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 adopted it. It’s 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 do therapy animals do?
Therapy animals are often confused with emotional support animals, which is unfortunate because their roles could not be more. Therapy animals (and their people) must pass a test to volunteer in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and other facilities. Emotional support animals are prescribed by a therapist for someone who needs animal support themselves. They do not require any kind of examination or certification at all. Only the ESA letter is written by a mental health professional.
My person explained 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 man and I get paid for what we do, or that it’s a job. No, this is a volunteer position, and my person may be more serious than a job! We know that people need us, and if we don’t show up, no one will replace us. We follow all the rules and regulations of the facilities we visit. Some, like hospitals, have a lot of rules!
Part of volunteering to do pet therapy includes regular health checks and vaccinations for me. And my person also needs vaccinations and an annual TB check. He has to get the flu shot every year, and he was one of the first in line to get the Covid vaccine because we really want to get back to work.
Our current hospital doesn’t require it, but a hospital we used to visit made us do an annual exam on hospital procedures. It was kind of a pain for my man, but he did them when they were needed.
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) to pass the test. You will learn the policies of the facilities you visit. And you stay up-to-date on required vaccines, and renew memberships, if your organization has an annual fee (it’s usually quite small).
The important part is that nothing is mentioned
A big reason why we go through an organization to get ourselves checked out and connected to is…insurance! You are responsible 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 can still get into a load of trouble. Having insurance protects you and your pet. All organizations have this insurance.
The part everyone mentioned
On my social media, many of my friends and followers comment on how we are “angels” and thank us for what we do. My man does it because he feels it needs work, and he doesn’t expect thanks and he’s not exactly an angel! To be honest, he is quite selfish. The one thing he is not selfish about is sharing me with people. He said you don’t have cats like me without sharing them, and you lose by keeping them to yourself.
I love doing my job. The best gratitude I get is visiting with someone who really values me and makes me happy. I’m always social, and I love meeting new friends.
How long can an animal do the therapy?
My person says we are pet therapy volunteers “at my pleasure.” The moment I decide I don’t want it anymore, we’ll stop. But over the years, I’ve come to enjoy it more. If an animal has the type of nature that lends itself to occupational therapy, they usually are that way for life. They only retire when they are too old and creaky to enjoy all the things that become a therapy animal. Or if they get sick and need to focus on their health.
I passed my test in April of 2016 and began visiting facilities in June of that year. (We couldn’t start earlier because my guy doesn’t have a current MMR vaccine or a TB test, and he has to get those.) So I’ve been doing this most of my life, and I have no plans to quit anytime soon!
If you want to know more details about pet therapy, including how to volunteer, visit the Pet Partners website, or Love on a Leash. Those are two large national organizations, and they can fill you in with a lot of details, even if you decide to join 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.
