Pet Therapy

The definition of pet therapy is using animals that have been trained to help improve physical, social, emotional or cognitive functioning in individuals diagnosed with deficits in these areas. You hear a lot about Equestrian therapy. Horses are used to help people with mental, physical, emotional health and for coordination.  It has also been used to help veterans with PTSD. My husband had major back surgery in 2009.  One of the things they suggested was he go horseback riding. He thought they were nuts and did not try it for several years.  When he finally broke down and tried it, He said that was the best his back had felt in years.

The other animal you hear being used for pet therapy are dogs. There are training programs available for people to get their dogs trained to be pet therapists.   Although most animal can be used for pet therapy, it really depends on the individual and their preferences. I used to be terrified of big dogs.  I really didn’t care about the little ones either.  I am a cat person. I had a neighbor that ran a dog training program. He and his wife also worked with Adults with DD. Their whole program was to help train Adults with DD to work with dogs and train the dogs.  They would bring the dogs and their trainers into the facilities I worked in.  Any time they had big dogs, I would go lock myself in my office till they left. He decided he needed to help me get over my fear.  Of course he neglected to include me in this plan. He did, however, include my residents. Needless to say, I ended up having to face those big dogs. What I did not know was those big dogs knew I was afraid of them. It took several months but eventually I was able to actually pet them. It was perfect timing as we were in the process of adopting a sibling group of 2 teenagers.  We ended up adopting a puppy as well to help them with all the issues they had. I would not have been able to do that if I had not overcome my fear.

Pet therapy can be used to help improve motor skills and joint movement, increase verbal communication, help in developing social skills, increase willingness to join in activities, increase movement and improve mood. It can also help improve mood, decrease depression, and reduce stress and anxiety.

Pet therapy has been used with individuals undergoing cancer treatments, those recovering from strokes, and individuals recovering from neurological and musculoskeletal disorders. Dogs have been trained to help individuals with seizure disorders to know when they have a seizure about to occur and can help get them safely to the floor before the seizure hits. I had a friend that used one of these dogs for their son. It made a huge difference in his quality of life. He had brain cancer that left him with major headaches, seizures and blindness. The dog was a huge part of his little life for several years. When he passed away, the dog mysteriously died several days later. The vet couldn’t find anything wrong with the dog. It was as if his purpose had been fulfilled.

I have been in facilities that have had pets.  The first facility I worked in, the residents wanted a bird.  One of my family members actually donated a cage and some money.  I cannot remember what kind of bird I had to go get but I was sent out to find one.  We had the bird for about 3 months when they decided it was lonely, and I needed to find it a mate.  HA! I am not an expert on birds so I had to take our bird to someone to figure out what it was so we could find it a mate. We found it a mate and they got along great.  The residents spent more time looking, talking and making sure those birds had everything they needed. Another facility I worked in had an aviary.  We would clean the cage once a week.  I had an audience every single time.  One specific day there were about 5 baby birds on the bottom of the cage. It was time to clean the inside.  The residents assured me they were not flying yet and that I would be fine going in to clean the cage. Apparently those babies had learned to fly in-between the time the residents told me they couldn’t and me getting in the cage. One of the little ones got out and flew down the hallway. Needless to say the afternoon activity that day was watching the Activity Director chase a baby bird through the facility. The only person I really felt sorry for, was the family member coming out of the bathroom when the baby flew right in to the bathroom door as it was opening. We were able to catch the baby bird and get it back into the cage with no injuries. The residents talked about this for months. They even started holding nets to help us out in case that happened again.

Bird feeders outside of the residents’ windows are hard to keep filled but make a huge difference. I have a couple of clients that have bird feeders with cameras on them.  That is really awesome. It is especially helpful in seeing when the squirrels are stealing the bird seed, and they can go hit the window to chase them away.

We were having a kiss the pig contest to raise money for a charity. The farmer we got the pig from said we couldn’t bring it back because it would have too many strange smells on it and we would have to buy it.  We thought we had a plan in place.  We bought the piglet and one of the staff members was going to take it home after the event. Something fell through and the staff member couldn’t take the little guy home.  So now we had a piglet running around the facility. We did have a facility dog and the dog decided she needed to take care of this piglet.  I did not know you could train a pig to go outside to the bathroom.  We started with diapers on it and then it started going outside with the dog.  The next we know the pig and the dog are sleeping together in the dog bed at night. It took about 2 weeks for us to find a new home for Wilma.  Yes they named it. Unfortunately, we were not going to be allowed to keep the piglet.  The residents were devastated. It was amazing how that baby pig made such a huge impact on the residents mental health.

I have had reindeer, horses, rats, snakes, mice, rabbits, goats, cats, dogs, frogs, and birds come into my facilities.  Pets can make a huge difference on mental and physical health. I know from personal experience, after my cancer surgery my cats and dog would not leave my side and if they thought something wasn’t right they would go get my husband. I was having severe pain one night and the kitten curled up on me and started purring.  I tried to push him off but didn’t have the strength.  As soon as he laid down on the area with pain and started purring, the pain became tolerable, I was finally able to go to sleep and when I woke up the pain was gone.

Information was gathered from Healthline.com

Submitted by Tammy Point, BS, ACC

NAAP Leadership Team.