Therapy Cat Tales from 10/16/13

Tabby writes:

Boo!  I know it's not quite Halloween yet, but since it was our last visit before Halloween we wore our candy-corn witch costumes for visiting today!  We made a lot of people smile and giggle at H., C., on the buses, on the MAX light-rail, and walking down the sidewalk.  Mommy says I brightened a lot of lives today, so I'm glad about that!

The basket behind me on the couch is a Hello Kitty trick-or-treat pail.  We were reverse trick-or-treating today, bringing pencils to our friends instead of getting treats.  I don't usually eat treats when offered them while visiting anyway, so I liked the idea of giving my friends their Halloween treats instead.

I usually sleep on the way there and the way back, and my costume felt like a little blankie, so I was nice and toasty-warm even though it was a bit chilly outside.  I wore my harness and leash under my costume, even though I don't usually need restraining.

I visited with around 20 residents at H. today!  That's a lot more than usual.  I kept finding empty beds and rooms, though.  Many of my friends were out on a field trip for apple-tasting.  Mommy and I visited for a long time with R. and M., two of my favorite friends.  M. always loves seeing my costumes, and was even more impressed that Mommy and I were matching!  She wanted to know every detail of our costumes and where we got them (Party City).  I was feeling snuggly while visiting with R., because she has a soft office chair like we have at home.  I lay in it, paws on her hand and my head on my paws, while she petted me and scritched my ears with her other hand.  I purred up a storm, and she could feel my purring even though she couldn't hear it.  She loved seeing my costume, and was quite impressed that I wear the hat!

We got stopped by many visitors, nursing staff, and physical therapists while walking in the hallways.  A couple people asked if they could take our picture, and Mommy had one of them take this picture of us as well.  I don't have the striped orange-and-white socks, but otherwise Mommy and I completely match!

After we had visited with my friends who were in their rooms, we went back downstairs to sign out.  All of a sudden, I was looking at my missing friends!  They had just come back from their apple-tasting outing and were coming through the doors!  We went right over to visit them and I got a lot more pets.  They all got pencils from us, too.  Everyone's hands smelled of apples!

Mommy turned in our visiting sheet, then showed off her book and our costumes to our supervisors.  The publicity lady for H. even took our picture for their Facebook page!

Next, we walked over to C.  Once again, everyone loved seeing our outfits, and we were a total hit in the elevator!  We visited with my new friend P. for a long time, and she wanted to know every detail of our outfits as well.  She and Mommy talked while I took a bit of a nap in the stroller.  P. had feral cats when she lived in California, and her daughter-in-law rescues feral kittens as well.  Mommy showed her the book, and she immediately bought it, asking us to donate some extra money she had to the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon as well!  We'll be sending that in along with a portion of the proceeds from each book we've sold so far so FCCO can help more kitties!

While we were waiting for the bus to go back home, a lady came up with her iPad and asked to take our picture!  Wow, I guess we were very popular today!  Another lady on the bus wanted to know all about my training and was very impressed that I ride so nicely in my carrier.  She and Mommy shared kitty pictures all the way from downtown Portland to Vancouver!