Happy Paws Therapy Cat Visit

I went to the big hospital for today’s therapy cat visit. Our first stop was Pediatrics, as it usually is. Before I even saw any kids, we ran into a couple of the hospital staff, who were very happy to see me! I always say that I’m here as much for the staff as I am for the patients. That has been even more true since I started coming back at the end of July. There is still a pandemic going on, and it adds even more stress to their jobs.

I only had a couple of children to visit this time. One was a toddler with her lower body in a cast, who smiled when she saw me. Her dad told us that she has a couple of cats at home. The other was a young teenager who was really happy to see me. She sat on the bed and I laid down next to her and made happy paws as she rubbed my head. She told us about the two neighbor cats that she sees — one is friendly, and the other one doesn’t want to be touched. Of course, she could touch me all she wanted.

You might recall, the last time I was here, we went the wrong way and wound up in Neonatal instead of Labor and Delivery. This time, my human found the right place, and it was a good thing because there were expecting mothers who wanted to see me.

The patients here have at-risk pregnancies, so they are bedridden and often a little bored and lonely being stuck at the hospital. I was happy to offer a break! I stretched out and gave some happy paws to the first woman, who told us that her son at home loves cats. The second woman only spoke Spanish. The nurse helped translate, but my human was able to answer simple questions in Spanish. Things like how old I was and how much I weighed. My human also could understand all the flattering things the woman said about me, like how beautiful I was.

The visit ended on kind of a funny note. We stopped by the Cancer Center, and a couple of the hospital staff got really excited to see me. In fact, they were so excited, they took me to a small recreation room to see a patient… who actually didn’t want to see me! The woman thanked us graciously, but really didn’t want to see a kitty. No matter, we went off to visit with the nurse who works with the people receiving chemo. Like I said, we really are there for the staff as much as we are the patients.

It was a good visit.

Other posts you’ll enjoy:

• A Busy Therapy Cat Day at the Hospital
• Therapy Cat Purrs and Happy Paws
• The Magic of Happy Paws