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https://theconversation.com/do-cats-make-good-therapy-animals-the-new-trend-showing-felines-may-be-more-complicated-than-we-realise-254507>
"Dogs are sociable, enthusiastic and widely used to comfort people in settings
like hospitals, schools and care homes. But an increasingly popular alternative
is emerging: therapy cats.
The term is often used loosely in the media and inconsistently within the
scientific community. But in its strictest sense, animal-assisted therapy is a
structured activity delivered by health professionals with clinical goals.
Most cats involved in this kind of work are part of broader animal-assisted
services. For simplicity, we will stick with “therapy cat” throughout this
article.
Therapy cats are used to alleviate loneliness and stress. They are used in
prisons, schools, hospices, care homes and hospitals and are recommended for
people who are afraid of dogs or might struggle to interact with large animals
like horses.
The environments therapy cats are often taken into, such as nursing homes or
schools, can be noisy, unpredictable, and filled with unfamiliar people and
surroundings. These are precisely the kinds of settings that can unsettle a
typical cat.
Cats usually prefer predictability and stable surroundings. Similar to their
wildcat ancestors, domestic cats prioritise territorial security over social
bonds with people or other cats. Cats rely on scent to navigate and feel secure
in their surroundings. The F3 pheromone helps them mark areas as “safe” or
“known”, creating a kind of olfactory map of their home range.
Yet recent social media trends suggest a shift in our understanding.
Increasingly, we see cats travelling alongside their owners in a campervan, via
plane or even on motorbikes. These cats appear to tolerate, and sometimes even
thrive, in environments animal behaviour experts once assumed were too
stressful for them. So, what makes these cats different?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
