How can you recognize if your cat would be a good therapy cat?

Our question this week was:

Dr. Debra – I have a cat and would love to do visits to a local nursing home. How can I tell if this would be right for him?

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Danielle C.

Answer

Hi – thanks for your email. You wrote asking how to determine if your cat would be a good therapy cat. I’d recommend that you contact a few nursing homes or therapy groups to determine what their qualifications are. They may differ slightly but would expect them to require:

• Healthy and up-to-date on all vaccines
• Free of parasites such as fleas
• Spayed or neutered
• No history of aggression or behavioral problems that could impact your visits
• Be a social “people” cat – that is a cat that likes to socialize and meet new people
• Not be particularly frightened by different sounds or things (such as wheel chair or electric bed, etc).
• You have the time to take your cat
• For more information, you may want to go to: Delta Society Pet Partners
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