Lets Talk about Therapy Cats

[Greer Griffith]

This is a group for people that are interested in using their cats in Animal Assisted Therapy/Activities.

Cats, unlike dogs, don't get trained in classes. They either have the temperament or they don't. Are there people reading this that participate with their cats in Animal Assisted Therapy? How did you get started? What made you realize your
cat was a good candidate for this work? What advice, experiences can you share?

[Tree Thunderchild]

While living in town my wife ran an assisted living home, which I helped her with things like cares and moving patients into hoyer (not sure of the spelling) lifts etc.
One of the residences was a very sweet and dear lady in her 90's with Alzheimer's who sort of adopted a cat someone else had. Every day I would know where this cat was, when animal planet was on the two of them would watch it, Seymour (the cats name) would be on her lap watching for birds on the TV.
There were times when she was rough with him due to her condition I dont think she understood well what she was doing at times, but he never scratched her even in self defense.
She passed on years ago, but we inherited the cat who is with me right now.
I would suggest those looking into this, exposing the cat to different people in different settings but controlled ones and not necessarily with the elderly or disabled and watch carefully how the cat reacts to different conditions they may experience in real life applications.
I do know, next to me, this cat was her best buddy. She lived well into her 90's and when my wife needed to get out of the business due to the mountain of paperwork she had to do that kept her from what she was best at (caring for them), she passed away the same day my wife quit.... but this cat I honestly feel, gave this woman many more years, and happy ones too.
I strongly believe in animals in assisted therapy, and know this one, brought this lady, much joy and companionship in a way that having a memory or speaking or many other things humans do to interact, did not matter in the least with this cat.
She had a beautiful heart, and that, was plenty enough to offer as far as he was concerned. And she knew that as well. In this cat, she could see in her self, she had something to offer this world.

[Nancy]

I'm sorry I'm so late replying to this post, but I just discovered it. My cat, Laser, has been a therapy cat for 11 years. In fact, because he is so good at what he does, Laser was named the ASPCA's "Cat of the Year" in 2006.

When I first heard about animal-assisted therapy, I thought (as many people do) that it was only for dogs. Even when I went through the training, I found that it was mostly geared toward dogs. I just knew, though, that Laser would be great at this kind of thing. He never met a stranger, was outgoing and curious and unafraid of new people and situations. After completing the training, Laser and I joined a local group called Hand-in-Paw (www.handinpaw.org) here in Birmingham, Alabama. We visit hospitals, nursing homes, hospice patients, just about anyplace where people can benefit from the unconditional love animals bring.

Laser has brought smiles and peacefulness to hundreds of people over the years. Like the cat Tree Thunderchild refers to in his reply, the patients--be they small children or elderly people with Alzheimer's--are sometimes a bit rough with him, but he seems to understand that their intentions are good and he never complains. His specialty is curling up on patients' laps or next to them (or sometimes on top of them) in their beds. He always snuggles, and he's always willing to give hugs--wrapping his front paws around a patient's neck. I once was brought to tears when he "hugged" a teenage girl in an adolescent psychiatry ward we were visiting when she said, "This feels so good...it's been so long since I've had a hug."

One of the stories I wrote about Laser's amazing gift was published in "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul" and "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Loving Our Cats" if anyone is interested in hearing more about my amazing boy.

If your cat has a personality that is suited to animal-assisted therapy, I highly recommend getting involved. Get your cat used to wearing a harness (that's a requirement of the Delta Society, the international organization through which we are registered...www.deltasociety.org). Take the cat to places where he/she will encounter new people and situations--homes of friends and family, stores that allow pets, etc.

[Maia Perez]

I have three cats with incredibly tolerant & loving temperments. I live on Guam and they barely do anything in the realm of animal-assisted activities/therapy. Any suggestions on getting started. I'm a school psychologist who works in schools...any ideas in using my pets in a lesson plan to educate the kids on animals or their care?