Healing paws
Pets help patients feel better at hospitals, homes
By BILL CHAPIN
Times Herald

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When she's not sleeping, Mesha silently wanders the halls of Marwood Nursing and Rehab.

Mesha, a fluffy Himalayan cat, is just one the Port Huron nursing home's non-human residents. The menagerie includes another cat, a dog, a rabbit, four aviaries and three aquariums. Residents say the animals make it feel like home.

"It's soothing," Dick Collinge, 65, said. "If you've got some cares, as soon as you get around the animals you forget them."

Animals increasingly are being welcomed inside hospitals, nursing homes and hospices. But as pet therapy becomes more common, experts warn not every pooch is cut out for the job.

"Everybody thinks their dog would be a perfect therapy dog," said Dr. Lana Kaiser, a founding member of Michigan State University's Animal Human Bond Initiative.

The group focuses on research, which is sorely needed, Kaiser said. Little has been proven beyond the fact that animals can lower blood pressure.

"Some of Michigan's hospitals are not terribly open to the idea," Kaiser said. "If we can document the benefits there will hopefully be less problems getting those programs instituted."

Rozanne Leystra of Sarnia coordinates St. John Ambulance's therapy dog program. Each week, 45 volunteers visit facilities for the sick, elderly and handicapped with their pets. Another 15 people are on a waiting list. Dogs are tested for temperament.

"One lady in particular was very depressed," Leystra said. "She'd be curled up on the bed, not responding. I'd go in there with (therapy dog) Shadow and ... before I knew it she'd be walking around the room.

"I really made a difference in her afternoon."

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