 Barked: Fri Jun 27, '08 6:46pm PST |
 | |  | | My goodness, most of the members here are certified or trained...well, Patrick and I aren't certified or anything...we are just volunteers.
Mom works at a retirement/health care facility...she has been there a long time. So she has always taken our family cats to visit residents there, but mainly on her days off, and not very often. In the last few years, more has been learned about pets being good therapy for older adults and our facility adopted a trained "Alzheimer's Therapy" dog. Then things really started to happen. Whereas, earlier, residents were not allowed to have any pets other than a bird or fish, cats started to be allowed to live with the residents and dogs followed a few years later. Employees were encouraged to bring their pets, as were family members.
I am a blue-point Siamese and Mom heard that Meezers are good with people and outgoing cats. Mom started bringing me a week or two after she got me as a kitten. She started slow, bringing me first on a Saturday to see how I would react. I am not your usual Meezer, I am very small and very shy. I clung to her shoulder, but I also enjoyed being held by other people. I liked to sit on laps and be petted. So Mom started bringing me regularly. I was a hit with the residents and staff alike!
Then Mom started bringing Magic, my older brother, an ebony Oriental Shorthair, who was extremely outgoing. He was even better than I was with the residents! He would ride in a cart, walk on a leash and talk to people. Unfortunately, Magic developed kidney failure and passed away September of 2007.
Mom got Patrick shortly after Magic's demise and started bringing him as soon as he was comfortable with her and our house. Patrick is another Siamese, a chocolate lynx-point. He is good with people too, and has even met several of the dogs that visit. He liked a couple of them, and while he doesn't play with them, he is OK with them. One of them is a little wild and Patrick didn't like him.
We go to work with Mom in the morning and she takes us around the facility as she does her various tasks and for the last couple hours of the day, we visit residents in their rooms or sometimes in the halls or public areas. During the times when we can't accompany Mom, we take naps in our carrier kept in Mom's office or sometimes other employees volunteer to cat-sit us.
Patrick will ride in a cart and he will also walk on a leash like Magic did. I don't like to ride in a cart (I ride on Mommy's shoulder) and I won't walk on a leash either, although Mom always puts harnesses and leashes on us whenever she takes us out.
Mom has seen the joy that the residents feel when they pet us or have us on their laps and they share their pet stories. In some of the dementia patients, seeing a cat or dog can spark something in them and people who have not responded for a long time will talk or respond in some other way.
We are so glad to be working cats - outside the home, making other people happy - of course our first job is looking beautiful and being companions to Mom! |  |  | |  |
|
| my page | msg me | gift me | become pals | |
The Dog Show: Who's Your Mama?
9
