Therapy Cat Tales from 6/30/11

Tabby writes:


Wow, such a busy day!  I was half-snoozing under the folding chair when it was time to leave, so Mommy had to pull me out of my nice, snug cave to put me in the stroller.  Missy just looked at me, interested in what was happening, but Heimdall wanted to come with me!  Mommy told him he'd have a turn in the stroller when we came back.  He loves to ride around the house in it.  :)  At the marsh right by our house, I saw a mama duck with two little baby ducklings!  Nice!  The mama was teaching them how to give themselves baths.

On the MAX train, a boy in a wheelchair got on with his nurse.  It took a few minutes for the nurse to realize that I was a cat instead of a human baby, mol, but then she wanted to pet me.  Mommy told her it was ok, and asked if the boy wanted to pet me as well.  When the boy nodded, I got to sit on his lap.  He was wearing this huge raincoat that covered his chair as well, kind of like a big, zippered bag, so the nurse unzipped it for him and then he could pet me.  I wanted to snuggle in his coat!  :)  Nice and warm!  He loved me doing that!

At H., Mommy showed my friends in the office a flyer of my book, and they looked at the website for it.  They love that I have a book now!  They may even order it for the library there!  If they do, I'll paw-sign the copy and Mommy will sign it, too.  Then we went up to see my other friends.

D. rode up in the elevator with us, and was really glad to see me.  Then, S. was waiting patiently in the lobby when we got off the elevator.  She comes from another floor specifically to see me on my visiting days!  She used to feed a feral cat when she had her own room, but can't anymore.  I purred for her and Mommy talked with her about her previous cats.  We went into the tv room to see T., and I sat on T.'s walker again.  I wanted tummy rubs, so I rolled over, and fell off!  I had thought that the walker bag was solid, but I rolled right through it!  I landed on my paws, shook, and looked up at Mommy and T., wondering what happened!  Mommy told me and made sure I was ok, then I jumped in my stroller and onto T.'s lap again.  MOL!  G. was very happy to see me, too, and she had a yummy treat for me.  It's called a fig newton, and I ate a quarter of it!  *licks lips happily*  I ate it right out of her hand while she smiled at me!  Totally made her day, as well as mine!  In R.'s room, there were two loud monsters, one near R. and one near the other lady.  I kept looking back and forth between them, then I started telling the closer one off for being so loud!  I don't like those monsters.  Mommy called them oxygen machines.

After visiting, we went to the pet store and they put the flyer for my book on their bulletin board.  The owner was quite impressed that we wrote a children's book!  :)  >^..^<  When we got on the MAX to go home, there was a lady who is moving to Portland with her two cats and looking for housing that will allow pets.  She loves the stroller idea, and loved petting me and talking with Mommy.  Another lady on the bus talked with Mommy about therapy pets vs. service animals, and regulations for each, because her autistic son is going to college next fall and loves cats.  She didn't know that cats could be service animals for autistic people, so Mommy told her to check out the Service Animal Registry of America page to find trainers and more information.  They certify many different kinds of service animals, and also certify therapy pets even though we are not service animals.