Little Tich
Little Tich's JournalTom the cat has 'sixth sense' in comforting ailing veterans
Source: Today
You may know about tomcats, but meet Tom the cat who has a very special gift indeed.
He’s the appointed feline friend, counselor and caretaker at Salem VA Medical Center in Salem, Virginia. There, he is revered as an animal who may sometimes know more about empathy “in the moment” than his humans who love him just for being “Tom.”
The lovefest goes both ways, as Tom returns affection in kind to the resident veterans of the hospital’s community living center that provides rehabilitation, hospice/palliative care and long-term skilled nursing.
“You can’t beat a good, purring, loving kitty cat,” Army veteran James Gearhart of Bassett, Virginia, told TODAY. He lived in the rehabilitation unit while being treated for throat cancer, and says he's doing well after being recently discharged.
“Tom knows when someone is having a hard time. He laid on my bed a lot and I rubbed and scratched him the way cats like,” Gearhart said. “One day I gave him some of my Ensure vanilla drink and he drank every bit of it. Then he rubbed on me and licked my hands.”
The hospital’s chief of extended care service, Dr. Blake Lipscomb, told TODAY that Tom stood by him one day when he had to officially pronounce a veteran dead. “Tom looked up at me and meowed. He had been with the veteran and his family at a time that was hardest for them, doing exactly what we wanted him to do — to help make a more low-stress, ‘homelike’ environment.”
In 2012, Dottie Rizzo, chief nurse in the hospital’s extended care service, along with physician assistant Laura Hart, read a book called “Making Rounds with Oscar,” by Dr. David Dosa, a geriatrician. In it, the doctor documents the story of a cat named Oscar who comforts dementia patients and appears to anticipate when they are about to die.
“We knew we needed a cat just like that,” Rizzo told TODAY. “We enlisted the assistance of a local veterinarian’s office manager who went to a shelter and visited with the cats for a long time before deciding on Tom.”
Tom brings comfort to a veteran who sleeps better knowing his cat friend is there.
Army veteran James Gearhart gives his favorite cat a treat to say "thank you."
Tom the cat is there when people need him.
Tom shares the love with a veteran, Mr. Wyman, in a way that only Tom can.
“You can’t beat a good, purring, loving kitty cat,” said Army veteran James Gearhart of Bassett, Virginia.
Read more: http://www.today.com/series/veterans/tom-cat-has-sixth-sense-comforting-ailing-veterans-t102190
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Tabby Cat Makes Life Easier for Dying Veterans
Source: US Department of Veterans Affairs, November 6, 2014
He took a few final, shallow breaths. At that moment, an orange tabby cat named Tom jumped onto his bed, curled up beside him and placed a furry orange paw in the Army Veteran’s open hand.
“That cat took him right to heaven,” said Elizabeth Gehlert, the Veteran’s wife of 68 years. “It was a beautiful passing and that cat is the one who made it happen.”
Read more: http://www.va.gov/health/newsfeatures/2014/november/tabby-cat-makes-life-easier-for-dying-veterans.asp
Cuddle 500 Kitties At This Heavenly Cat Sanctuary In Hawaii
Source: Huffington Post
Most people visit Hawaii looking to spend long, lethargic hours on white sand beaches drinking bottomless mai tais.
Cat people, on the other hand, might have a more cuddly option in mind.
On the small island of Lanai, a little-known slice of feline heaven called the Lanai Cat Sanctuary is home to 495 cats. People fly from all over the world just to hang out with them.
Though there’s a boundary surrounding the 25,000 square foot property, there are no cages within the main area of the sanctuary. The cats ― or “Hawaiian Lions,” as the sanctuary calls them ― have large huts and trees to climb on, patches of grass on which to sun themselves and all the human attention they could ever want.
“I call it the ‘Furr Seasons,’” executive director Keoni Vaughn told The Huffington Post. “It’s 25,000 square feet of open-aired space for the cats to run around and play in, so they’re just kind of relaxing and chilling.”
The sanctuary is open to the public for a few hours every day, and it has become a tourist destination in its own right. For humans with an affinity for felines, it’s worth a trip to Lanai in and of itself.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hawaii-lanai-cat-sanctuary_us_57a27f62e4b0e1aac914bb70
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Lanai Cat Sanctuary Homepage:
http://lanaicatsanctuary.org/
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Lanai Cat Sanctuary FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/LanaiCatSanctuary/
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This cat sanctuary on Lanai has become Hawaii's most surprising travel destination
Source: Hawaii Magazine, Jul 1 2016
Carroll is known as The Cat Lady. She feeds and houses 425 cats as the founder of the Lanai Cat Sanctuary. “I never thought I would be,” she says of her feline title and second career—her background is in science. “But I embrace it.”
Read more: http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/content/cat-sanctuary-lanai-has-become-hawaiis-most-surprising-travel-destination
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