I better take a moment here and introduce Mia. She is not a cat, obviously, but she has had to get used to the idea of having cats around. This has been a huge challenge for her, since most of her life has been spent around other dogs, and she is being a real trooper. She even licked Cuddles (in photo below) on the nose today. So I need to give her a little special mention. She tries to connect, but cats don't understand downward dog--at least mine don't. I've had Mia for 12 years now and we have been through quite a number of adventures together, she's been my buddy through thick and thin. Like my friend Chris says, "Noone will ever love you like your dog." She has been so patient with me while I run around rescuing and spending time with ailing cats. I try to have special time with her. She loves to go for rides in the car, sometimes I think just because the cats hate the car--and she can have time with me alone. Mia adores swimming so I try to take her on special outings where she can swim. Our favorite lately is the Hudson River up in Nyack. Once she gets going in the water, its very hard to get her out. She has arthritis (from Lyme's) and spondylosis. The water must feel wonderful to her. I got started in the TTouch training because of Mia. I was looking for ways to help her feel better and to organize herself the best way possible. She adores going to the trainings because she gets lots of attention and she really likes to be in the mix of people. She always walks better and looks more comfortable after the trainings. She has a hard time jumping into the car somedays, but after the trainings, she soars through the air and into the back seat. She loves when I practice on her, and gets perturbed with me when I don't. Hard to tell sometimes if her whining is because she wants my attention or she really is hurting. When I see her take a deep breath and settle into the floor, I'm pretty sure of what the answer is. Our latest hurdle is that I am finally able to trim her nails. I spent a lot of time doing various circle touches and slides to make my way in the direction of her feet. At first I simply swiped through, down her leg, past her feet. Mia has arthritis in her feet and so is extra sensitive and protective. After days of this, I began doing the sweeping through her leg and littles circles on her feet, then gently squeezing her nails. Sometimes I would just do a little squeeze on a few nails without the big lead in. Some days it was easier than others to do little circles on her feet. I left the clippers out for days just staring at them. Then one morning when she looked really calm, I calmed myself, visualized everything going well and easily, got myself situated and comfortable, organized the styptic powder, just in case, did a few strokes around her head, ears and shoulders (opposing circles on her shoulders--both hands at the same time). Slides along her whole body, breathed, aimed, clipped, and voila! we got clippings, and no blood!!! (Mia's or mine--ha) I showed Mia the clippings. "See you don't need this, it's in the way." She seemed to watch me with curiosity. If she pulled back, looked uncomfortable, I stopped, waited, then went to a different toe. We got through all her toes in one sitting. I was amazed. Just at the end she started looking a little reticent. I thanked her for being a good sport. She was patient while I tried to be extra careful to get the right angle and not cut too much. Whew! I did it! Hopefully, she was feeling better in walking and will be ok with me trying again in a couple of weeks.
I better take a moment here and introduce Mia. She is not a cat, obviously, but she has had to get used to the idea of having cats around. This has been a huge challenge for her, since most of her life has been spent around other dogs, and she is being a real trooper. She even licked Cuddles (in photo below) on the nose today. So I need to give her a little special mention. She tries to connect, but cats don't understand downward dog--at least mine don't. I've had Mia for 12 years now and we have been through quite a number of adventures together, she's been my buddy through thick and thin. Like my friend Chris says, "Noone will ever love you like your dog." She has been so patient with me while I run around rescuing and spending time with ailing cats. I try to have special time with her. She loves to go for rides in the car, sometimes I think just because the cats hate the car--and she can have time with me alone. Mia adores swimming so I try to take her on special outings where she can swim. Our favorite lately is the Hudson River up in Nyack. Once she gets going in the water, its very hard to get her out. She has arthritis (from Lyme's) and spondylosis. The water must feel wonderful to her. I got started in the TTouch training because of Mia. I was looking for ways to help her feel better and to organize herself the best way possible. She adores going to the trainings because she gets lots of attention and she really likes to be in the mix of people. She always walks better and looks more comfortable after the trainings. She has a hard time jumping into the car somedays, but after the trainings, she soars through the air and into the back seat. She loves when I practice on her, and gets perturbed with me when I don't. Hard to tell sometimes if her whining is because she wants my attention or she really is hurting. When I see her take a deep breath and settle into the floor, I'm pretty sure of what the answer is. Our latest hurdle is that I am finally able to trim her nails. I spent a lot of time doing various circle touches and slides to make my way in the direction of her feet. At first I simply swiped through, down her leg, past her feet. Mia has arthritis in her feet and so is extra sensitive and protective. After days of this, I began doing the sweeping through her leg and littles circles on her feet, then gently squeezing her nails. Sometimes I would just do a little squeeze on a few nails without the big lead in. Some days it was easier than others to do little circles on her feet. I left the clippers out for days just staring at them. Then one morning when she looked really calm, I calmed myself, visualized everything going well and easily, got myself situated and comfortable, organized the styptic powder, just in case, did a few strokes around her head, ears and shoulders (opposing circles on her shoulders--both hands at the same time). Slides along her whole body, breathed, aimed, clipped, and voila! we got clippings, and no blood!!! (Mia's or mine--ha) I showed Mia the clippings. "See you don't need this, it's in the way." She seemed to watch me with curiosity. If she pulled back, looked uncomfortable, I stopped, waited, then went to a different toe. We got through all her toes in one sitting. I was amazed. Just at the end she started looking a little reticent. I thanked her for being a good sport. She was patient while I tried to be extra careful to get the right angle and not cut too much. Whew! I did it! Hopefully, she was feeling better in walking and will be ok with me trying again in a couple of weeks.
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