Purrs well with others: From amputation to therapy cat
Kitten born with her legs twisted helped her owner heal. Now they’re licensed to help others together.
TROY, Ohio — Each morning when she wakes up, Juanita Mengel removes the silicone liner of her prosthetic leg out from under a heated blanket she uses so that the metal parts of the artificial limb don’t feel as cold on her skin when she straps the pieces together.
The 67-year-old resident of Amanda, Ohio, then does the same for her 5-year-old dilute tortoiseshell cat, LolaPearl, who is missing her left hind leg.
The duo is one of an estimated 200 therapy cat teams registered in the U.S. through Pet Partners. The nonprofit sets up owners and their pets as volunteer teams to provide animalassisted interventions; they might visit hospitals, nursing homes or schools to aid in therapy and other activities to improve well-being in communities.
“A therapy animal is an animal who’s been assessed based on their ability to meet new people and not just tolerate the interaction, but actively enjoy it,” said Taylor Chastain Griffin, national director of animalassisted interventions advancement at the organization.
Pet Partners registers 10 species as therapy animals: dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, birds, mini pigs, llamas and alpacas.
As part of her research, Chastain Griffin studies the benefits of therapy cats; she says more research needs to be done on them. There’s abundant research on other therapy animals like dogs, she said, but there’s often a “shock factor” when it comes to therapy cats because many people don’t know they exist.
“They go into a setting and people are like, ‘Whoa, there’s a cat on a leash. What’s happening?’” Chastain Griffin said. “It kind of inspires people to connect in a way we haven’t traditionally heard talked about in other therapy animal interventions.”
Mengel said she knew that Lola-Pearl would be a good therapy cat after she brought her on a whim to an amputee coalition conference about a month after she adopted the domestic shorthair.
“She was so good with people, I just knew she would be a good therapy cat,” Mengel said. “People really were attracted to her, too.”
During a recent visit to a limb loss support group meeting, Mengel pushed Lola-Pearl around in a stroller with a “Therapy Cat” sign so attendees could pet the kitty as she woke up from a nap.
Whether she was sitting in the stroller, walking between participants’ legs or cuddling on their laps, LolaPearl brought a smile to whomever she decided was worthy of her attention in that moment.
“She’s very intuitive of people,” Mengel said.
A former traveling nurse, Mengel lost her left leg in 2006 after years of surgeries following a near-fatal car accident.
Lola-Pearl isn’t the only cat in her life; she has seven felines, most of which have disabilities.
“They find you, you don’t find them,” she said.
Lola-Pearl was found at only a few weeks old with her back legs completely twisted together. Unable to walk, she was taken to a friend of Mengel’s at an animal shelter in Missouri, but veterinarians there couldn’t help the kitten. The shelter found specialists in Iowa who first splinted Lola-Pearl’s legs in an attempt to save them, then decided her left hind leg needed to be amputated.
Meanwhile, Mengel was talking with her friend about adopting the cat. She made it official after Lola-Pearl healed from surgery.
Despite the obstacles Mengel has been through, she exudes a spirit of gratitude for Lola-Pearl and for the work they do together.
“It’s a really rewarding experience,” she said. “I get just as much out of it as the people that I visit.”