I started off my therapy cat visit at the big hospital a little differently. My human had some volunteer supplies to drop off, and since it was in the same building as the Cancer Center, that’s where we went first. Except the Cancer Center was empty! They finished early in the day and the nurse went home. So I visited with the receptionist for a few minutes before heading up to Labor and Delivery.
I haven’t been to Labor and Delivery in a long time, but when I do go there, it’s always fun! The nurses love seeing the therapy pets and they get so excited. And they announce our arrival on the intercom. One patient really wanted to see me, and she was so nice and a huge cat lover! While we visited, I made myself comfortable on the bed. I could have stayed there all afternoon, but I had other places to go.
Next we went to Pediatrics, which I always enjoy. It wasn’t too busy, but there was one family that was so excited to see me! The patient was a four-year-old boy, and he and his sister were both sitting on his bed. Their parents were both there too. They had so much fun petting me, and even though the boy was so young, he was not rough with me. Enthusiastic, but not rough. My human took an Instamatic photo of me with the kids, and it turned out really cute.
There were a couple of other patients in Pediatrics, but I didn’t get to see them. One had just come out of surgery and was still recovering. The other one had a doctor in her room, and he was taking a long time. So I visited with the residents for a while, but then it was time for me to go to Behavioral Medicine.
We have to visit Behavioral Medicine at a specific time because things are very structured up there, and that wing is locked down. On this day, I had three patients to see: a very quiet woman; a tall, thin young man; and a cheerful older man. They had a really nice time visiting me, and I even put my paw in the woman’s hand. A couple of nurses also sat in on the visit because they wanted to see me. They asked a few questions about me and therapy animals in general. So my human had fun talking about that.
It was a good visit! Even better it was the summer solstice, so it was kind of my day. A few people even mentioned it.
