Taking my therapy cats to larger hospitals on Labor Day is a joy for both me and the owners: the cats have an easy drive with little to no traffic, and I get to spend quality time with my patients.
Although some facilities, such as the Cancer Center, were closed for the holiday, most of the facilities I regularly visit were open for the most part (no sickness or injury breaks), so I was happy to spend an hour at the pediatrics department.
Of the five patients, I was able to examine four (the fifth was sunbathing). Three of them were young girls, all under 10 years old, and all very sweet and quiet, which was fine with me. Cats don’t have to be talkative. The first and third girls were with their fathers.
The second girl was accompanied by her mother. Her father was resting. My owner doesn’t ask for details about why the patient is in the hospital, it’s none of her business, of course, and I’m there to make her forget about the hospital, not to remind her. But this mother wanted to talk a little. She brought her daughter in at 9pm the night before and hadn’t slept a wink. So while I lay next to the girl, the owner stayed with the mother so she could talk a little about her stress.
The fourth visit was with a little boy, but I didn’t actually get to meet him. He was sedated so couldn’t be awake long enough to meet him. But there was a lot of his family there; my owner guessed his parents, grandmother, aunt (or second grandmother). The house was full and everyone loved cats. So I met everyone for a while. It was fun.
I had plenty of time afterwards to visit the delivery room, which was fun! Not only were the nurses really happy to see me, but several patients also wanted to meet me.
Labor and delivery patients are always the hardest logistically – it’s a bit tricky to walk around them on a hospital bed, and you’re definitely not allowed to walk on the bed! So usually the owner makes me lie down in a little corner of the bed and stay there. The two ladies were very sweet and had their partners with them. I especially liked the second lady – she really knew how to pet a cat!
On this visit, I spent some quality time with the patients and ended up going a little over time, but it was okay – the owners knew I had had enough that day and it was clear they were having a good time with the patients.
