Because it’s Halloween month, I get to dress up for my therapy cat visits over the next few weeks. For this visit to the children’s hospital, I wore my old fashioned nurse’s outfit. I always enjoy dressing up, and I made happy paws when my human was putting on my outfit in the car.

As soon as I entered the lobby, I was a big hit! Everyone was so excited to see me. Well, they usually are anyway, but they were extra excited this time, especially the staff. One even let me visit her on her office desk.

Of course I saw lots of kids on my way to the exam room. I think one toddler hadn’t seen a kitty before, because he was treating me like something new and fascinating. His older brother kept an eye on him and made sure to keep him from doing the typical toddler things. You know, things like grabbing my tail too hard and trying to clutch my ears. My human was relieved to have help because there were a lot of kids to keep an eye on right that moment.

I visited with one teenaged girl who had both her legs wrapped up in Ace bandages. Her mom asked if I ever went up to the surgery area, and my human said we did when we had time. And she said that her daughter really could have used me when she was having surgery. Her daughter agreed enthusiastically — I guess she was pretty nervous when she was having her procedure.

I had lots of exam rooms to visit. One room contained a teen girl sitting in a wheelchair with one leg in a big metal brace. Her face instantly lit up when she saw me, so my human brought me in. It turned out that her mother didn’t like cats (or dogs or any animal, really). She said she was scared of cats and buried herself in her phone while her kid happily visited me. I’m glad she tolerated the few minutes I visited because her daughter really, really loved having me there.

One older boy in a cast room was really happy to see me and I enjoyed seeing him too. I kept head butting his hand while he petted me. My human always tries to gauge when it’s time to go to the next patient, but he just kept wanting more time with me. At one point, his mom even said, “Are you done?” and he said, “No.”

I think my favorite visit was a boy we saw briefly in the lobby and saw again in an exam room. He was nice enough, but his mom really loved seeing me too. We are always aware that while the kids are the reason we are there, it’s equally important that the staff and parents get time with me if they want it. That was something my human discussed with his mom while she petted me. And she admitted that after spending time with me, she felt a lot calmer. So my job there was done.