Pet Therapy

I want to take a brief break from my account of my hospital stay to expound on pet therapy.

While I was staying in the skilled nursing department, about twice a month, a volunteer would come around with a dog on a leash. The dog that was there most of the time was a large labradoodle, which is a cross between a labrador retriever and a poodle. This was a bit of an odd looking dog, but the sweetest animal. Petting him gave me a very calming feeling, and really put a smile on my face, which considering the situation, was quite an accomplishment.

Being in the skilled wing, I was able to have one of our cats come and visit me in the room. We chose Hershey because she is the most outgoing and the least skittish of our two cats. The first visit consisted of Hershey exploring the room and basically ignoring me. But at that time I hadn't seen her in almost three months, so just having her in the room was great. Subsequent visits went better, although she never got totally comfortable with the room.

After one of the visits, the nurse came in and took my blood pressure. It was about 20 points lower than it usually was! This occurred after a subsequent visit, and I had the same result. It was amazing the calming effect that Hershey had on me. Even now, as I continue to recover at home, our cats continue to create an aura of calm around the house... unless they are tearing around playing with each other. Then all you can do is make sure your feet stay clear of the trajectory!