Therapy Cat Tales from Last Friday

Tabby writes:

Sorry I'm late again writing up my notes.  Here they are, finally!

Mommy is done with teaching her classes for the summer, so we didn't have to worry about what time we got done with visiting when we went on Friday.  That turned out really well, since there was a volunteer appreciation celebration at H., scheduled for about 10 minutes after we got done with our visit!  But first, the visit itself.

It was raining hard, so Mommy used her flowered umbrella to cover the mesh part of the stroller.  That bugged me, because I LOVE being able to see out the front!  I kept on trying to look out when she moved the umbrella slightly, then looked up at her in complaint.  But what could I do...I didn't want to get wet?!

A man in a wheelchair saw us get off the bus, but thought maybe Mommy was using the stroller as a walker.  Instead, he saw me inside!  He started laughing!  Mommy told him that would have been a great idea, though, much less expensive for someone than a walker.

Once we got to H., Mommy got her nametag and I hopped out of the stroller and headed to the office door to check in, trailing my leash.  The people I was going to see laughed at that, because they were coming down the hallway at the same time and saw me!  I heard them behind me and turned around, waited for them to catch up and open the door, then walked in to their office.  Hey, I know where I'm going, so what's the problem?!  ;)

We went off to do our rounds, visiting with all our friends.  In M. & E.'s room, there was a human visitor already but they all motioned for us to come in.  The lady who was visiting told M., who is partially sighted, that there was a therapy cat.  M. immediately said, "Is it in a buggy?"  When told that I was, she replied, "Oh, yes, that's our cat friend.  She comes often."  The lady thought that was wonderful!  The lady was phobic of cats, but is trying to get over her phobia, so she watched M. and E. pet and hold me, then asked if she could pet me.  I immediately came over and asked her to, so she did.  She gave me some good ear scritches and tail pets!  She has a dog, so she knew how to pet another furry.  I rolled over for tummy rubs, but she didn't know what I wanted, so I flopped over onto my paws again.  Mommy told her what I wanted, and so she petted my side until I rolled over again, then petted my tummy.  *PURRRRRR*  I gave her lots of head bonks!  Then, after about 5 minutes of all this, she asked if she could HOLD me!  Remember, this is someone who has NEVER held a cat before!  Mommy picked me up, showed how to hold me and support me, then handed me to her.  She grabbed me and held me close, and I looked at Mommy to say that I wanted down, but didn't wiggle away.  Mommy petted my head, then the lady sat me on her lap in a more comfortable position and I started kneading gently.  I settled down and purred for her, and she was soooo happy!  M. and E. were thrilled for her, too!

We left after a few more minutes and went on down the hall.  One of the nurses who is new to the floor is allergic to cats, and didn't know there was going to be a cat visitor.  Imagine, someone working there who didn't know I would come!  The other nurses told her to take a long break until our visits were done, and Mommy made sure to tell the people in the office about her as well.  Hopefully something can be worked out for her.  :(

When we were done on that floor, Mommy told the nurses so they could let the allergic lady know.  Then we went to visit I. on another floor.  I love I.'s rug and bed!  Both are great for rolling on, and she smiles when she feels that I'm happy.  We showed her how to feel my purrs, and she loved that.  She doesn't get many visitors, and no other animal visitors, so we were quite welcome there.  Mommy was telling her how I travel in a stroller, and she couldn't quite picture it, so Mommy wheeled it over to her so she could feel it and "see".  Once she got how it worked, she started giggling and said that would be great for me!

After that, we went back to the office.  I wasn't allowed to attend the volunteer appreciation, even though I'm a volunteer, because food was served.  Oregon state health regulations say that animals (except for service animals) can't be in any place where food is served to the public.  I was fine with that anyway, because I took a nice long nap curled up by the computer tower under R.'s desk for the whole time.  Mommy attended the event, and met more of the residents on the other floors that we don't get to visit.  That was fun for her!  Most of the volunteers are residents, but there were four outside volunteers including Mommy who attended as well.  Each year, they pick a resident who volunteers, either inside H. or at schools/organizations/clubs outside, to give an award to, and this year it was the librarian.  Things like that are why we love volunteering at this place!  :)  >^..^<