The holiday season can be a bit super busy time for everyone, including your pets! Relatives and friends visiting for long stays or a party, bright lights flashing on the Xmas tree, the door bell rings and Xmas carolers sing for beautiful songs for over an hour…
Although your pets might enjoy all the holiday fun, it can also create anxiety due to scheduling changes and more loud celebrating than the norm. The perfect pet gift this holiday season, a nice long pet message. Here are some pet massage tips to keep your cat purring, and pup rolling over!
What is the best way to pet your pet? Your furry friends would almost certainly cast their votes for pet-by-massage techniques.
We’re not talking about deep, complicated muscle manipulations. We’re interested in specific touch-you can describe it as ‘purposeful petting.’ Start with familiar rubs, and we’ll show how adding some finesse can dramatically improve your touch. By the end of this article, you’ll have fresh ideas that will offer you the best ways to pet your pet.
With cat massage and dog massage, first you choose a technique. Then work it on a particular area. Be sure to pay attention to the massage specifics-hand parts, motions, pressures and speeds, because these specifics upgrade random rubbing to massage techniques. The result is that your touch will be more appealing to your animal.
WHY MASSAGE?
Because we’re all busy, and massage is the most direct way to:
* Establish rapport with a new animal
* Accelerate the bonding process with a familiar friend
* Socialize a fearful feline or a frightened Fido
* Sooth, whether that soothing is for the animal or for you. It’s hard to stay agitated when distracted with calm touch.
Even Ms. Complacent Kitty or Mr. Mellow Mutt gets bored with monotonous stroking. For people who are away from home for long periods of time, massage is essential in daily animal care to make up for that absence. A four-minute massage session can replace twenty minutes of random rubbing and will get warmer results.
Let’s check it out. A common pet, stroking under the chin, is no longer routine when it becomes “Chin Ups.” Scratching on top of the head transforms into “Crowning the King.” And if yours is a girl, it’s “Crowning the Queen.” Rubbing the upper arm and back area is more intriguing when you consider it “Shoulder Strumming.” And who among us wouldn’t enjoy an “Underarm Tickle?”
HAND PARTS
Take a moment and look at your hand. There are fifteen hand parts used in pet massage. We’re already familiar with the more common ones-palms and fingers, so let’s explore something new-the knuckle nooks. First we’ll find them. Bend one hand into a fist. Look at the flat surface formed between the first and second knuckle-this is your knuckle nook. You can use one knuckle nook by itself-usually the one formed by the index finger- or use two, three or all four. So next time, instead of fingertips or fingerpads, try “Crowning the King” with knuckle nooks. Same with the cheek area – “Check out those Cheeks” with your new hand part. Just be sure to start very slowly.
PRESSURES
In pet massage you alternate four pressures: light, featherlight, mild and deep. Practice a massage technique you’re comfortable with, and then vary it using each different pressure. Try “Hand Over Hand and Down We Go” with a featherlight pressure. Gradually work deeper and slower until you’re at a deep pressure.
See how you can significantly alter your touch by adjusting just one of the massage components?
Be sure your animal is comfortable, and in case of any distress, stop immediately. Always refer medical concerns to a qualified veterinarian.
Cat massage and dog massage techniques are now used in animal shelters to reduce kennel stress and increase the adoption rate. Workshops are available to educate people for this growing phenomenon. Massage for animals isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. Whether in cages or homes, animals welcome the affectionate caress of a massage. (Then they demand it!)
If your animals could talk, they’d be the first to tell you that ‘simply petting is passé, give me a massage!’
So collect your feline friend or your canine companion, and get comfortable. Establish a whole new regime together. You can give the perfect pet gift; fun and affection with a relaxing cat and/or dog massage this holiday season. Have a barkin’ and meowing Hanukah, Christmas, and New Year!
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