We have two cats almost 21yr old Mia and Dexter who is about 5 yrs old. Dexter adopted us about 3 and a half years ago . He has always been a very nervous and skittish cat . He wouldn’t even stay inside the conservatory without the door remaining open when having his food. As time went on we had to introduce him inside as we were moving house from London to Yorkshire November 2014. He coped well with the move and adjusted to being a complete house cat. However he continued to be very nervous and wary of strangers. Running away upstairs as soon as the door bell rang before they even entered the house and would gingerly reappear only after they had left.
Three weeks ago as I write, myself and the cats had our first reiki session with Sue. My partner had brought Dexter into the room but it was up to Dexter whether he stayed or not. He was behind one of the sofas but at least he stayed in the room. Sue centred the reiki on the cats initially. Eventually Dexter appeared and was clearly responding although he was still a bit wary of Sue and moved back if she moved towards him.
The second treatment started with me. About 10 minutes into it Dexter appeared and jumped up onto my knee – he never sits on my knee! He was so relaxed and content. At the end of the session he rubbed his head against Sue’s hand then licked her fingers. It was so lovely to see him so comfortable with someone other than my partner and myself. It made me feel very emotional.
Third session started with Dexter standing beside the sofa watching Sue giving reiki to me. He very quickly jumped up onto my knee this time and was enjoying every minute. Towards the end my other cat Mia also decided she wanted to join in this time and also jumped up onto my knee. Despite getting on well together they have never sat together like this. She had shown some interest in each session getting out of her bed briefly but Dexter was the one who was the most receptive.
The other day a total stranger visited us. Dexter was upstairs on his bed. He usually stays there if visitors are here. After about 10 minutes he appeared looking relaxed and interested in our visitor. I picked Dexter up after a few minutes. He is usually tense but was relaxed and happily stood on my knee. Then he got off going to sit right next to the visitor and enjoyed having his head stroked. We were totally surprised by all of this. Then when the visitor stood up and walked towards the kitchen, Dexter ran after him ! I truly feel Dexter has turned a huge corner and I am certain it is due to Sue’s reiki treatment.
For myself, I find the sessions very relaxing. I have had ME for nearly 20 yrs which I find has exacerbated especially over the past 5 or 6 years. I feel fairly tense a lot of the time more so since losing my mother 7 months ago. So it is good to have the tension lifted for a little while. I was also amazed when Sue detected very painful areas of my body as she hovered her hands during the treatment.
I admit that I have been sceptic in the past about this type of thing. But seeing what it has done for Dexter is proof that it really does work. A human can say it works for them whether it does or not but an animal doesn’t pretend or imagine.
I highly recommend Sue who is a lovely lady and refreshingly positive and passionate about the wonderful work she does.
Janet