What are therapy pets?
A therapy pet is an animal trained to provide comfort, emotional support, and therapeutic care to a wide range of people, often facing health challenges. Therapy pets may visit hospitals, retirement homes, hospice centers, nursing homes, and schools.
Although most therapy pets are dogs, other species are good candidates, such as cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and horses. These lovable pets are well trained, have good temperaments, and are people-friendly.
What are the benefits of pet therapy?
Successful pet therapy is based on the human-animal bond and involves three parts: pet, owner, and patient. The purpose of pet therapy is to help people cope with health or emotional problems and make them feel good.
Residents of care facilities may be stressed or depressed. Pet therapy decreases depression and increases self-esteem, while encouraging three-way interaction between patient, pet, and pet owner. This interaction is calming, reduces anxiety, and improves a patient’s overall psychological state. Specific benefits of pet therapy include:
- Improvement of motor skills and movement (petting a cat is actually exercise!)
- Decreased feelings of isolation (having a furry friend is a great emotional boost)
- Improved social skills and verbal communication (pets are great social buffers and automatic conversation starters)
- Decreased monotony and boredom (pets are entertaining)
- Improved overall emotional outlook (pets make us happy)
In addition, when a person visits with a pet, their body releases endorphins, which are chemicals that relieve pain, reduce stress, decrease blood pressure, and may improve cardiovascular health.
What types of pet therapy are there?
There are three basic types of pet therapy:
- Therapeutic visitation is the most common type of pet therapy, in which owners take their personal pets to visit healthcare facilities. Many hospitalized patients miss the pets they left at home. A visit from a pet can motivate them to get better so they can return home to their pet.
- Animal-assisted therapy involves animals specially trained to assist physical and occupational therapists with their patients. Pets can improve limb mobility and fine motor skills as patients stroke their coats. A game of fetch may help improve a patient’s physical and mental state. Plus, therapy pets help patients relearn pet care skills so they can take care of their own pets when they return home.
- Facility therapy is a little different. Therapy pets involved in facility therapy often live at the care center and are trained to monitor and engage patients with Alzheimer’s disease or other mental illnesses. They learn the limitations and boundaries of the residents and help keep them safe.
Who should participate in pet therapy?
People of any age with physical, medical, or emotional difficulties, whether long- or short-term, temporary or permanent, can benefit from pet therapy. From bedridden patients to more active residents, pet therapy helps a wide range of people. People young and old find that the presence of a pet is comforting, entertaining, and distracting.
Provided their immune systems are functioning well, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy may appreciate the company of a pet during treatment sessions. Pets may facilitate psychological therapy for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other emotional issues. People with cardiac problems and hypertension may reap the rewards of lowered blood pressure associated with pet contact.
Who should not participate in pet therapy?
Pet therapy is not helpful for everyone. Some people simply do not like animals and being around a pet may increase their stress level. Patients with weak immune systems must be cautious about their contact with pets because they are more vulnerable to any asymptomatic infectious diseases the pet may carry.
Are there safety issues with pet therapy?
Interacting with pets is usually a safe encounter, but people and pets can both be unpredictable. The key element in pet therapy is the pet, but the handler is important, too. Both need training. Dogs should be obedience trained and handlers should know how to control their pet. There are experienced organizations that assess and train pet therapy teams (dog and owner/handler).
Pets must be mild-mannered and calm. An overly active dog or cat that jumps up on a patient can cause unintentional harm. Even a small scratch could present physical and emotional problems for a patient. Pet owners/handlers must be friendly and interactive, too. Their presence is an additional comfort to residents. Many therapy groups match healthcare facilities with suitable therapy teams.
Likewise, patients must be gentle with therapy pets. Dropping a small dog or cat can hurt them. Squeezing a larger pet can be uncomfortable. To minimize problems, pets should be desensitized to common handling, such as having their ears rubbed or their head patted. The owner/handler should stay close to the pet to ensure the safety of all concerned.
Pets also must be healthy and clean, so they do not introduce pathogens to the medical environment. Dogs and cats should be bathed and brushed to reduce dander, which can be problematic for people with allergies. All pets should be up-to-date with their immunizations and be free of internal parasites (e.g., intestinal worms) and external parasites (e.g., fleas, ticks, lice, and mites).
Are therapy pets and service animals the same thing?
Therapy pets are not service animals. Service animals are trained to perform specific assistance tasks for people with disabilities. Therapy pets live with their owners and are regular pets. They visit people at healthcare facilities but do not “belong” to any one patient and are not specifically trained in personal assistance. Therapy pets are an asset to healthcare and have an important job, helping children and adults with a variety of physical and mental issues.
