently, because I wanted to be able to stand up or move easily if I started to feel he was getting scared and/or needed more space.

At first it was a bit of a trick getting him to go back in his cage.  Sometimes I would lure him with toys to get him to go back in, because he seemed so frightened of being picked up.  As I continued to do the TTouches with him, I tried to gradually work towards his stomach area.  Just even doing a few TTouches on his side, approaching the stomach area, was good progress. 

Over time, he became more and more at ease in general.  And one day I found I was able to pick him up with no reaction from him at all!  I still would use gloves to pick him up in case he got suddenly frightened, but he has been quite comfortable with me picking him up for some time now. 

And the more he has gotten to know me, the more he has been seeking attention, purring and rubbing his head and body into my hands.  Initially, I would have to be especially mindful of his body language, as he could suddenly get frightened and it was as though a switch flipped back to a very fearful state, meowing loudly and maybe swatting or hissing.  These changes have happened less and less -- actually it is hard to remember when it happened last with me. 

He recognizes the energy of the TTouches and will settle down right next to me.  He especially responds to raccoon and chimp TTouches on his forehead area and to abalone, chimp and clouded leopard TTouches on his body.  I have been more and more able to do TTouches around his mouth area as well, which is a great area to work if you can do so safely, as the mouth area connects with the limbic system, which has to do with the emotions.

 

The past couple of sessions, we have broken through to another level.  As you can see above, Pumpkin is now starting to come and snuggle with me, aww! 
What has been beautiful to see is how the TTouches truly can help to change the way he reacts to contact and the way he reacts to situations that previously would be stressful for him (such as being picked up).  And it is as though a fearful exterior has given way to his true inner self, which is a sweet, affectionate cat who will be delighted to connect with a person once he gets to know them.
He will need a patient person to adopt him, someone who can give him the time and space to become comfortable.  Given time, space, love and understanding, he will be such a loving and sweet companion.
Love you Pumpkin! and thanks to all the other folks involved with him, Tavi, Mayor's Alliance and PVF, for giving so much him and other animals like him.
xo

Connecting with Krishna: Moving Closer than Ever

 

 

Krishna is a beautiful, soulful cat who I have worked with and cat-sat for over the past couple of years or so. He is generally very fearful of everyone other than his human caretakers, Rebecca and Tim, but Krishna has come to trust me more and more every time I see him.   

I had not seen Krishna for some months, and went to work with him yesterday.  Krishna is extremely sensitive, so I need to enter with an extremely quiet energy, even more so than I usually do with most cats.  On the way to the appointment on the subway, I began to center and calm myself, and to send him Reiki energy.

He always seems to recognize me, and that was the case yesterday as well.  When I entered, he was resting in his bed, which was about halfway across the living room.  I lowered my body posture into a less-threatening kneeling position, and quietly said hello to him.  He responded by walking right up to me, sniffing me, and then sitting a couple of feet away from me.  When he came to sniff me, I stayed perfectly still - not rigid, but breathing and still.  If he tried to stare right at my eyes, I looked down a bit or away a bit, so as not to scare him.

In the last few appointments with him, a soft paintbrush like a makeup brush, tied to a thin dowel with string, has been a great tool to work with him.  This time, I used a longer dowel than I had in the past, since I felt that sometimes I wanted to give him more space, as he can get suddenly startled sometimes when he gets close.

Generally, I have found that TTouch circles and strokes are what work with him best, but because of where his body was positioned yesterday, which was sideways to me, just a couple of feet away, with his head further away, I tried doing some TTouch circles with the tool going down the side of his body.  I did the circles very slow, with a "snail's tail" at the end, which means doing the usual circle and a quarter, followed by a pause, and then reversing the circular path for a quarter circle.  This can provide an extra release. 

It is very important, especially with a fearful cat, to come towards them in a sort of diagonal path, rather than directly towards their face or head.  Even when I am going to do TTouches on the head with the tool, I come from a diagonal direction and first touch him on top of his head, but coming from the side, not straight on.

He started to look more and more relaxed, with his eyes getting more sleepy, but still his tail was twitching back and forth, so I was careful to pause every so often, to give him a break. 

It was very interesting that yesterday, in the pauses, he would generally shift his body posture in a manner and direction that was coming closer to me, rather than further away. 

Below you can see the tool I was using.  At one point, I did have to tuck the string in!

 

 

The TTouch circular touches and strokes were helping him to increasingly relax, and intermittently he would do a somersault, stretch and get a bit closer to me.  A couple of times during the session, he did go to his "mom" Rebecca for a few pets, but then he came back to me.  So he really was making a choice about where he wanted to be.

At the same time as this was going on, and for the whole session, I was also sending him Reiki energy.  I felt quite a lot of energy coming out of my hands.  And, as I have recently been learning about color therapy, I decided to visualize a turquoise blue color surrounding him.  Turquoise, as it is a mixture of green and blue, which are both very calming, healing colors, can be a very calming and healing color, and just felt right for Krishna at this moment.

After the TTouches on the body, I decided to go back to what has usually been more his comfort zone, which is the forehead, in between the ears, and at the base of the ears.  Sometimes I would work in a few TTouches on the body, then go back to the head.  Below you can see that he was quite relaxed, with his hind leg sticking out.  And at this point the tail was quieting down too.

And, I had started quietly working my hand down the tool.  As you can see, my hand is much closer to his body than the photo above.  As I did this, I made sure to check in on my breathing, as I could feel myself start to get a little bit nervous as I got closer to him.

 

 

 

 

What was interesting, too, that had happened during this process was that Krishna had pivoted his body around so that he was not only closer to me but had his head facing directly towards me.

I kept doing the circular TTouches and strokes, pausing every so often to give him space.

And..... when it seemed the right moment, I carefully took hold of the dowel with my fingers, and did a few TTouches and strokes on his forehead with my thumb.  And then after a few TTouches like that, I went back to touching him with the brush.  At a couple of points, he seemed a little surprised, but not terribly, and then he would go back to being relaxed.  This was certainly a far cry from the sudden panic that can happen, usually followed by a yell or a swat.  And each time I went from my thumb (or sometimes I used a finger) back to the brush, he seemed to get more comfortable, getting his body in a more and more comfortable position.



 

 

He is extremely attached to Rebecca, and at various points during the session, he looked over at her, as if to ask if it was ok that he was getting so close.  Rebecca said, and I agree, that it felt as though he wanted to really get even closer to me, but was still a bit hesitant to do that.
Each time he got closer to me, it was as though I could feel our hearts more closely connected, like a band of love and energy was traveling back and forth between my heart and his. 
The session had flowed very natural, and seemed to have its own natural ending place.  I quietly thanked him, and he walked to a cozy spot to rest.
Thank you Krishna!  It is such an honor to work with you, connect with you and learn from you.  I look forward to seeing you soon!!