March 1, 2024 • 21 mins
In this episode of ER VET, Dr. Justine Lee, DACVECC, DABT talks to Taylor Chastain Griffin, PhD, National Director of AAI Advancement at Pet Partners on a recent cat-human bond study entitled “Exploring the cat-human bond through the special impact of therapy cats.” Who knew that cats could be therapy animals? Find out more on the importance of therapy cats, the important health benefits to humans, and if your cat can become a therapy cat!
SHOW NOTES: Can Cats Be Therapy Cats with Dr. Taylor Chastain Griffin
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SHOW NOTES: Can Cats Be Therapy Cats with Dr. Taylor Chastain Griffin
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/er-vet-stories-from-the-animal-er-pet-life-radio-original-petliferadio-com--6667836/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to your bet on pet Life Radio. I'm your host,
Doctor Justine Lee, and I'm an emergency critical care of
veterinary specialist and toxicologist. Thanks for joining us today. We're
going to be talking about all things Feeline and why
they not only make amazing Feeline family members, but the
importance of the role of.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Cats in our lives.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm really excited to have guest Taylor Chasten Griffin, who's
the national director for AAI Advancement. We'll be right back
after these messages.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Take a bite out of your competition, advertise your business
with an ad in pet Life Radio podcasts and radio shows.
There is no other pet related media that is as
large and reaches more pet parents and pet lovers than
pet Life Radio with over seven million monthly listeners. Pet
Life Radio podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms,
(01:21):
and our live radio stream goes out to over two
hundred and fifty million subscribers on iHeartRadio, Odyssey, tune In,
and other streaming apps. For more information on how you
can advertise on the number one pet podcast and radio network,
visit Petlifradio dot com, slash advertised today Let's.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Talk pets on Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Welcome back to er veto pet Life Radio. I'm so
excited to have Taylor on with us, and today we're
going to be talking about all things the lined. So Taylor,
first of all, thank you so much for joining us
for today's Pet Life Radio er Vet episode.
Speaker 6 (02:14):
Yes, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well, I just wanted to first of all, have you
introduced yourself, so our dog and cat owners out there
know who you are, a little bit of background about
what you do and what AAI advancement is.
Speaker 6 (02:27):
Yeah, So at the very heart of it, I'm a
pet lover. I have a background as a dog trainer,
a mental health counselor, and my goal was to bring
therapy animals into practice. With me, I realized it was
a kind of unregulated space, so went on to obtain
my doctor at studying the Human animal bond to advocate
for this field that we call AAI or Animal assisted
(02:48):
interventions really just the fancy term for anything having to
do with therapy animals.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
All right, Well, you know, first of all, I just
wanted to thank you for all that you do because
the role that animals play with therapy is is so key,
whether or not that's visiting senior centers or hospitals. And
I know that I used to volunteer when I was
a veterinary student and bring my own pet into the
Ronald McDonald House just to let some children have just
(03:14):
you know, a little break from the experiences they were
going through, and I knew it was really well appreciated. So,
first of all, thanks for all the who do you
know what I wanted to talk to you about is
some new research exploring the cat human bond through the
impact of therapy animals.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
And you know, I know.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
That cat Person and Pet Partners recently released a study
and some research findings that they found and it basically
supported the benefits of time spent with cats. Now, obviously
as a veterinarian, as a cat owner, as a dog owner,
I already know this, But first of all, do you
mind just telling me what this study was about and
why it was needed.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Yeah. So, we were so fortunate at Pet Partners were
an international therapy animal organization and we were approached by
Cat Person last year and they said, you know, we
want to understand more about the cat human bond. We
can't find much research, and we said, you're not alone.
It's understudied for some reason. There's so many people who
love cats, but not much research to support, you know,
(04:14):
to help us understand as bond we share with them,
and that Pet Partners were unique in the fact that
we have therapy cats. We register cats who enjoy going
out in their community and sharing love with their owners.
And so we started on this journey of talking to
our therapy cat handlers about their relationships with their cats,
about the work that they do, about what they love
(04:35):
about cats, and it just turned out into this really
robust finding that really speaks to the fact that we're
just we don't even just scratch the surface, if you will,
and understanding what cats can do for us.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
You know, it's so interesting.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I hate to say this, but even in the veterinary fields,
a lot of the research, it almost seems like two
thirds of the research is dog focused, a smaller percentage
is cat focused. And I will say that's changed in
the past decade because there's more organizations doing more feline research,
but so so important that we have that information. Now,
what exactly does it mean for cat to have obtained
(05:09):
the title of therapy cat?
Speaker 6 (05:11):
So a cat who's a therapy cat at the core
is a pet. And so these these therapy cat handlers
are people who have recognized in their cats the affinity
for meeting new people, that I like leaving the home
and are somewhat resilient, confident, and so they go through
the process with their handler to become a registered therapy
cat team. This means they take the handler, takes some
(05:32):
education on best practices, they go through a mock evaluation
to obtain that therapy animal title, and then they go
out and visit wherever in the community they feel called
to share their love and where is a good fit
for the cat. So we have teams who go to
senior living communities, to hospitals, domestic violent shelters, schools, you
name it. There are therapy cats in a lot of
different settings.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Wonderful, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Now, first, I know this study looked at the relationships
people share with their pet cats. What were some of
the most impressive findings that you found in this study.
Speaker 6 (06:04):
Well, it might not be I'm too surprising to people
who shared their lives with cats, but it was quite
interesting to see the level at which people talk about
their cat being an important source of comfort and connection
in their life. This really came up when people were
talking about the COVID pandemic and how cats were just
this crucial lifeline that helped with social isolation and loneliness.
(06:25):
We asked even questions about the burden of pet care,
because I think sometimes we forget that though we love animals,
there's costs, there's parts of having an animal in our
life we have to think proactively about. But our handler
said they do not see having a cat at all
as a burden. They often talked about how cats are,
in their perception, easier to own than some other animals,
so they had a lot to say about just how
(06:48):
wonderful it was to have cats in their lives and
them being just a safe place for play and connection
that we don't often have as readily available even in
human relationships.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
You know, I'm so glad you brought this up.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
On a side note, when I got married, my husband
grew up in a tiny town farming community in Minnesota
and was very anti cat. And I always say when people,
especially males, are anti cat, it's mostly because they've never
had exposure right, or they've had very a typical exposure.
They're used to like barn cats or things like that,
(07:21):
and he slowly became really bonded to my two cats.
And when they passed away in a late stage of
the life because of cancer, I remember thinking and saying
to him, you know, I'm not going to get cats
for right now, and he said, oh, actually, I really
want a cat. So he did a total one eighty
and we ended up getting our one cat, who is
(07:41):
a rescue who was found on the streets of Minneapolis,
and she is the best cat I've ever had, and
it was actually his birthday gift. So, like I always say,
people who are not cat people, they just truly haven't
been exposed to a cat, right.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
So you know, just.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Looking at some of your survey findings, someone'll make sure
to include this link in the notes, and it's at
pet partners dot org where you can find some of
the exploring the cat human bond information. But like you
can see from the study of results, people strongly agree
that my cat is my best friend. My cat enriches
my everyday life, my home would feel empty without my cat.
(08:18):
You know, I think all cat owners know this, all
veterinary professionals know this, but it was so good just
to see the tangible data out there and again a
huge mental life saver or potentially a lifesaver for people
during COVID. And that's why we in the animal rescue field,
in the veterinary field saw such a huge spike in
(08:39):
adoptions during COVID, just because we really really needed that companionship. Now,
what did you learn about how therapy cats can impact
their communities?
Speaker 6 (08:49):
So you know, this was a really interesting study. In
this field, it can be challenging to get the perspectives
of the facilities where therapy animals go, and so fortunately
we were able to talk to facility contacts and to
our pet owners to understand the impact of therapy cats.
And what was really cool to see is that in
many cases the facility contacts reported even a higher impact
(09:13):
than the handlers themselves. We saw people talking about patients
having decreased depression, decreased loneliness, more engagement, social interaction. There
were some really moving testimonies when it came to people
in memory care units talking about childhood pets or remembering
the therapy cat and their handler over time. And we
(09:34):
also saw, and you touched on it, that challenge of
what people assumed to be our you know cats, people
were so shocked to have a therapy cat come down
the hallway. In fact, one hundred percent of the participants
in the studies said that people are always shocked to
see a therapy cat and to learn that cats can
be trained, that cats can be affiliative, they can be nurturing,
(09:56):
and so we broke a lot of barriers, or we
understand a lot of barriers are being broken through these
therapy cats.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
It's awesome information, you know.
Speaker 7 (10:04):
I love the fact that the study reported the facility
contacts and how they reviewed and saw the direct impact
of therapy cats directly on their patients.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
And I love the fact that you know, you.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Have evidence now to say yes, cats definitely decreased depression,
They decreased that anxiety, that loneliness at isolation. You know.
On a side note, my dad, my own father, has
severe Alzheimer's, and I remember it was probably one or
two holidays ago where I had bought him a joy
for all companion pets. So it's basically a stuffed cat,
(10:41):
a stuffed animal that looks like a real cat at mews.
It's got built in sensors that respond to emotion and touch.
It's got you know, fake fur, and I remember, you know,
my husband and a couple of people being like, oh,
that's such a weird gift, but my dad loved it,
you know, And so it doesn't even have to be
a live cat, you know, it's a robotic had a
robotic dog that a lot of people with severe dementia
(11:03):
or Alzheimer's really really bond to, again reiterating the importance
of that cat or dog human animal bond. Now, I
know that participants in the study often talked about how
therapy cats had a unique impact compared to other therapy animals.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Do you mind just elaborating on that.
Speaker 6 (11:21):
Yeah, So, of course at Pet Partners, we love all
of our therapy animals, but we are very interested in
how different animals are received, and we know, you know,
there are preferences and the very foundational level. Our participants
talked about how having a therapy cat opened up the
ability for people who are just not dog people to
still have a therapy animal visit. Some people, you know,
(11:42):
are scared of dogs or prefer smaller animals, and so
therapy cats are great for that. But there was also
conversations about unique aspects of a cat, even the cat's size,
the purring being cited as kind of having this healing quality,
and people said, there's something special when a cat chooses you.
Now they tend to assume. There were all kinds of remarks.
(12:04):
Therapy dogs they like everyone, but therapy cats there still
seems to be this you feel special when a cat
approaches you, trust you and shows you kind of over
time who they are. There's a little bit more relationship
building sided, which I can't wait to just dive into further.
I think it's an area we should research for sure exactly.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
It's like you've been chosen right, you know. It's interesting
as a veterinarian.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
In our household, we have one cat, two dogs, twenty
plus fish. And I remember when I was going to
the Minnesota State Fair with my six year old son,
they had something called read to a Breed, and it's
where you could read to up pure red dog or
you know, a domestic short hair cat. And so there
are a lot of Golden Retrievers and a couple other
(12:51):
breeds out there, and my son, of course wanted to
get in the longest line, which was the one therapy
cat that you could read to. But even things for
children to be able so like they feel more comfortable
reading to a pet. I just thought was so amazing
and again just shows the importance.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Of that cat human animal bond.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
We'll be right back with this really important message and
again with Tailor, and we'll talk about the rest of
the results of the study right after these messages.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
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Speaker 8 (13:23):
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Speaker 9 (13:24):
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Speaker 5 (14:09):
Let's talk past let's pets at.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Life Radio, Petline Radio.
Speaker 8 (14:14):
Pet life Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Welcome back to er Vet on pet Life Radio. Today
we're talking with Taylor and we're talking about some amazing
research that has been done and it's called Exploring the
Cat Human Bond. And this was a study that was
done between cat person and also pet partners. And we've
been talking with Taylor about what everyone who has a
cat already knows, how amazing cats are.
Speaker 8 (14:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
One of the themes uncovered in the research explore the
stereotypes people have about cats, like my husband, how are
those challenged in the study.
Speaker 6 (15:02):
That was the most overwhelming finding in this study is
that just over and over again, people said, I didn't
know a cat could do this. I didn't know a
cat could enjoy this. We train our handlers to be
very proactive. You know, these are not just cats that
tolerate being a therapy animal. We're looking for active signs
of enjoyment and even what it means to be a
(15:22):
cat person. So a lot of participants will say to
our handlers, you know, in the beginning, I don't really
want to visit with a cat. I don't like cats.
And then they say over time they kind of watch
the cat visit, they come in, they have the cat
in their lap, and at the end, I love cats,
I want a cat of my own. And so this
exposure to therapy cats challenged people's you know, preconceived notions
(15:45):
about what all cats were like and also challenge what
it means to be a cat person.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
All right, so what's the next step. How can we
keep up the momentum from what was learned through the study.
Speaker 6 (15:57):
Well, again, one hundred percent of our participants said there's
a need for more therapy cats in their area. Once
they get into these facilities and they see how impastful
it is, they simply cannot keep up with the demand.
So they made a clear call that if you have
a cat, consider could they do this work? Do they
like meeting new people? You know, how do they handle travel?
(16:20):
We have some resources available at pet partners dot org
to walk people through that journey, but we really need
more cat owners to think about becoming therapy cat teams
and you know, bringing this difference to more people in
their communities, just that awareness that cats can be therapy cats.
And we have a process to walk people through.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
That exactly, and not only do get better veterinary karma,
but again, so much goodwill that's done by it and
for people who do have cats. You know, what I
thought was really interesting in the survey was that when
it comes to therapy cats, it's not like a certain breed.
The majority of the cats, over half of the therapy
cats were adopted from a rescue group or humane society.
(17:01):
They didn't necessarily they weren't necessarily bred for this right.
Most of the cats were six years of age or older.
Interestingly enough, there were more male neutered cats sixty five
percent versus thirty five percent of spade females. And any
veterinary professional will tell you a calicos and twenties don't
like leaving the house.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
So I'm sure it's related to tories.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
And calicos are always female because of the sex link,
but I wonder if it's because of that, And you know,
interesting enough, most of the cats had lived with their
cat owners for five years or more. I loved how
half of the cats that were used as therapy cats
were domestic short hair and that's what we often kind
kind of call like the mixed American cat, followed by
(17:45):
American short hair, American long hair, Maine coon Russian blue
rag doll and persians. So it doesn't have to be
a purpose bread cat, which is pretty rare. It could
be any cat, right, so one in doubt know that
your cat could be a therapy cat. The last question
I wanted to ask to tailor is like, how does
one go about? Is there like an application process? What
are some next steps for those listeners who have amazing
(18:07):
cats that fit some of these categories if they want
to get involved, what do they do?
Speaker 6 (18:12):
You know, look into therapy anical organizations in your area.
Pet Partners does have an international presence and you can
check us out at pet partners dot org. You're going
to want to look for a therapy anamal organization that
first educates you as the handler. So at pet Partners
we have an online course available that walks you through
kind of expectations best practices. Then you'll go through a
process of scheduling and evaluation. This is like a mock
(18:34):
visit where a licensed evaluator helps to determine is your
cat a good fit? Well, they really thrive and we're
really looking for handlers who are going to be their
cat's advocate, So we're not looking for robotic animals. You
respond perfectly to every queue. We're looking for animals that
have a great bond with their owner and enjoy going
out and interacting. From there, we'll have a note from
(18:56):
your veterinarian and you'll then be with us for two
years before you're revaluation, and we cover you with liability
insurance help you get ready to go out and visit
in your communities.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Wonderful, Thank you so much. I also just wanted to
add the little veterinary plug. One in doubt, I would
say as a veterinary specialist, because the rare, rare, rare
risk of zooanautic diseases, that's diseases that can spread from
humans to animals or animals to humans.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
You always want to make sure that your cat is healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
So that's one of the reasons why we often don't
see therapy kittens because sometimes they can carry ringworm, which
can spread to people. We want to make sure they're
ideally indoor so they're not exposed to fleas and ticks
and things that can be brought into some of these areas.
So one in out, check with your vet, check with
these amazing resources. Taylor, thank you so much for some
fantastic information. I always love more feline positive news that's
(19:48):
out there, and love the fact that we already know
as cat owners that the cat human animal bond is
so important, but knowing that we can use themore's therapy cats.
And for those of you guys who are interested, you
can find this study at pet Partners dot org and
it's read on the homepage so you can download the
white paper which will take you to exploring the cat
(20:09):
human bond.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Taylor, thank you so much. Any last tips you want
to leave.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
With us, well, thank you for having me and just
if you have a cat or Noah cat who would
be a good fit. We really need your help, so
we hope you'll join in on the AAI journey.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Wonderful. Thank you so much. Well, that brings us to
the end of day show.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Thank you so much Taylor again for joining us and
for the awesome study. We absolutely love it. We also
want to thank Mark Winter, our producer, for making the
show possible. Find me at doctor Justine Me dot com,
on Facebook or Instagram at doctor Justine Lee, or email
me your pet questions at doctor Justine at Petlife Radio
dot com. With that, we're out of time, and again,
Taylor A. Huge, huge thank you for all that you do.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
See you with the next episode.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlife
radio dot com.
This is pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to your bet on pet Life Radio. I'm your host,
Doctor Justine Lee, and I'm an emergency critical care of
veterinary specialist and toxicologist. Thanks for joining us today. We're
going to be talking about all things Feeline and why
they not only make amazing Feeline family members, but the
importance of the role of.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Cats in our lives.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm really excited to have guest Taylor Chasten Griffin, who's
the national director for AAI Advancement. We'll be right back
after these messages.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Take a bite out of your competition, advertise your business
with an ad in pet Life Radio podcasts and radio shows.
There is no other pet related media that is as
large and reaches more pet parents and pet lovers than
pet Life Radio with over seven million monthly listeners. Pet
Life Radio podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms,
(01:21):
and our live radio stream goes out to over two
hundred and fifty million subscribers on iHeartRadio, Odyssey, tune In,
and other streaming apps. For more information on how you
can advertise on the number one pet podcast and radio network,
visit Petlifradio dot com, slash advertised today Let's.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Talk pets on Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Welcome back to er veto pet Life Radio. I'm so
excited to have Taylor on with us, and today we're
going to be talking about all things the lined. So Taylor,
first of all, thank you so much for joining us
for today's Pet Life Radio er Vet episode.
Speaker 6 (02:14):
Yes, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well, I just wanted to first of all, have you
introduced yourself, so our dog and cat owners out there
know who you are, a little bit of background about
what you do and what AAI advancement is.
Speaker 6 (02:27):
Yeah, So at the very heart of it, I'm a
pet lover. I have a background as a dog trainer,
a mental health counselor, and my goal was to bring
therapy animals into practice. With me, I realized it was
a kind of unregulated space, so went on to obtain
my doctor at studying the Human animal bond to advocate
for this field that we call AAI or Animal assisted
(02:48):
interventions really just the fancy term for anything having to
do with therapy animals.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
All right, Well, you know, first of all, I just
wanted to thank you for all that you do because
the role that animals play with therapy is is so key,
whether or not that's visiting senior centers or hospitals. And
I know that I used to volunteer when I was
a veterinary student and bring my own pet into the
Ronald McDonald House just to let some children have just
(03:14):
you know, a little break from the experiences they were
going through, and I knew it was really well appreciated. So,
first of all, thanks for all the who do you
know what I wanted to talk to you about is
some new research exploring the cat human bond through the
impact of therapy animals.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
And you know, I know.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
That cat Person and Pet Partners recently released a study
and some research findings that they found and it basically
supported the benefits of time spent with cats. Now, obviously
as a veterinarian, as a cat owner, as a dog owner,
I already know this, But first of all, do you
mind just telling me what this study was about and
why it was needed.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Yeah. So, we were so fortunate at Pet Partners were
an international therapy animal organization and we were approached by
Cat Person last year and they said, you know, we
want to understand more about the cat human bond. We
can't find much research, and we said, you're not alone.
It's understudied for some reason. There's so many people who
love cats, but not much research to support, you know,
(04:14):
to help us understand as bond we share with them,
and that Pet Partners were unique in the fact that
we have therapy cats. We register cats who enjoy going
out in their community and sharing love with their owners.
And so we started on this journey of talking to
our therapy cat handlers about their relationships with their cats,
about the work that they do, about what they love
(04:35):
about cats, and it just turned out into this really
robust finding that really speaks to the fact that we're
just we don't even just scratch the surface, if you will,
and understanding what cats can do for us.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
You know, it's so interesting.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I hate to say this, but even in the veterinary fields,
a lot of the research, it almost seems like two
thirds of the research is dog focused, a smaller percentage
is cat focused. And I will say that's changed in
the past decade because there's more organizations doing more feline research,
but so so important that we have that information. Now,
what exactly does it mean for cat to have obtained
(05:09):
the title of therapy cat?
Speaker 6 (05:11):
So a cat who's a therapy cat at the core
is a pet. And so these these therapy cat handlers
are people who have recognized in their cats the affinity
for meeting new people, that I like leaving the home
and are somewhat resilient, confident, and so they go through
the process with their handler to become a registered therapy
cat team. This means they take the handler, takes some
(05:32):
education on best practices, they go through a mock evaluation
to obtain that therapy animal title, and then they go
out and visit wherever in the community they feel called
to share their love and where is a good fit
for the cat. So we have teams who go to
senior living communities, to hospitals, domestic violent shelters, schools, you
name it. There are therapy cats in a lot of
different settings.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Wonderful, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Now, first, I know this study looked at the relationships
people share with their pet cats. What were some of
the most impressive findings that you found in this study.
Speaker 6 (06:04):
Well, it might not be I'm too surprising to people
who shared their lives with cats, but it was quite
interesting to see the level at which people talk about
their cat being an important source of comfort and connection
in their life. This really came up when people were
talking about the COVID pandemic and how cats were just
this crucial lifeline that helped with social isolation and loneliness.
(06:25):
We asked even questions about the burden of pet care,
because I think sometimes we forget that though we love animals,
there's costs, there's parts of having an animal in our
life we have to think proactively about. But our handler
said they do not see having a cat at all
as a burden. They often talked about how cats are,
in their perception, easier to own than some other animals,
so they had a lot to say about just how
(06:48):
wonderful it was to have cats in their lives and
them being just a safe place for play and connection
that we don't often have as readily available even in
human relationships.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
You know, I'm so glad you brought this up.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
On a side note, when I got married, my husband
grew up in a tiny town farming community in Minnesota
and was very anti cat. And I always say when people,
especially males, are anti cat, it's mostly because they've never
had exposure right, or they've had very a typical exposure.
They're used to like barn cats or things like that,
(07:21):
and he slowly became really bonded to my two cats.
And when they passed away in a late stage of
the life because of cancer, I remember thinking and saying
to him, you know, I'm not going to get cats
for right now, and he said, oh, actually, I really
want a cat. So he did a total one eighty
and we ended up getting our one cat, who is
(07:41):
a rescue who was found on the streets of Minneapolis,
and she is the best cat I've ever had, and
it was actually his birthday gift. So, like I always say,
people who are not cat people, they just truly haven't
been exposed to a cat, right.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
So you know, just.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Looking at some of your survey findings, someone'll make sure
to include this link in the notes, and it's at
pet partners dot org where you can find some of
the exploring the cat human bond information. But like you
can see from the study of results, people strongly agree
that my cat is my best friend. My cat enriches
my everyday life, my home would feel empty without my cat.
(08:18):
You know, I think all cat owners know this, all
veterinary professionals know this, but it was so good just
to see the tangible data out there and again a
huge mental life saver or potentially a lifesaver for people
during COVID. And that's why we in the animal rescue field,
in the veterinary field saw such a huge spike in
(08:39):
adoptions during COVID, just because we really really needed that companionship. Now,
what did you learn about how therapy cats can impact
their communities?
Speaker 6 (08:49):
So you know, this was a really interesting study. In
this field, it can be challenging to get the perspectives
of the facilities where therapy animals go, and so fortunately
we were able to talk to facility contacts and to
our pet owners to understand the impact of therapy cats.
And what was really cool to see is that in
many cases the facility contacts reported even a higher impact
(09:13):
than the handlers themselves. We saw people talking about patients
having decreased depression, decreased loneliness, more engagement, social interaction. There
were some really moving testimonies when it came to people
in memory care units talking about childhood pets or remembering
the therapy cat and their handler over time. And we
(09:34):
also saw, and you touched on it, that challenge of
what people assumed to be our you know cats, people
were so shocked to have a therapy cat come down
the hallway. In fact, one hundred percent of the participants
in the studies said that people are always shocked to
see a therapy cat and to learn that cats can
be trained, that cats can be affiliative, they can be nurturing,
(09:56):
and so we broke a lot of barriers, or we
understand a lot of barriers are being broken through these
therapy cats.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
It's awesome information, you know.
Speaker 7 (10:04):
I love the fact that the study reported the facility
contacts and how they reviewed and saw the direct impact
of therapy cats directly on their patients.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
And I love the fact that you know, you.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Have evidence now to say yes, cats definitely decreased depression,
They decreased that anxiety, that loneliness at isolation. You know.
On a side note, my dad, my own father, has
severe Alzheimer's, and I remember it was probably one or
two holidays ago where I had bought him a joy
for all companion pets. So it's basically a stuffed cat,
(10:41):
a stuffed animal that looks like a real cat at mews.
It's got built in sensors that respond to emotion and touch.
It's got you know, fake fur, and I remember, you know,
my husband and a couple of people being like, oh,
that's such a weird gift, but my dad loved it,
you know, And so it doesn't even have to be
a live cat, you know, it's a robotic had a
robotic dog that a lot of people with severe dementia
(11:03):
or Alzheimer's really really bond to, again reiterating the importance
of that cat or dog human animal bond. Now, I
know that participants in the study often talked about how
therapy cats had a unique impact compared to other therapy animals.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Do you mind just elaborating on that.
Speaker 6 (11:21):
Yeah, So, of course at Pet Partners, we love all
of our therapy animals, but we are very interested in
how different animals are received, and we know, you know,
there are preferences and the very foundational level. Our participants
talked about how having a therapy cat opened up the
ability for people who are just not dog people to
still have a therapy animal visit. Some people, you know,
(11:42):
are scared of dogs or prefer smaller animals, and so
therapy cats are great for that. But there was also
conversations about unique aspects of a cat, even the cat's size,
the purring being cited as kind of having this healing quality,
and people said, there's something special when a cat chooses you.
Now they tend to assume. There were all kinds of remarks.
(12:04):
Therapy dogs they like everyone, but therapy cats there still
seems to be this you feel special when a cat
approaches you, trust you and shows you kind of over
time who they are. There's a little bit more relationship
building sided, which I can't wait to just dive into further.
I think it's an area we should research for sure exactly.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
It's like you've been chosen right, you know. It's interesting
as a veterinarian.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
In our household, we have one cat, two dogs, twenty
plus fish. And I remember when I was going to
the Minnesota State Fair with my six year old son,
they had something called read to a Breed, and it's
where you could read to up pure red dog or
you know, a domestic short hair cat. And so there
are a lot of Golden Retrievers and a couple other
(12:51):
breeds out there, and my son, of course wanted to
get in the longest line, which was the one therapy
cat that you could read to. But even things for
children to be able so like they feel more comfortable
reading to a pet. I just thought was so amazing
and again just shows the importance.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Of that cat human animal bond.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
We'll be right back with this really important message and
again with Tailor, and we'll talk about the rest of
the results of the study right after these messages.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Mollie, here's your dinner, Zeece.
Speaker 8 (13:23):
That's not your food.
Speaker 9 (13:24):
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your cat's eating experience with the cat tree tray. The
cat tree tray keeps your cat's food off the floor
and conveniently located on the cat tree. It's the perfect
way to eat. It's a beautiful wrought iron tray that
easily attaches to your cat tree and keeps dogs and
(13:45):
other gritters out of your cat's dish. A must from
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T t R E E d r A Y dot com.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Let's talk past let's pets at.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Life Radio, Petline Radio.
Speaker 8 (14:14):
Pet life Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Welcome back to er Vet on pet Life Radio. Today
we're talking with Taylor and we're talking about some amazing
research that has been done and it's called Exploring the
Cat Human Bond. And this was a study that was
done between cat person and also pet partners. And we've
been talking with Taylor about what everyone who has a
cat already knows, how amazing cats are.
Speaker 8 (14:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
One of the themes uncovered in the research explore the
stereotypes people have about cats, like my husband, how are
those challenged in the study.
Speaker 6 (15:02):
That was the most overwhelming finding in this study is
that just over and over again, people said, I didn't
know a cat could do this. I didn't know a
cat could enjoy this. We train our handlers to be
very proactive. You know, these are not just cats that
tolerate being a therapy animal. We're looking for active signs
of enjoyment and even what it means to be a
(15:22):
cat person. So a lot of participants will say to
our handlers, you know, in the beginning, I don't really
want to visit with a cat. I don't like cats.
And then they say over time they kind of watch
the cat visit, they come in, they have the cat
in their lap, and at the end, I love cats,
I want a cat of my own. And so this
exposure to therapy cats challenged people's you know, preconceived notions
(15:45):
about what all cats were like and also challenge what
it means to be a cat person.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
All right, so what's the next step. How can we
keep up the momentum from what was learned through the study.
Speaker 6 (15:57):
Well, again, one hundred percent of our participants said there's
a need for more therapy cats in their area. Once
they get into these facilities and they see how impastful
it is, they simply cannot keep up with the demand.
So they made a clear call that if you have
a cat, consider could they do this work? Do they
like meeting new people? You know, how do they handle travel?
(16:20):
We have some resources available at pet partners dot org
to walk people through that journey, but we really need
more cat owners to think about becoming therapy cat teams
and you know, bringing this difference to more people in
their communities, just that awareness that cats can be therapy cats.
And we have a process to walk people through.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
That exactly, and not only do get better veterinary karma,
but again, so much goodwill that's done by it and
for people who do have cats. You know, what I
thought was really interesting in the survey was that when
it comes to therapy cats, it's not like a certain breed.
The majority of the cats, over half of the therapy
cats were adopted from a rescue group or humane society.
(17:01):
They didn't necessarily they weren't necessarily bred for this right.
Most of the cats were six years of age or older.
Interestingly enough, there were more male neutered cats sixty five
percent versus thirty five percent of spade females. And any
veterinary professional will tell you a calicos and twenties don't
like leaving the house.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
So I'm sure it's related to tories.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
And calicos are always female because of the sex link,
but I wonder if it's because of that, And you know,
interesting enough, most of the cats had lived with their
cat owners for five years or more. I loved how
half of the cats that were used as therapy cats
were domestic short hair and that's what we often kind
kind of call like the mixed American cat, followed by
(17:45):
American short hair, American long hair, Maine coon Russian blue
rag doll and persians. So it doesn't have to be
a purpose bread cat, which is pretty rare. It could
be any cat, right, so one in doubt know that
your cat could be a therapy cat. The last question
I wanted to ask to tailor is like, how does
one go about? Is there like an application process? What
are some next steps for those listeners who have amazing
(18:07):
cats that fit some of these categories if they want
to get involved, what do they do?
Speaker 6 (18:12):
You know, look into therapy anical organizations in your area.
Pet Partners does have an international presence and you can
check us out at pet partners dot org. You're going
to want to look for a therapy anamal organization that
first educates you as the handler. So at pet Partners
we have an online course available that walks you through
kind of expectations best practices. Then you'll go through a
process of scheduling and evaluation. This is like a mock
(18:34):
visit where a licensed evaluator helps to determine is your
cat a good fit? Well, they really thrive and we're
really looking for handlers who are going to be their
cat's advocate, So we're not looking for robotic animals. You
respond perfectly to every queue. We're looking for animals that
have a great bond with their owner and enjoy going
out and interacting. From there, we'll have a note from
(18:56):
your veterinarian and you'll then be with us for two
years before you're revaluation, and we cover you with liability
insurance help you get ready to go out and visit
in your communities.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Wonderful, Thank you so much. I also just wanted to
add the little veterinary plug. One in doubt, I would
say as a veterinary specialist, because the rare, rare, rare
risk of zooanautic diseases, that's diseases that can spread from
humans to animals or animals to humans.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
You always want to make sure that your cat is healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
So that's one of the reasons why we often don't
see therapy kittens because sometimes they can carry ringworm, which
can spread to people. We want to make sure they're
ideally indoor so they're not exposed to fleas and ticks
and things that can be brought into some of these areas.
So one in out, check with your vet, check with
these amazing resources. Taylor, thank you so much for some
fantastic information. I always love more feline positive news that's
(19:48):
out there, and love the fact that we already know
as cat owners that the cat human animal bond is
so important, but knowing that we can use themore's therapy cats.
And for those of you guys who are interested, you
can find this study at pet Partners dot org and
it's read on the homepage so you can download the
white paper which will take you to exploring the cat
(20:09):
human bond.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Taylor, thank you so much. Any last tips you want
to leave.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
With us, well, thank you for having me and just
if you have a cat or Noah cat who would
be a good fit. We really need your help, so
we hope you'll join in on the AAI journey.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Wonderful. Thank you so much. Well, that brings us to
the end of day show.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Thank you so much Taylor again for joining us and
for the awesome study. We absolutely love it. We also
want to thank Mark Winter, our producer, for making the
show possible. Find me at doctor Justine Me dot com,
on Facebook or Instagram at doctor Justine Lee, or email
me your pet questions at doctor Justine at Petlife Radio
dot com. With that, we're out of time, and again,
Taylor A. Huge, huge thank you for all that you do.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
See you with the next episode.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlife
radio dot com.
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