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Piglet's been busy (with animal assisted therapy)

sydkat7

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I am so glad to hear about Piglets career taking off!!!
That is fantastic and sounds like it is very hard work!

We have had a lot of trouble here with Nofuratu....he is officially a registered therapy pet and has passed his testing, but we cant find a place for him to visit!!
The nearest city is very small with only two hospitals, which allow therapy pet visits but because they are currently visited by st. johns ambulance therapy dogs, they dont seem to want to let another organization in....
Ive found it very frustrating....sounds like I just need to keep working at it though!!!

Congrats piglet! I love the idea of "private piglet"...LOL>..priceless!

Adventures of A Naked Cat

That's interesting that you're having trouble finding facilities for Nofuratu to visit, because Piglet and I have had the same trouble for the past two years we've been doing animal-assisted therapy. A lot of the programs on the American Humane list here in Denver are dog-specific only and cats are not allowed to visit hospitals in Colorado, so that knocked out a lot of programs for Piglet to visit in Denver and especially in Colorado Springs. It seemed that for a long time the only programs that were available to Piglet and I were nursing homes. I had to become really "pushy" -for lack of a better word- with the American Humane organization to get Piglet involved with other programs, so now we are also doing some of the one-time visitations like Shots for Tots, as well as the fundraisers, and visiting the adult day care program in Denver. The Paws to Read and the Ft. Carson programs are not connected with American Humane - I happen to find out about those through an outside source.

All I can suggest is to keep campaigning for more therapy programs in your area to become available to cats or do what the guy who runs the Ft. Carson program did and start a program of your own independent of the mainstream AAT programs. If you can get a major organization like the Delta Society or American Red Cross to back you up, that's all the better. What I've been doing, too, is spreading the word about animal therapy to facilities that I run across in my regular job that may have a need for it, such as assisted living facilities. Good luck to you and Nofuratu...I know all too well what you're going through and frustrations with the lack of cat-friendly facilities out there.
 

tessblack

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Wow you guys have been busy. It is so nice that you guys are making a difference. Piglet is a star. Just making a small difference in someones life is such a great thing. If more people thought this way our world would be a much better place.
Way to go guys.
 

sydkat7

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Good news - Piglet and I are scheduled to meet with the Paws to Read program coordinator and the Library Director this Friday at the main Library in downtown Colorado Springs! Hopefully they'll like Piglet and I when we meet so that we can start getting involved with the program!

Also, I'm still chipping away at the long, ardurous Ft. Carson requirements...Piglet will hopefully get her Health Certificate from Ft. Carson this week, which will be a major hurdle completed. Then I have to get some immunizations and start the Army security clearance process....sigh. :Woo: But getting the Health Certificate for the Pigster will help a lot. The only hold up with that right now is that Ft. Carson requires all therapy animals to be on a parasite control medication and I don't think Piglet needs it being a strictly indoor cat only, so I'm waiting for my veterinarian to write a letter to the Ft. Carson veterinarian waiving her from using it...whew! :Dizzy:
 

ckutkuhn7

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Good news - Piglet and I are scheduled to meet with the Paws to Read program coordinator and the Library Director this Friday at the main Library in downtown Colorado Springs! Hopefully they'll like Piglet and I when we meet so that we can start getting involved with the program!

Also, I'm still chipping away at the long, ardurous Ft. Carson requirements...Piglet will hopefully get her Health Certificate from Ft. Carson this week, which will be a major hurdle completed. Then I have to get some immunizations and start the Army security clearance process....sigh. :Woo: But getting the Health Certificate for the Pigster will help a lot. The only hold up with that right now is that Ft. Carson requires all therapy animals to be on a parasite control medication and I don't think Piglet needs it being a strictly indoor cat only, so I'm waiting for my veterinarian to write a letter to the Ft. Carson veterinarian waiving her from using it...whew! :Dizzy:

Great!! making great head way!:ThumbsUp:

Have fun with those immunizations - ugh.
 

sydkat7

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UPDATE: Met with the Library staff at the Main Library Branch downtown yesterday re: the Paws to Read program. They all really liked Piglet a lot, so Piglet and I will start volunteering for Paws to Read the week after next....woo hoo! I think Paws to Read will be a really fun program for Piglet and I to participate in!

Also, Piglet finally got her Health Certificate from the Ft. Carson Veterinary Clinic yesterday, so that's one major hurdle down. Now it's just up to me to get the clearance stuff completed, and we're good to go there. I hope that we will start our visits to Evans Hospital in a couple of weeks or less!
 

sydkat7

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Congrats- you and Piglet are making some serious progress! We are so proud that Piglet is helping so many people in the world:ThumbsUp:

Thanks, sphynxie...I like to think that Piglet is helping people with our visits. You should have seen the kids at the Library when they saw Piglet for the first time...even the teenagers wanted to pet her and take pictures of her with their cell phones!:Smile:
 

Gizzymom

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UPDATE: Met with the Library staff at the Main Library Branch downtown yesterday re: the Paws to Read program. They all really liked Piglet a lot, so Piglet and I will start volunteering for Paws to Read the week after next....woo hoo! I think Paws to Read will be a really fun program for Piglet and I to participate in!

Also, Piglet finally got her Health Certificate from the Ft. Carson Veterinary Clinic yesterday, so that's one major hurdle down. Now it's just up to me to get the clearance stuff completed, and we're good to go there. I hope that we will start our visits to Evans Hospital in a couple of weeks or less!

Way to go, Piglet!!! How could people not love you?

Piglet has been helping the elderly, now the young and the military!!! What next?? She is a hero:ThumbsUp:
 
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