Prescription: Purr Therapy

Of course, no matter what other costumes I wear for my October therapy visits, I have to wear my nurse’s uniform at least once! And that once was at one of my regular hospitals. I got lots of attention. I’d just be walking down the hallway and staff members would have to stop and take photos with their phones! You’d think they’d never seen a therapy cat in a nurse’s outfit, walking on a leash before.

The other therapy cat in our program, Josie, was also working today (she didn’t wear a costume), and our first stop was the cancer center. The patients getting chemo were sleeping, so we didn’t visit them, but there were lots of people in the waiting room to see. One lady was delighted to see both me and Josie. She told us she has “tres gatos” at home.

Next we went up to Pediatrics and offered purr therapy to three of the four patients there. Two of them were young girls that I curled up with in bed. I didn’t have to wear the hat for these visits except for when they wanted a photo. Then my human put the hat on me for the picture. The other kid I saw was a 2-year-old boy. Josie visited him first, and when she had to leave, he started crying, so Josie’s human had me come over to visit. He stopped crying, of course, but then when I had to leave, he began to cry again. Fortunately, his mother was able to calm him down, and he waved a happy-sad good-bye to me.

Next, Josie visited the patients in Rehab while I went over to the Rainbow Room, where they see developmentally disabled youngsters. It was quiet when I arrived — well, except for the little girl who literally squealed when she saw me! But there were only about three kids in the waiting room, so I only had a quick visit there. In case you are wondering, the squealing little girl hurt my human’s ears more than mine!

There were a few minutes left, so Josie and I stopped some waiting rooms before calling it a day. It was a good visit, and as a bonus I got to pose for lots of photos!

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