How I became a therapy cat

Each therapy cat has its own journey to passing the assessment and beginning the therapy cat business. And they are all very unique. My story is probably more different than most.

Therapy cats can be rescue or breeding cats

There are breed cats and rescue cats become therapy cats. Of course I am the first. Oftentimes, purebreds are retired show cats, since cat shows are great training grounds for this type of work. We spend the day in a chaotic showroom, being carried and handled by all these judges. If we adapt to it, and even learn to enjoy it, it is a good foundation.

My human actually chose my dad two years before I was born, and that’s one of the ways my story is different. I met an older sister of mine at a cat show in San Diego, and I was deeply impressed by her calm demeanor. She knew the breeder (she was the Sparkle breeder, and the founder of this blog). So I told her she wanted a cat with that temper for a cat treat.

My human search for many years

Humans have wanted to have a cat to bring to hospitals and other facilities since the mid-1990s. But she never found the right cat until I came along, two years after she met my older sister. I had started my modeling career in four months when you met me. She could immediately see that I was completely relaxed and enjoying myself, even when I was a beginner.

Having a human breeder take me back and forth to the judging rings. After several shows, I agreed to go home with her, as long as she continued to guide me. So that’s what we did. I had two good seasons and even placed in my area on both the big cat registries, TICA and CFA. Although I no longer compete, I am still an ambassador for the Somali dynasty at CFA, and attend shows in that capacity.

training

Being at shows wasn’t my only training for therapy cats. A lot of it involved traveling, like staying in hotel rooms (which I still love!), and going for walks down the aisles. I even love airports, and having people earn a lot from me at TSA (I know, I’m weird!). I also went to a lot of pet stores, and nowhere else was my human sure I was allowed to. Anyone wanting to pet me was allowed, and I loved it.

Some things cats need to know before they qualify for therapy work. We have to be okay with pigeons, clip our claws, and be trained in the use of tools. Therapy cats don’t actually have to walk on leashes, just be comfortable in the harness. Josie, the other cat on our show, rides in a stroller for the sick, as did the therapy cat before me, Tank. I enjoy walking on a leash because I am active and curious.

I was already used to pigeons and claw decorations because my breeder started me with them on my show career. Belt training was easy for me because it turns out I was really comfortable wearing things in general! Leash training was almost easy – it just took a few treatments to get me up and walking. I was attending events like the LA Feline Film Festival a month after I came to live with a human!

Are you ready for a cat therapeutic evaluation?

Therapy animals must be at least a year old before they can be evaluated. I waited for my human until I was two, because she took so long to do research, and I feel comfortable with her responsibilities as the human half of our team. Human therapy pet partners have a lot of rules they need to follow!

She also needed to know which organization we should be with. There are two national types, pet partners And the Love on the steering wheel. But neither of them had classes or residents close to us. Then I started looking for local groups and found Love in 4 pawsWhich visited many facilities in our area. The advantage of Love on 4 Paws was that they already had a list of facilities they worked with that we could sign up for, and we weren’t on our own. So the human went with them and signed me up for one of their periodic assessments. I passed of course! I got the organizing jacket that day.

The part they left

This is how I became a therapy cat. But there is one part they didn’t mention. Passing an assessment is one thing – actually visiting is quite another. Sometimes a pet passes the assessment, but then it doesn’t work out when they actually make visits. Even when I was new, I was friendly, and quickly discovered it was a good idea to meet patients who were in bed. So it was immediately clear that I got the gift. That was June 2016, and I’ve been a therapy cat ever since!

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