Kids and Therapy Cats

    Our youngest daughter has a special therapy cat as a companion he is a gray striped tabby with white mitten socks.
    I talk a lot about therapy dogs but cats are just as important in keeping many children and adults with autism and anxiety comforted with their presence.

   We saved Tigger from our porch during a rain storm last April. He was so tiny he barely fit into our palms, today he is a big tom cat.
   We had no idea where he came from only that he was a tiny miracle and we were meant to be his family. In return, Tigger has been a life saver for our daughter with Aspergers and anxiety.

   When we brought him to the vet they said he was very close to death and suffering from hypothermia and it was a good thing we found him in time. Our daughter took care of him and nurtured him back to health.

  I believe that was their bonding time and the two of them have been inseparable ever since. Tigger is her best friend and curls up in her lap when she is frightened or having a really bad day. He cries and calls for her each morning to see if she is up yet. I know they will be best friends forever.

A day in the life

     I strongly believe it's my calling to love and have a voice for children.Even through my young adult life I have cared and nurtured children whether it was my cousins, neighborhood friends or as a babysitter.

     As a child, I always felt like I never had a voice. I often felt scared or alone when I  was told to get over the fact someone was calling me names or making mean gestures at me. Now, in my own family, my seven-year-old was experiencing the same things at school


    She was so afraid of going to school she was having accidents before and during school. At first, she didn't tell us and tried to hide it.She has Aspergers and so has a hard time with her communication skills.At that time being only seven was emotionally more like being five.

    I felt like a terrible mother and very helpless to do much to help my child. I saw every day her weight decreasing and her beautiful brown eyes became raccoon-like from not sleeping.

  I sat in her class to see if I noticed what was bothering her. I sat at lunch and witnessed girls laughing and whispering pointing at my beautiful young daughter.I know that children may not be talking about my child but it was pretty obvious they were.

The look on my daughter,s face was the very last straw and I scheduled a talk with her teacher later that day. Also, it came out a child had been hitting her during recess and the teachers were oblivious.


   I had planned on talking to the counselor about how to help Maddy with friends.Now the vice principal would also be present since she heard what my concerns were and seemed genuinely caring. I thought I was going to be on the path to truly help my daughter at last.

  After our meeting where basically I was told that these things are a normal part of growing up and that my child was too sensitive. I told my husband and we started taking more action to get professionals involved.

    We saw a psychologist and our pediatrician who wrote letters on our behalf to have Maddy removed from her classroom into more of a slower paced classroom. We thought this would be a help but the school told us we were being ridiculous and refused to have her switched even thought two people who knew our child well agreed.

     Finally, we sought advice from the school board president who called the school and directed them to take action.This took two whole months and it was too late.
Apparently, it would mess the numbers up in the classroom and that was more important than our child who was suffering.

 This is just our story, we homeschool our daughter now who is 12 and thriving. I know so many parents have been through what we have and something must be done to help educate the children and give them a voice. To learn kindness and values really matter. I am currently writing a children's book which features a child who brings her therapy dog into the classroom to help educate the children on understanding our differences as human beings.

   I hope to have my book "Bosco, The Therapy Dog Goes To School" out by the end of 2017 and to read it in the classroom to dozens of children.