The Power of Pets

The power of positive social interaction between people has been well-documented. Positive speech and actions increases serotonin and decreases cortisol leading to lowered stress levels. Lower stress levels means less stress-related illnesses and fewer complications with existing conditions. Can the same be said for our famously aloof feline friends? We're going to explore together some case studies highlighting how positive physical interaction between cats and people is not only beneficial for us, but the kitties as well.

Emotional support animals and therapy animals are not a new phenomena. The ancient Greeks were the first to use animals, specifically horses, to help brighten the days of those who were very ill. In medieval Belgium, animals and people were often rehabilitated together with the idea that interacting with humans gave the animals a companionship that mirrored what the animals could offer. The first formal research into animal therapy began in the 1960's with Dr. Boris Levinson. He noted that his mentally impaired patients were more likely to interact with dogs rather than other people. Animal-assisted therapy, as Dr. Beth Barba describes in her work "The Positive Influence of Animals: Animal-Assisted Therapy in Acute Care", is "a therapeutic nursing intervention that brings animals together with persons with physical and/or emotional needs as a way of meeting those needs" (Barba 1). Animal-assisted therapy, or AAT, is an interdisciplinary treatment involving nursing, medicine, psychology, social work, as well as occupational, physical and recreational therapy. This isn't a one size fits all type of treatment. It is a case by case basis that follows specific guidelines are provided for a responsible and outcome-oriented program. 

Animals can provide such benefits for the sick, elderly, or isolated that there are dozens of programs nationwide and more springing up frequently. Barba notes that the benefits are not just mental or emotional. She writes,

Physical benefits of association with animals include lowered blood pressure and heart rate (Baun, Bergstrom, Langston & Thoma, 1984; Thomas & Friedmann, 1990) and decreased muscle rigidity. Psychological benefits are improved self-esteem, greater feelings of security (Messent, 1983), reduced stress and anxiety (Wilson, 1987, 1989), improved social interactions and communications (Brickel, 1980), and sensory stimulation (1).

AAT can also improve communication between the patients and their caregivers or family members. Animals can also serve as transitional objects in efforts to improve communication skills of withdrawn and isolated patients by facilitating interactions of patients with others. Barba notes that "patients appear to others to be more human, less sick, and more treatable (Rossbach & Wilson, 1992)" (2). An example of the world of benefits that AAT can provide is detailed in UCLA and Paolo Castelli's work "COMPANION CATS AND THE SOCIAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS OF MEN WITH AIDS." Sixty male pet owners living with AIDS were given a formal questionnaire including items related to demographic, lifestyle, and pet ownership, as well as the Comfort from Companion Animals Scale, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the General Health Questionnaire. Those living with AIDs often deal with decreasing abilities to function on their own as their illness progresses as well as social isolation and diminishing social support. Not to mention that loneliness seems to be an inevitable symptom of this virus. Castelli referenced an epidemiological study of 1,872 gay and bisexual men which showed that "the incidence of depression was influenced by the presence of AIDS and by having relatively few confidants (Siegel, Angulo, Detels, Wesch, & Mullen, 1999)" (Castelli 178).

Because those living with AIDs may have more compromised abilities, having a dog which requires more physical activity might not be realistic. Having a cat is less demanding of physical interaction and attention from its owner which would be far more feasible. The purpose of the study conducted by UCLA and Castelli was to contrast the "contributions of cats versus dogs in the social support system and psycho-social well-being of men with AIDS by examining relationships among the extent of their pet attachment, human social support, psychological health, and loneliness" (179). They hypothesized that cats would be a better companion for this population.

A request for volunteer participation in the study was distributed to 500 individuals living in the San Francisco area in February 1992. All prospective participants were clients who had received assistance from Pets Are Wonderful Support. Written confirmation of an AIDS diagnosis from a physician or hospital was required for all clients. Of the 500 requested, 63 volunteered for the study. Most of the participants  had cats, lived with other people, and were not employed. None of the participants were without a pet in the household. Below is a table measuring pet attachment, social support, and perceived loneliness from this study.

Thirty (47.6%) respondents listed their pets among their providers of emotional support. Many of these men listed their cats as means of social support as well. Their original hypothesis is cats being more compatible than dogs was true. For these participants, "cats were more effective than dogs in eliciting love, making the person feel needed, and serving as a source of constancy" (184). 

It's not secret that having pets is extremely beneficial to people. But can the same be said for cats? Cats and humans have an interesting relationships. For one, once cats mature into adulthood, they don't meow to communicate with other cats. They really only meow when adults to communicate with humans. As for measuring how much cats actually enjoy interacting with humans in a positive way, we'll look to Preventative Veterinary Medicine's study "Effect of gentle stroking and vocalization on behaviour, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease in anxious shelter cats".

There has been little research on the effects of positive social interaction on cats in stressful situations, like those in shelters. In this study, 139 cats rated as anxious upon admission to an animal shelter were allocated to either a Gentled or Control group. "Gentling" is gentle stroking and vocalizations that this study strongly suggests helps cats emotionally, socially, and physically. Stressful situations can reactivate subclinical conditions and "inhibit the production of mucosal antibodies, particularly secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) (Gourkow et al., 2014), resulting in increased susceptibility to pathogens that cause Upper Respiratory Disease" (266). Cats were gentled four times daily for 10 min over a period of 10 days. Some cats that were too aggressive to handle were gentled with the aid of a tool. The cats’ mood was rated daily for 10 d as Anxious, Frustrated or Content. Gentled cats were less likely to have negative moods (Anxious or Frustrated) than Control cats. This study uses a lot of very technical terms since it was published for a veterinary journal so I'll do my best to simplify it. 

Gentled cats showed an beneficial response in every positively associated antibody or enzyme as compared to the Control cats, which showed no consistent patterns.There was a significant increase in shedding over time in Control cats which can be a sign of stress. However, this increase was not seen in gentled cats. Control cats were 2.4 times more likely to develop upper respiratory disease over time than gentled cats. It was concluded that "gentling anxious cats in animal shelters can induce positive affect (contentment), increase production of S-IgA, and reduce the incidence of upper respiratory disease" (274). 

Cats aren't the nasty, detached creatures they so often get the rap for being. They need positive social interaction from us as much as we need it from them. Cats can be such a valuable asset to our lives emotionally and even physically. Fostering these amazing animals enables even more people to be able to call a cat their own and benefit from all that cats have to offer. 

The Hardest Part of Fostering: Letting Go

It's like saying goodbye to a friend, but also your baby but also someone else's baby. There's a lot of mixed emotions that come along with fostering kittens, especially feral ones. The ultimate goal of every foster parent is to have each of their fosters placed in loving forever homes. That doesn't mean that the countdown to adoption day isn't hard for foster parents. Or that their absence isn't deafening at times. I've only fostered two litters now and it can be a bit rough. You know that you've given them everything they need to be a healthy, functioning cat in their new home. So what can you do to help cope with the "loss" of a foster?

• Foster kittens/cats that you know won't be right for you long term.

This can mean something as simple as fostering long hair cats when you know that you want a low maintenance pet. Even fostering only high energy kittens when you feel that adult and senior cats fit your lifestyle. One of my friends who has also fostered kittens has a resident cat that can't stand other pets. So just knowing that a potential adoption isn't in the cards for you can help ease the burden.

• Lean on your friends and family.

Nobody expects you to be distant and cold when adopting out a foster. It can hurt and having a support system around you is never a detriment. As well, having others around the cats themselves can also help. This way the cat is used to seeing different people and you won't feel like the cat thinks you're abandoning them when it comes time for adoption.

• Find a community of foster parents.

There are a lot of blogs and Facebook groups out there that have a bunch of really awesome people fostering cats and dogs. Don't be afraid to venture into the comment section or forum of one of those pages and see if anyone is struggling with the same issues. Hint hint... every foster parents is. 

• Ask adoptive parents to keep in touch!

I've asked every family that adopts one of my cats to send pictures every so often. I've found that people always want to share pictures of their cat so giving them permission just opens the floodgates for cute pictures and videos. One of the kittens from my first litter, Tina, has a very sweet family who keeps us posted every few months with some pictures of her. 

• Know that this means you can save another life.

This is all a part of the process! Circle of life, if you'll forgive the cliche. Giving your time and energy and space to a kitten to give them the tools to thrive is what this is all about. As much as we'd love to be able to have every kitty that comes through our doors, it's simply not a reality. The reality is that adoption opens up a spot for another cat to be saved. 

Every emotion that you have about fostering is more than normal, I assure you. Fostering is a hard job at times, but it more than pays off in the long run.

How I Fell in Love with Cats

I wanted to take a break from the more educational writing and bring it back a bit to what, or who, really ignited my love for cats. Even though I have had far more dogs as pets in my lifetime, cats have always held a special place with me. I was born into a pet having household. My parents already had several pets before I was even a thought. They had bought a small orange and white tabby from a local pet store called Animals N' Things. This tabby, Hootie (named after the band Hootie and the Blowfish), was still only an adolescent when I came on scene. When I came home in my car seat, Hootie was immediately obsessed with his wriggly new playmate; at least that's how my mother describes it. 

Hootie grew to be very protective of baby me over the next few months. My mother would put me down for a nap in my crib and Hootie would jump up onto my windowsill to watch me sleep. This would only last so long until he decided he could get a better view from in the crib itself. My mother would silently scream at him to get out so as not to wake me and shake treats at the door, but Hootie was a pretty adamant guy. Another one of his favorite spots to hang out with me was on my play mat. Maybe it was the colorful, noisy hanging toys that also intrigued him, but I'll just think it was me. 

After a few years, my parents decided to get some more pets. Neo the bulldog and Mushu the pug were thrust into our everyday. They were great dogs, but Hootie really was not a fan. This lead to him often seeking refuge in my room. We spent many, many afternoons together listening to my Now That's What I Call Music CD's on my electric blue boom-box. A couple of years later, when my parents decided to separate, my dad got Hootie and my mom got the dogs. I remember laying on the white leather couch of my dad's apartment on Hamilton Street with Hootie laying on my chest and just cryyyyyyying. Why was first grade me crying? I recall telling my father it was because one day Hootie wasn't going to be here anymore. I guess I was really wrestling with the concept of mortality at seven years old. 

Fast forward to about 2008 and a few moves later, my father is about to move out of his condo in Somerset and there's a problem. The two-family house in Little Ferry we're about to move to doesn't allow pets. My father breaks the news to me that we have to give our 11 year old healthy cat up in order to move. You can imagine how well this went over with me. I was told Hootie went to a shelter and I don't want to think of what happened to him while he was there. Senior cats don't tend to fly off the shelter shelves like hotcakes. I still have pictures of Hootie set up in my dorm room. I'll always remember how he would force his way into the fridge every Christmas to get at the eggnog or how he was one of the only cats I ever knew that preferred belly rubs. He was the best boy and the reason why cats are so special to me today.

Following Up on FIV

A few posts back, I tried my hand at editing a Wikipedia page about FIV. More specifically, I edited the section about the transmission of FIV and how it can be prevented for indoor and outdoor cats. I circled back to see what came of my edit and unfortunately, it had been removed. The reasoning was that I had not provided enough citation which I totally get. I'm going to go back and edit the page again and attempt to link the correct information. I feel that my addition to the page wasn't just fluff and that it could legitimately help people trying to deal with FIV in their house or in their community. I'll check back once a few days have passed after submitting my edits. 

Foster Profile: Henri and Pineapple

For this next entry in the Foster Profile series, I would like to focus on a pair of siblings that got adopted together! Adopted by my family, actually. These guys are Henri (left) and Pineapple (right)! Formally, they were known as Harriet and Heath-bar respectively. My family adopted them from an organization based in Northern New Jersey called FOWA Rescue. FOWA is an all volunteer 501(c)(3) (nonprofit) rescue organization based in Wayne, NJ serving the North Jersey area, dedicated to the welfare, sheltering and placement of homeless animals. They support the fight to end the euthanasia of all adoptable animals.

My mother, after researching this rescue group, contacted one of their foster parents in November of 2017 about seeing a litter of eight week old kittens. We knew that we wanted to adopt a pair together. Henri and Pineapple's litter was found in a dumpster where it appeared that someone had dumped them. My two younger sisters were drawn to these two and the next day we were back to pick them up and bring them home!

They were, of course, timid at first, but day by day they conquered room after room in our house. After about a week and a half, they had full run of the house. They used their litter box beautifully and were getting along perfectly, as you can see from the picture below.

Unfortunately, a few days before Thanksgiving, Henri started to act a bit weird. She wasn't eating nearly anything and she was very lethargic. We took her in the next morning to the vet to get her checked out. She had lost some weight and was dehydrated so she was to stay the night at the vet so they could monitor her. There was nothing that she ate that could have poisoned her or anything of that nature, so her sudden turn for the worse was very concerning. There's something called Fading Kitten Syndrome. FKS is a set of symptoms that cause a kitten to fail to "thrive." Symptoms include: lethargy, decreased appetite, rapid weight loss, dehydration, pale gums and agonal breathing. Henri ticked a few of those markers so the vet chalked it up to possibly being the cause. 

Over the course of the two days Henri was at the vet, she was administered steroid shots to try to get her going again. Thankfully, she made it over the hill and started eating on her own again and walking around and grooming herself. She came home the next morning and has been happily living with her brother and our other cat, Jolie. Henri and Pineapple will be celebrating their third birthday this August 10th. 

One Step Closer Animal Rescue: Cassy

Back in high school, I worked at a local veterinary hospital which hosted several adoption events on location with an organization called One Step Closer Animal Rescue. OSCAR is a non-profit rescue organization based in northern New Jersey that saves dogs and cats from desperate situations. In my time volunteering with them, I met one of the organization's founders, Cassy Mead. I recently reached out to her and she graciously agreed to be interviewed about her experience working in this field. 

Q: Tell me how you came to create OSCAR.

A: My family was always taking in any dogs or cats the neighbors found when I was young so I've always been used to fostering and rescuing animals. Rescuing was taking up a considerable amount of my time and funds so my husband and I founded OSCAR as a way to make it official back in 2010. 

Q: I know for a long time OSCAR was a in-home-only foster organization. Can you tell me a bit about how that worked?

A: Well, it was a real "it takes a village" situation. Since we didn't have a physical kennel to house any dogs or cats in, we operated mostly out of other people's homes. Our foster parents were always amazingly generous. Luckily, we were able to purchase a property in Andover in 2016 that has something like 30 runs for the dogs and a cat room. The property is a nice size so the dogs have room to run around and play.

Q: Are all of the animals under your care housed in the kennel?

A: Mostly, but we still have some dogs that need more specialized care or senior dogs in foster homes. We're able to help more animals that way. I have three foster dogs at home right now with my own two dogs. 

Q: Where do you rescue the dogs and cats from?

A: From a lot of different places, honestly. Owners will sometimes surrender them or they're just found roaming the streets. We also rescue from shelters in states other than New Jersey. We are a no-kill shelter so our animals are able to stay with us for a long time if need be.

Q: What is something you wish more people would do to help animals in need?

A: There's a ton of small things. For example, we have a program here where volunteers come in to walk the dogs and play with them for a few hours each evening. Our staff works really hard to keep this place clean and safe for the dogs and cats, so sometimes the animals don't get as much socialization as they need. Or just donating a bag of litter or some wet food to your local pet food drive is a humongous help. 

Q: What are some upcoming events that you are hosting?

A: We always have at least one adoption event a month, and the next event we have is an adoption event over in Rockaway on the 14th. Our website has a list of all of our upcoming events and supply drives.

If you're interested in what OSCAR does or even adopting from them, all the information you need can be found on their site. From my own experience I can say that OSCAR is run by a group of very compassionate, dedicated people that serve the animals in their community extremely well. I'd like to thank Cassy for lending me some of her time. Be sure to check out OSCAR!

How-To Get a Cat to "Like You"

Cats have an, often misplaced, reputation for being unfriendly. However, if you find that there's still a bit of a rift between you and your kitty, there are some steps you can take to close that divide. Besides all of the routine care and keeping of having a pet, cats appreciate it when you put in the extra mile. Here's six strategies you can use to become the best of buds with your cat.

• Let your cat be in the driver's seat!

Cats are much like humans in the fact that they need to warm up to a social situation. The first time you hang out with someone doesn't mean you're automatically best friends. Cats have complex social behaviors and their personalities need to be respected. Focus on something besides the cat to start so that they can take their time exploring the space or even just debating whether or not they want to greet you at the moment. Often, when the cat initiates contact with a person the activity lasts longer as opposed to when you approach the cat. Hence, your cat just happens to love your friend who's allergic.

• Get down to their level.

This doesn't mean you have to physically get down on the ground in order to interact with your pet. This means that you should be aware of the way that cats are used to interacting with each other and follow suit to make them more comfortable. Cats will greet each other nose to nose. So to simulate that interaction, gently offer your cat the tip of your finger a few inches from their nose so that they can decide if they want to smell you. When doing this it helps to be on the floor with your other hand in your lap. Making your posture softer means that you are not as "scary." Your cat will probably just take a quick sniff and walk away. That's great! If your finger gets a cheek rub then that's a super successful greeting.

• Give them some scritches!

Cats are extremely sensitive to touch so it's important to be mindful about how you pet them. Dogs like scritches and rubs all over, but cats like a more fine-tuned approach. Gently petting and scratching the forehead, cheeks, and chin, or their peri-oral area, will likely elicit positive responses. Positive responses are behaviors like purring, slow blinking, and kneading their paws. My cats also LOVE when I scratch their back right before their tail starts. Remember that every attempt to pet your kitty should be introduced with a hand extension as an invitation to smell.

Be wary of petting an unfamiliar cats belly. Trust me.

• Give them ample space

Don't get discouraged if your attempts at bonding are met with some negative responses. Hissing, biting and swatting are more obvious signs of displeasure, but it's also important to pay attention to more subtle hints. Flattening their ears, looking at your hand without moving, and swishing their tail back and forth are signals that it's time for a break. A lot of owners don't realize that those are signs to back off and can escalate the situation to hissing or swatting. 

You can't force a friendship so remember that your cat will be ready for more interaction at a later time. They just need space to readjust and refresh. When the cat sees that you can respect their space, it builds some trust between the two of you that requires complete passivity on your part. Free brownie points for you!

• Play is paramount!

Many people underestimate the amount of play time that cats need as they have the reputation for being quite aloof. Laser pointers are your best friend in this case. Having a toy that puts some space between your cat and you will give your kitty necessary exercise and forms positive associations between time spent at play and you! Wand toys are the next step in this process as you actually hold the toy. Slowly inching closer to each other while still leaving enough space for both of your comfort levels is essential.

Your cat will need toys that they can play with without having you control them. Providing scratching posts and more stationary toys like this one placed in common areas will allow the cat to let their guard down and play around you. 

You'll need patience and a strong will, but taking these steps will get you closer to a reality of loving companionship between you and kitty. Best of luck!