Therapy Cat Tales

Tabby writes:

Yesterday, I had a great visit at the nursing home! We hadn't been out for about a month because of the heat, so I was really excited to be going! I even let Mommy clip my claws yesterday morning without fussing, which is very exceptional. :)

Mommy took me to visit five people in their rooms, and three people in the hallways stopped to visit me, plus the nursing staff. I wanted tummy rubs from most of them, so we had a great time! In two of the rooms, the residents had guests, so the guests got to pet me too. They all thought it was great that I came to visit their relatives.

Just as we were leaving, a huge English Sheepdog came up. He was outside on a potty break. His mommy is a resident, and he's a Delta Society-certified therapy dog who works with Dove Lewis' AAA/AAT group (animal-assisted activities/animal-assisted therapy). He usually visits on the weeks we don't, so there's always someone furry to greet the people on Fridays, but his human brother/handler brought him yesterday to visit his mommy and the other people on the floor. Once his human brother saw me in the stroller, he brought Oddard (the sheepdog) over to see me. Mommy held me up a little, because I was kind of falling asleep already, and we sniffed each other. Oddard has a topknot because his "bangs" are way too long. His fur tickled me when he snuffed at me, and I wrinkled up my nose! But I was a good girl and let him sniff me all over, and I sniffed his long fur.

As if that wasn't enough of an adventure, on the way back we went through downtown and saw a man on a board and stretcher with a neck stabilizer! It looked like the EMT's had just put him on the board, and were checking his recall and eye movements. A few blocks later, we saw a man in a wheelchair trying to go down the curb instead of the curb-cut. He fell over, taking his chair and his groceries down with him! Mommy put the brakes on my stroller, and she and another woman ran over to see if they could help. The other woman picked up the groceries, then came to stand by my stroller so nothing would happen to me. That was so nice of her! Then another woman and a man came over and they and Mommy helped the man get his wheelchair upright. The man who came over to help asked a few questions of the man in the wheelchair to make sure he was alright, then Mommy wheeled him over to the curb-cut. She pushed me across the street when the light changed, then put the brakes on and was going to help the man get across (he had limited use of his feet, and was "walking" the chair across slowly). When she turned back, a couple who had just crossed had also turned back and the guy handed his bag to the girl and helped the man across. Thank you, God, for the kindness of people!