Cat therapy
When I was a senior in high school, I had open lunch* (do kids still get that, these days?) and a friend of mine who’d graduated two years before would come meet me. Which was AWESOME because we were only allocated twenty-five minutes for break, and having a friend come with food meant I actually got to enjoy lunch, instead of rushing around to get food then scarfing it down. (SIDE RANT: I totally blame how fast I eat on this (among other things)).
But what was even better about her visiting was that SHE BROUGHT HER CAT!
Pre lunch cat-ppetizer. His name was Peaches, afterall.
A mutual friend of ours found this cat when he was just a few weeks old. My friend adopted him and had to bottle feed him for several weeks! Craziness!
But the cool thing about adopting him so young was that we had a lot of influence on his behavior (well, as much as you can with a cat). So I told my friend “You should take him on car rides so he’s used to riding in the car and doesn’t mind it!”
An that is exactly what she did. And I got to see him on my lunch break. Some nice cat therapy in the middle of the day!
I randomly remembered this when I was driving to Iowa this weekend. And thought to myself, “Man, it would be so nice to have cat therapy in the middle of the day at work. That would really calm me down.”
Then… duh. I work from home a lot of the time. Steven brings Data over to my desk when he can tell I am stressed, and it DOES calm me.
And sometimes he visits my desk on his own…
Which is surprisingly NOT calming, ha.
But seriously, when is something like this going to pop up by my office?! I think I was on to something back in high school…
*I had it as a junior too, and sometimes took it as a sophomore (shhhh).
Themocracy
I know what you mean. Allie was helping me with stuff on Saturday but she was playing with my paper clips, pen and paper. It’s her version of helping.
That is how they help – by getting in the way! 🙂
That’s so awesome that she brought her cat! Ahh, that must have been so nice in the middle of the school day.
Allegedly, Tree House cat shelter is building a new facility that will have a cat cafe in it. Maybe once they do that one will open downtown!
It totally was!!! 🙂
Man, that would be AWESOME-O!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
Awwww, there is so much truth to what they say about how having pets reduces blood pressure and makes us all more calm! I would love to have a cat visitor anyday. =)
You are welcome to visit Data whenever you want! 😉
I am loving this post because it features so many photos of Data. He’s so handsome! I snuggle with my dogs all the time when I’m stressed–pets are such great stress relievers! I don’t think I could have gotten through my PhD without my Maggie.
Aww, thank you! 🙂 I could post pics of him every day, but RESTRAINT.
Aren’t they, though? There are a few people I really think would benefit from an animal companion, for that reason 🙂
My older cat Otto is so mischievous…he runs to me like a dog when I come home and loves all over me, then 15 min. later when I try to sit down he will start taking stuff down…my cup, the mail pile, the remote and look at me while he does it lol Cats, man…
I love Data’s eyes 🙂
Buah ha ha! Cats WILL look you right in the eye while they are being naughty. “Yep. I AM about to knock this over. Watch me.” heh heh heh
Data is a handsome fellow!
Thanks 🙂
I’m a huge fan of pets in the workplace! What a fun break from high school! Now my daughter gets a whole 20 minutes to eat so I doubt there’s time to even get out of the building.
Doesn’t that seem like too little time to you?!?!
It must have been so nice to see a kitty in the middle of the day 🙂 and it’s so nice now that Uou can see Dates most days of the week esp when you’re feeling stressed! I wish I could bring Cb to work with me- he could hang in my office and give me stress relief when I need it 🙂
I wish you could bring him, too! 🙂 My sister has a dog in her office! And it’s not a service dog – one of the owners just brings their dog to work. FUN!
I love the idea of cat-therapy! Lol at Data being not so calming when he visits on his own.
Also props to Steven to knowing to bring Data 🙂
When he visits on his own he is meowing at me and plowing in to my head. Sigh. Sometimes he needs all the attentions 😉
They have therapy dogs for PTSD and things like that, so why not therapy cats too? I’d love that kind of service, especially when I’m in the office! Or if you want to bring Data by some day… 🙂
You know, I have seen services where people bring their cats to hospitals – so it’s kind of similar! That would be a fun retirement job. 🙂
Ha! He doesn’t like the car… but if you ever want to telework from a new location…?!
Cat therapy is my type of therapy! In addition to running of course. Data is gorgeous! 🙂
I remember open lunch! We had that option for our junior and senior years in high school and I took full advantage. I actually think about it quite often whenever I run past my high school at home!
Yes, yes! Pets, running, music, chocolate, knitting… and napping! Ha!
Thanks!
That’s great you got to do it too! They got rid of it at my school after I left!
25 minutes for open lunch? How did people have time to get anywhere? That is all we have for closed lunch and sometimes I feel like we barely have time to just eat.
I think animals are such great therapy. Maybe you should keep Data at work with you all the time.
Crazy, right? People who leave the school SPEEDING to get to places for lunch. That’s safe, right?!
I think Data should come with me to work. Ha!
Love this! Lola “visits” me when I am grading papers. 🙂