Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Some people purr-fer Cats.....

 It's been well documented that petting an animal - and being licked - is therapeutic.
          In a hospital or nursing home setting, it is demonstrated often when caring individuals bring their dogs in for a round of visits and patients respond favorably.
          My mom, in her 90s, was in a nursing home and benefited often from such dog-owner kindness.
          I would see several dogs going from room to room on certain days of the week and knew people were being calmed and that was a beautiful thing.
          But, my family has long been partial to cats.
          So, one day, I dusted off the cat carrier and brought my mother her 10-pound orange cat named Wallaby for a visit.
          Mom was sleeping when I arrived after lunch, and Wallaby had been noisily letting me know he was tired of being cooped up in the carrier and surrounded by the strange setting.
       
   An outside cat, he was used to being where he wanted to be and had trained me to understand what my role was when he stood on either side of the door,
          Yeah, he was not a happy cat. Until he realized Mom was next to him.
          He stopped making noise and started purring. Mom awoke and smiled, petting her cat.
          Wallaby had allowed me to attach a short leash to his collar and he now shared the pillow, rubbing his moist nose on Mom's hand and cheek.
          I had received permission from the staff for my stealthy cat visit, and several of Mom's caregivers stopped by to see how the visit was going. They sat her up in a wheelchair and Wallaby sat quietly in Mom's lap as she petted and rubbed him.
          There were smiles - and a few tears - as the orange-striped cat and my Mom had a short but emotional visit together.
          On the drive home, Wallaby was quiet and we both were purring a bit.

At first, Wallaby needed the leash





Together again -- after two years

Labels: , , , , ,

1 Comments:

At Thu Sep 08, 03:48:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love orange tabbies and was once owned by one called Pitney. They are always easy going cats. We had one at work and he was the only cat that ever had officers required to log his conduct on a supervision log. You see, there were reports that this cat was being unruly and indeed, he was. After the residents went to bed, he would climb on top of the toasters, squat and pee into them. He had perfect aim. He had, shall we say, a fondness for appliances of all kinds and would mess with people. I am currently trying to talk my mother into getting a cat. She's getting settled into her new place and I think it will do her a world of good. (Cathy)

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home