My therapy cat visit at the children’s hospital began in the elevator. My human and I went up with two patients and their mothers, and they were both delighted to see and pet me! So the visit was already off to a great start.
I spent a little time in the lobby, seeing patients waiting for their appointments. I had room to sit on a table with little toy cars laid out for kids to take. So I used the space to visit with two brothers. The younger boy was a little scared of me, but the older boy, who had a prosthetic arm, was happy to pet me.
I visited with one of the boys from the elevator before heading to the exam rooms. The first rooms we visited were the POPS rooms — Pediatric Orthotic and Prosthetic Services.
We almost didn’t visit the first patient we saw. He was busy with his dad and a nurse helping him on the exam table, his prosthetic legs propped against the wall. But he really wanted to see me, so my human brought me over and he petted me with his claw-like hand, the same type of hands as his father.
In the middle aisle of exam rooms, a nurse helped us out by asking patients for us if they wanted to see me, and all of them did, even the allergic boy. Sometimes people who are allergic to cats want to see me anyway, but my human’s very careful with them. Usually, like in this case, she discourages them from touching me, and just has me do tricks.
The other two patients were allergy free and petted me with no problem. One was a little girl, and the other was a family — two parents and a middle school aged girl. Although they were Spanish speaking and the card outside their door requested an interpreter, they actually spoke English. My human assumed that it was just easier for them to speak in their native language for important things like medical care.
After visiting a groggy teenager coming out of surgery upstairs, we thought we were done. But there was a little boy running around in the lobby who wanted to see me…and then didn’t! A few yards away, his dad was busy chatting with a staff member. Meanwhile the boy skirted around me, wondering if he should touch me or not.
Finally, we signed out and headed for the elevator. The little boy almost followed me in there!
It was a fun visit.
