Feline therapy — why people are treated with cats and how it happens
Cats have been living next to people for more than 10 thousand years. Back in the Stone Age, our ancestors realized that a small tailed animal is able to protect supplies from rodents. After that, the pets gave people many more surprises, revealing their talents one by one. One of them is considered to be the gift of healing, which was noticed for cats relatively recently.
Feline therapy is the science of treating diseases with cats, it appeared later than canister therapy (treatment with dogs). But it quickly gained popularity and took its rightful place in pet therapy - a medical direction based on animal treatment.
For the first time organized and based on a scientific approach, animal treatment began in England in the 18th century. A charitable community for the treatment of the mentally ill was organized in London. Philanthropists raised funds and opened a clinic in which they practiced revolutionary methods of therapy for that time. One of them was communication with pets.
Proponents of this method claimed that communication with dogs has a beneficial effect on patients. They became less aggressive, and those who suffered from seizures felt relieved. Then there were many years of research conducted by scientists from different countries. As a result, pet therapy was recognized in scientific circles and began to be used en masse. Over time, in addition to dogs, snakes, birds, dolphins and, of course, cats began to be used.
Although science has reached significant heights these days, all aspects of the therapeutic effects of cats have not yet been studied. So far we know the main directions and some principles, among which we can distinguish such:
And doctors are sure that this is an incomplete list. Perhaps cats are also treated with methods that we still don't know anything about. Research in this direction is constantly being conducted.
Doctors warn that if you decide to try feline therapy, then in no case should you give up traditional treatment. Pet therapy is not a panacea, but only an additional way of treating and preventing diseases. It shows the best effect only in combination with scientifically proven methods. Among the diseases that can be treated with feline therapy , you can list the following:
It remains to add that the best time for feline therapy is in the evening. At this time of day, cats are the most active and their energy is at its maximum. It is also important to remember that the animal itself feels perfectly well how long the session should last. If the pet leaves, there is no need to hold it — the session is over and the fluffy healer needs to rest, eat or play.
As we can see, cats are not as simple as they seem. No wonder they were deified in ancient Egypt.