This week we were able to have a therapy cat visit at your child’s hospital! Because my humans are always a good ice breaker for kids to do the trick.
But it was not going to work in the first exam room we visited – the little girl started crying scared me! At first, my human was assuming she didn’t want to see the kitten, but something left us for a while. And almost immediately she stopped crying and looked at me curiously. Her mother encouraged her to keep me, and she did. And she gave me a sly smile. In the end, it turns out she’s not really scary.
The second patient also didn’t want to see me. It was an older teenage boy and he shrugged us. But again, something paused us and he changed his mind. So I walked to him with my leash and he pet me and my man got me to do some tricks for him. He enjoyed it all and when he visited a friend with his cat, he admitted to my human that he always hated him. So, in his 16 or 17 years of life, I was his first positive experience with his kitten.
I didn’t have to work to beat all my patients. In one room there was a little boy with his wrists and hands in the cast. He was happy to see me, and so was his mom and sisters. I sat next to the boy and gave him a high five with his uninjured hands. Then both of his sisters took a step a little and I was also adorable. She needed a little extra help as she had a disability, but they were all fun.
The last patient in the exam room was another young girl who warmed me, although I had no idea at first. But something was bothering her, so she whispered it to her mother. My mother said she was worried that I might relieve herself in the exam room! My human assures them that she made sure I was using the trash bin before it was turned off on our visit. My mother was a little impressed with that.
Did you say I cleansed it all the time you visited the exam room? Because I did it.
I went to the surgical area again. There was a nurse with a few patients working with, so it wasn’t a good time to visit. However, one girl in Gurney had only one nurse, so she gasped the moment she saw me. Obviously she needed a visit so my man brought me in. During the visit, she told us about the cat. We spent more time with her than we normally might have because she was in a lot of pain. The nurse had given her a strong painkiller dose, so it took me a while to kick in, so there was one way to deflect her.
We have been doing treatment visits for many years. My humans instinctively know when to stay and when to leave. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I’m so pleased for most of my visits. Because when they appreciate me the most, I love visiting people.
