My human tried something a little bit different for my therapy cat visit to the children’s hospital this week. Along with all our necessities, she packed my bell. So I got to ring it for a couple of kids in the lobby. They loved it, and so did their parents. I did tricks for several patients, which always makes people happy.
There were lots of exam rooms to visit this time, and a lot of kids in wheelchairs. As I’ve said before, you’re never sure what the patients here are in for, and although the focus is often on orthopedics, that covers a lot of things, from playground injuries to birth defects.
The first boy I saw was in a wheelchair and had a leg bag sitting in his lap. He really enjoyed me a lot! We had lots of fun visiting, and I even gave him head butts. When my human offered to take a photo, his mother covered his lap with a jacket to hide the bag.
Next we saw a toddler girl with an arm injury that thankfully wasn’t serious. It sure didn’t stop her from petting me. She was so delighted to have me there. So was the next patient, an older teen girl who was wearing disposable exam shorts. She sat on the floor to visit with me, and when my human pulled out the camera for a photo, she knew exactly how she wanted to pose.
We also visited one boy in a wheelchair that had two sisters and all of them loved cats! The boy’s wheelchair was huge, compared to his small body, which meant there was room for me to sit next to him. He loved that. His two sisters reached over and petted me, so I was surrounded by small hands. I’ve actually been in this position several times at events, and usually I don’t mind. But since I was stuck in the wheelchair, my human kept an eye on me to make sure it wasn’t stressing me out. I was fine, but I think it took some energy out of her!
As you can tell, it was a really good visit. I should bring the bell more often when I’m visiting the children’s hospital.
