Warm and Fuzzy

Staff members at Animal Samaritans recently shadowed a team of volunteers and their Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) dogs at the Indio Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. This is a clean, slow-paced, unassuming facility with a friendly staff. Some wings house part-timers, residents on the mend from illness or injury, but with a place on the outside to eventually call home. Other residents live there full-time. If I were a betting man, I’d guess nothing all that exciting happens here. There’s drop-bys from the nursing staff, weigh-ins, medication distribution, breakfast, lunch, dinner, an occasional board or bingo game, TV and more TV; for the most part life ticks on, routinely, one might even say uneventfully.

However, weekly visits from Animal Samaritans’ Animal Assisted Therapy volunteers bring entertainment and happiness to the center. B.J. Cobb, an AAT Division Leader, has been bringing Danny Boy, a white standard poodle, to the facility for years. “He will stay for as long as I’ll let him,” she says.

The staff here knows Danny Boy well, as do the live-in residents. Jenni is one such resident who inches her way down the tiled floor in a wheelchair. Her frail body looks permanently bent to the side; she’s aged and squinting, but sees B.J. approach with Danny Boy and calls to them. “Paws up,” says B.J., and Danny Boy gives Jenni a high-five.

Tony Vencke is a roving physical therapist who assists patients at the facility. He too knows Danny Boy, and knows the power of healing that animals bring by making patients smile. “I cannot imagine our hospital without them,” he says. A dog owner himself, he knows the happiness animals bring these residents. “My wife is not as happy to see me as my dog,” he quips. “These dogs bring joy to the people here.”

B.J. and Danny Boy are joined by SallyJo Peterson and her dog Rose, a Belgian Trevuren. Roger Andres and his Cavalier spaniel named Charlie are absent this day, but complete the trifecta of big dog (Danny Boy), medium dog (Rose) and little dog (Charlie). Rose is expert at tricks. “Lay flat, stand, turn,” SallyJo instructs, as Rose delights her captive audience.

“They make my day,” says Pat, a full-time resident. She has wide breathing tubes snaking from her hospital gown and strokes the big white poodle with feeble, albeit affectionate hands. “I can be feeling so down, and when they come through the door it’s like heaven opened up. They are so precious.”

As I move from room to room, observing the simple but positive effect these dogs have on the residents, it becomes clear that the canines are only half of an effective AAT team. B.J. and SallyJo do more than drop an animal at the foot of someone’s wheelchair or bed; they ask patients and residents about their day, their ailments, their children, the drawings on their walls—they give them their time; they care.

Joyce is a white-haired woman, tall, witty, talkative, legally-blind. She’s been at the Rehabilitation Center for six years, and has known B.J. and Danny Boy since they first began coming. Joyce smiles when Danny Boy trots into her room, but is soon looking for B.J. “She’s our Santa Claus,” she tells me. From reading materials to cheeseburgers, B.J. seems to know just what Joyce wants, and has taken it upon herself to see that her friend enjoys the occasional small pleasures in life.

“Our visits give clients a chance to talk to someone other than the medical staff,” whispers SallyJo. Unlike the center’s staff, SallyJo and B.J. are not paid to be there—AnSams’ AAT teams volunteer their time and pets. That said, you don’t have to own a dog to volunteer in the program. B.J. Cobb, for example, is not Danny Boy’s owner; he belongs to Virginia Keeley. B.J. is simply Danny Boy’s AAT partner. Virginia has other dogs, and according to B.J. they all get jealous when she comes to take Danny Boy on assignment.

Dogs participating in Animal Samaritans’ AAT program must first acquire their Canine Good Citizen certificates, and pass an AnSams’ behavior testing class. In addition to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, AnSams’ AAT animals visit children with special needs and local hospitals patients. Volunteers with AnSams’ Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) program take animals to visit incarcerated youth at Juvenile Hall in Indio.

Ideal AAT and AAA animals are smart, accepting to strangers, nonaggressive toward other dogs, and have an innate desire to work. After evaluating each animal’s personality, size and age, an Animal Samaritans program leader will recommend the best locations for a dog to visit. The program is free; however, volunteers must first sign on as members of Animal Samaritans prior to serving the community.

To learn more about Animal Samaritans’ AAT and AAA programs, contact Animal Samaritans SPCA at 760-396-7313 or view their website at www.animalsamaritans.org.

A woman paralyzed by stroke had been unresponsive for over a year. Her physical therapist had been working daily with her to no avail. B.J. Cobb, Animals Samaritans' Health Care and Assisted Living division coordinator for their Animal Assisted Therapy program, brought Daniel for a visit and the dog immediately approached the woman with the contorted posture and catatonic expression. Her therapist placed the woman's hand on Danny's head. Nothing. Then Danny licked her hand, and the woman smiled-for the first time in over a year.

After 27 years in the medical industry, retired nurse Martha Smilie is still working in hospitals. Now, however, instead of bringing doctors to see patients, Martha brings Sugar and Bella, her docile, fox-colored Pomeranians.

"I got the dogs specifically for this purpose," says Martha.

When an injury on the job put her temporarily in a wheelchair and on permanent disability, Martha knew she had to find another way to serve. Soon after adopting her dogs, Martha called several hospitals and nursing homes in and around her hometown of Huntington Beach, California. Each was eager to have a pet therapist on their premises, but there were roadblocks.

"The problem was that no one was willing to help me obtain the training," recalls Martha. "To get the training I needed was going to cost me upwards of $2,000. So I dropped it. Being on worker's comp it was cost prohibitive."

After moving to the Desert, Martha discovered Animal Samaritans SPCA and became a member. Her cost for becoming an Animal Assisted Therapist? Twenty-five dollars times two, the price of therapy vests for Sugar and Bella.

In June, Martha, Sugar and Bella had their first assignment; one Martha says she'll never forget. Theirs was a community center for mentally challenged adults. That's where Bella made instant friends with a timid, mentally-challenged thirty-eight year old resident who we'll call Dave.

"Would you like to hold Bella?" asked Martha.

Dave was hesitant to approach. According to Martha, when Dave first held Bella he was shaking. In time, however, he began to calm. Martha noticed his eyes becoming moist and glassy.

"I'm feeling the love jumping from my chest," Dave told her.

Soon it was all too much, and Dave asked Martha to take Bella back. He wasn't feeling well, and left the room. To Martha's surprise, fifteen minutes later Dave returned. He knelt down in front of her and gazed up sheepishly with the trust of a child.

"Could I hold her again?" he asked, "I forgot to tell her something."

Dave remained on the floor as Martha delivered soft, demure Bella to his waiting arms. "This time," recalls Martha, "he held Bella close to his chest." Bella's diminutive pink tongue licked at Dave's chin as he stroked Bella's head and summoned his courage to speak.

"Bella?" he finally told her, "You make my world alright. I love you, Bella. You make my heart sing."

"That's when I noticed he had big tears in his eyes," recalls Martha.

Before you launch into drill-sergeant mode with young Mr. Whiskers, understand that not every cat will master toilet training. Their instincts, after all, are to scratch, sniff, and bury, not squat and flush. For pet owners who go the distance with their felines, it could take three weeks to three months to achieve success. The upside is obvious: no more cleaning or smelling litter boxes. However, we would be remiss if we failed to warn you about a few downsides to toilet training your cat. As your cat advances in age, she may experience difficulty leaping up to her ceramic waste portal, and you'll be forced to teach an old cat new tricks with the litter box. During and after successful training, you'll need to keep the door to her bathroom open 24/7 so she has access, and you'll need to keep the lid up and toilet seat down at all times.

The ideal kitty cadet is big enough to straddle the toilet opening without difficulty, and lives indoors full-time. Older cats can be more set in their ways, and indoor-outdoor animals may opt to run through the pet door when training gets confusing. Remember, accidents and mishaps are part of the process. Only the patient will prevail.

The following points represent just one of many schools of thought on how best to toilet train your cat.

1. Designate a bathroom that will be your cat's go-to potty room, and transport her current litter box to the side of her future toilet. Work with one toilet only while training. Use a large box and ample litter to keep it heavy.

2. Over the week, gradually increase the height of kitty's litter box, propping it up incrementally each day with phone books, small boards, anything stable. You can create steps for her if you like. Don't use slick items that will cause her litter box to slide off and spill. Continue this until your cat's litter box is level with the toilet next to it. Give your cat several days to get accustomed. She will probably use the toilet as a landing pad, and then walk into her litter box-that's perfect for now. She's getting closer to the toilet!

3. Now move her litter box over the toilet seat. Allow space for kitty to land when she jumps if she's reluctant to take this next step.

4. Once she conquers this, lift your toilet seat and measure the inside of your toilet bowl at its widest diameter. Find a circular receptacle, a metal mixing bowl, wooden fruit bowl, or thick plastic container that fits inside the toilet with its rim as close to level as possible with the toilet boil. Toilets are oval, bowls are round, what's important is that her new litter container fit snuggly and is stable once in place. Don't use Tupperware, as it may bend or tip under her weight. Fill her container with litter, and put the toilet seat back down. Now-drum roll please-remove her original litter box from the bathroom. Since you'll now be scooping litter right at the toilet, we recommend using the flushable kind.

5. Observe your cat in her new spot. Be as vigilant as possible, and whenever possible work with her just after she leaps onto the toilet and prepares to do her business. Your next feat is to get her to squat on the toilet seat with all four paws-and it could take weeks, months, progressing one paw at a time, before she gets it right. If she insists on keeping all her feet in her litter, work on placing her front two paws on the toilet seat first. After she masters that, work on her back two. Remember to praise her whenever she makes progress. Try using treats on occasion during periods of slow progress.

6. After she has been squatting properly and doing her business where you want her to, begin to decrease the amount of cat litter in her toilet container. It can get smelly with less litter, so shoot for a three-day weekend to complete this training portion. After this phase, dump and flush, and replenish the container with a small amount of tap water. If kitty adjusts, dump and flush after her next movement, and this time add a bit more water into her bowl. Repeat this process gradually until she has three inches of water in her container. Your aim is to assimilate her to the water in your toilet.

7. Once she is using her toilet receptacle while it has three or more inches of water in it, it's time to remove it and let her go directly into the toilet. Finally, whether successful or not, let us know how you fared. Tell us how your cat responded to the different phases, any best practices you found, and any unexpected hurdles you faced. Take a photo of your genius feline and email it to us, along with your tales of training, to acrist@animalsamaritans.org . When possible we will post it on our website!