This is the 10th National Therapy Animal Day. It was originally established by Pet Partners, but most therapy pet organizations, including the one I belong to, have embraced it. This is one of my favorite holidays of the year because it gives me a chance to talk about the work I do, and how important it is.
What therapy animals do
Therapy animals are often confused with emotional support animals, which is unfortunate because their roles could not be any more different. Therapy animals (and their humans) have to pass an evaluation to volunteer at hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and other facilities. Emotional support animals are prescribed by a therapist for someone who needs the animal support themselves. They don’t need any sort of evaluation or certification at all. Just the ESA letter written by a mental health professional.
My human explains it succinctly: therapy pets offer emotional support to other people, with the help of their owner. Emotional support animals only offer support to the owner.
Volunteering as an animal assisted therapy team
Sometimes people think that my human and I are getting paid for what we do, or that it’s a job. It’s not, it’s a volunteer position, and my human takes it maybe more seriously than a job! We know that people need us, and if we don’t show up, no one is going to take our place. We follow all the rules and regulations of the facilities we visit. Some, like the hospitals, have lots of rules!
Part of volunteering to do pet therapy involves regular health checkups and vaccinations for me. And my human also needs vaccinations and a yearly TB test. She has to get a flu shot every year, and she was one of the first in line to get a Covid vaccine because we really wanted to get back to work.
Our current hospital doesn’t require this, but one hospital we used to visit had us take yearly quizzes on the hospital procedures. It was kind of a pain for my human, but she did them when they were required.
So it’s kind of an intensive volunteer job. You don’t just show up — you spend time training your cat (or dog, or rabbit or horse) so that you pass the evaluation. You learn the rules of the facilities you visit. And you keep up to date on required vaccines, and renew memberships, if your organization has a yearly fee (usually it’s pretty small).
The important part no one mentions
One big reason we go through an organization to get evaluated and to associate ourselves with is…insurance! You are liable for anything your pet does while you are volunteering. Even if it’s not the pet’s fault, or if the patient is imagining things, you could still get in a load of trouble. Having insurance protects you and your pet. All the organizations have this insurance.
The part everyone mentions
On my social media, a lot of my friends and followers comment on how we’re “angels” and thanking us for what we do. My human does it because she feels it’s a necessary job, and she doesn’t expect thanks and she’s not exactly an angel! In fact, she’s really a little bit selfish. The one thing she is not selfish about is sharing me with people. She says you don’t have a cat like me without sharing them, and that you are losing out by keeping them to yourself.
I love doing my job. The best thank you I get is visiting with a person who really appreciates me and enjoys me. I have always been social, and I love meeting new friends.
How long can an animal do therapy?
My human says we are pet therapy volunteers “at my pleasure.” The moment I decide I don’t like it anymore, we will stop. But over the years, I’ve grown to enjoy it more. If an animal has the type of nature that lends itself to therapy work, they’re often that way for life. They retire only when they are too old and creaky to enjoy all the things that go into being a therapy animal. Or if they get sick and need to focus on their health.
I passed my evaluation in April of 2016 and started visiting facilities in June of that year. (We couldn’t start earlier because my human didn’t have a current MMR vaccine or a TB test, and she had to get those.) So I’ve been doing it for most of my life, and I have no plans to quit anytime soon!
If you want to know more details about therapy pets, including how to voluneer, visit the Pet Partners website, or Love on a Leash. Those are the two big national organizations, and they can fill you in on a lot of details, even if you decide to go with a local group like we do. (Our organization is Love on 4 Paws.)
I hope you enjoyed reading about my therapy work. If you have more questions, you can ask them in the comments.
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