In her first bout with breast cancer, Kate Benjamin got by with a lumpectomy and radiation. The second time was far more grueling: a 14-hour double mastectomy in November, followed by an eight-week course of chemotherapy that ended in May.animal hug pillow
Throughout it all, she has been surrounded by cats. Ms. Benjamin, 47, is an expert on feline-friendly interior design, and she keeps eight cats at her home in Phoenix and two in her nearby work studio. The cats are beloved pets as well as product-testers for her popular blog and newsletter, Hauspanther, where she showcases products for cats. And, now that she is ill again, they are also serving to help her heal.
“The cats are just such a great reminder of living in the moment,” Ms. Benjamin said. “They don’t worry about the past, they don’t worry about the future, and you have to do that with cancer.”
“Just having them close by is the best therapy,” Ms. Benjamin added.
“If I’m sitting comfortably in a chair after surgery or I’m lying down
just to feel their warmth and hear them purr, it’s comforting just to
have them going around their regular business — whereas everyone else is
texting and fussing over me.”
The use of animals for therapeutic
purposes is flourishing. Dogs, miniature horses, cats, rabbits and even
llamas are increasingly being used to help heal and elate the sick in
hospitals, cancer clinics and other settings, even though research to
support the efficacy of animal-assisted therapy is largely in its early
stages.
Demand for therapy animals in clinics and workplaces — and even college campuses at exam time — sometimes outstrips supply, according to Pet Partners, the nation’s largest registry of therapy animals. The organization, based in Bellevue, Wash., has a database of 13,000 animals that make a collective three million visits a year. While 94 percent of the animals are dogs, the roster includes 200 cats and 20 llamas, said C. Annie Peters, the group’s president and chief executive.
“I will say it takes a very special cat” to become a therapy animal,
Ms. Peters said. “There are regular grooming and hygiene requirements,
and they have to enjoy getting in a car.”
Therapy animals are not
the same as service animals, which are trained to assist people with
disabilities. And while a house cat can comfort its owner, it would need
to have a high tolerance for strangers and hugs to become a registered
therapy cat.Some do make the cut, including a cat named Xeli that works
at Denver International Airport and one that regularly visits Primary
Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.
“When kids have pets at home,
having a therapy animal normalizes their stay here,” said Jennifer
Toomer-Cook, a spokeswoman for the hospital. “They help with pain
management and fear, and they’re a diversion. Having a purring cat next
to you creates calm.”
