Warning - this is long, but it was a cool class!
I took a class in TTouch last night - basically massage-type therapy for cats. It is not an actual massage, but ways to touch your cat that can help both behavior and physical problems. I did a search on the forums and there are references to this technique in Health and Nutrician, Behavior, and Caring for Strays and Ferals. Here's a good link I found when I did the search:
http://www.pawsnlearn.freeserve.co.uk/basic.htm
And the woman's site who taught the class last night:
http://n2paws.com/default.php
It is considered a compliment to veterinary care, not a replacement for it. It can address things from digestive and respiratory problems, injuries, fear, shyness, aggression, car sickness, and recovery from illness or injury.
There's too much to put here on the class, but will share one very compelling thing that we saw. The woman did the class mostly for rescue workers - those that foster cats and those that socialize ferals. I audited the class, but some folks brought in their cats to practice on.
One of the cats was a feral kitten, about 12 weeks old. She was trapped later than suggested (about 8 weeks old) and had a bad URI when caught so her socialization started even later. She is at the point in her socialization that she still bolts anytime someone walks into a room with her, calms down quickly for her caretaker, but takes a lot more time with strangers. When she was brought into the class, she was called the "velcro kitty" cause she just clung so tight with her claws to anyone that held her (and we did pass her around to get her used to more people).
About 1-1/2 hour into the class, it was her time to be placed on the table to demonstrate the touch techniques. The room was huge (the adoption center), the table set up in the open in the middle of the room, and strangers all around. All the ingredients for the kitten to bolt and hide in some nook in the center. Pat started working on her and within a short time, she visably relaxed, laid down on the middle of the table, started purring (happily), then fell asleep. Most cats like to have a short touch session, then run around a bit to experience the effects of the touch, then come back for more. Little Joanie wouldn't budge off the table and whenever Pat stopped, she just nudged for more.
The Humane Society is going to incorporate this for all feral kittens, and for the foster cats that are brought up to the adoption center on weekends to keep them more calm. They are also going to try it with an IBD cat.
I'm normally the skeptic on these things, but saw first hand the calming effects on a feral kitten. I will also say that she first practiced the touch on the people in the room, and her simple touch to my poor arthritic knee made it feel better than it has for a long time. Did I say that this works on any living creature?
If you want to hear more, just ask questions! I'll answer the best that I can. I plan an in-home follow session with Pat in the next few weeks so will learn more about it. I want her to help me with Shep (my 17 year old that has had a stroke), Emily (my shy cat that is comparable to Pengy the under-the-bed cat), and Spike (my year old puppy that I have trouble with his attention). And if I can get Tigger and Eightball out long enough for her to touch them, I'm going to work on their shyness.
I took a class in TTouch last night - basically massage-type therapy for cats. It is not an actual massage, but ways to touch your cat that can help both behavior and physical problems. I did a search on the forums and there are references to this technique in Health and Nutrician, Behavior, and Caring for Strays and Ferals. Here's a good link I found when I did the search:
http://www.pawsnlearn.freeserve.co.uk/basic.htm
And the woman's site who taught the class last night:
http://n2paws.com/default.php
It is considered a compliment to veterinary care, not a replacement for it. It can address things from digestive and respiratory problems, injuries, fear, shyness, aggression, car sickness, and recovery from illness or injury.
There's too much to put here on the class, but will share one very compelling thing that we saw. The woman did the class mostly for rescue workers - those that foster cats and those that socialize ferals. I audited the class, but some folks brought in their cats to practice on.
One of the cats was a feral kitten, about 12 weeks old. She was trapped later than suggested (about 8 weeks old) and had a bad URI when caught so her socialization started even later. She is at the point in her socialization that she still bolts anytime someone walks into a room with her, calms down quickly for her caretaker, but takes a lot more time with strangers. When she was brought into the class, she was called the "velcro kitty" cause she just clung so tight with her claws to anyone that held her (and we did pass her around to get her used to more people).
About 1-1/2 hour into the class, it was her time to be placed on the table to demonstrate the touch techniques. The room was huge (the adoption center), the table set up in the open in the middle of the room, and strangers all around. All the ingredients for the kitten to bolt and hide in some nook in the center. Pat started working on her and within a short time, she visably relaxed, laid down on the middle of the table, started purring (happily), then fell asleep. Most cats like to have a short touch session, then run around a bit to experience the effects of the touch, then come back for more. Little Joanie wouldn't budge off the table and whenever Pat stopped, she just nudged for more.
The Humane Society is going to incorporate this for all feral kittens, and for the foster cats that are brought up to the adoption center on weekends to keep them more calm. They are also going to try it with an IBD cat.
I'm normally the skeptic on these things, but saw first hand the calming effects on a feral kitten. I will also say that she first practiced the touch on the people in the room, and her simple touch to my poor arthritic knee made it feel better than it has for a long time. Did I say that this works on any living creature?
If you want to hear more, just ask questions! I'll answer the best that I can. I plan an in-home follow session with Pat in the next few weeks so will learn more about it. I want her to help me with Shep (my 17 year old that has had a stroke), Emily (my shy cat that is comparable to Pengy the under-the-bed cat), and Spike (my year old puppy that I have trouble with his attention). And if I can get Tigger and Eightball out long enough for her to touch them, I'm going to work on their shyness.