{"id":2272,"date":"2017-10-04T02:23:11","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T10:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=2272"},"modified":"2017-10-04T02:23:11","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T10:23:11","slug":"wild-and-sometimes-crazy-wednesday-therapy-cats-even-at-an-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=2272","title":{"rendered":"Wild (and Sometimes Crazy) Wednesday \u2013 Therapy Cats&#8211;Even at an Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1817\" src=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/sophiecats-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/sophiecats-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/sophiecats-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/sophiecats.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>You might say that <em>you<\/em> need therapy after trying to manage a difficult cat. But did you know that more and more cats are being used as therapy animals these days? I\u2019ve written about cats that have become therapy animals for kittens in shelters. One, in particular, stands out in my mind\u2014he was scheduled for euthanasia. He was old and cranky. No one wanted to deal with him. And then a litter of kittens came in. The kittens were drawn to the old crankster and began climbing all over him. Surprisingly, he tolerated and even seemed to enjoy the onslaught of kitten love. So this old guy got to stay and he became the shelter\u2019s best kitten therapist ever.<\/p>\n<p>You may have noticed how calming it is to sit with a purring cat on your lap after a difficult<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1453\" src=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix-169x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"169\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix-281x500.jpg 281w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/> day. They say that laughter is therapeutic and who can curb a smile, giggle, or belly laugh while watching a kitten or several kittens at play?<\/p>\n<p>Cats are especially useful as therapy pets in senior centers as they can help in cases of loneliness and depression. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petcentric.com\/07-15-2009\/therapy-cats\">https:\/\/www.petcentric.com\/07-15-2009\/therapy-cats<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a sweet story of a young autistic artist and her beloved therapy cat\u2014a Maine coon cat named Thula. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2016\/03\/11\/health\/turning-points-iris-grace-autism\/index.html\">http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2016\/03\/11\/health\/turning-points-iris-grace-autism\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But they\u2019re also using therapy cats out and about in public. For example, the newest member of the Denver International Airport Canine Airport Therapy Squad is a cat. Meet Xeli. Her job is to put people at ease for their flight. She can be recognized by the vest she wears that says, \u201cPet me.\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lifewithcats.tv\/2017\/09\/28\/xeli-joins-unique-traveler-therapy-team-at-denver-international-airport-1\/\">http:\/\/www.lifewithcats.tv\/2017\/09\/28\/xeli-joins-unique-traveler-therapy-team-at-denver-international-airport-1\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You might say that you need therapy after trying to manage a difficult cat. But did you know that more and more cats are being used as therapy animals these days? I\u2019ve written about cats that have become therapy animals &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=2272\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,28],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2273,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272\/revisions\/2273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}