Typical of Maine Coons – they like to retrieve. Let it be known that they will retrieve more than balls – pens, pencils, Scrabble pieces, game pieces and so on. The classroom rule was that if Beamer found a piece left out, the game was put away for the rest of the year. After two of the favorite games were put away, we didn’t have any more trouble.

In the area of paying attention to their own body language, we were able to play competitive educational games without having fights erupt. Due to “Beamer time”, regular education kids as well as special needs kids wanted to come to my classroom. By the second half of the school year, I had a true “inclusion” classroom, including a cat!

Beamer had to wait until he was one year old before getting his Pet Partner certification from Delta Society. The kids he worked with helped him get ready for the evaluation, so it became a joint effort – Beamer helping them and they helping Beamer. The students also helped Beamer with his show hall presentation! Beamer would growl and hiss at the judges until there were kids in the audience. Then, he would focus on the kids in the audience and was a “purrfect” gentleman.

I am now working in a different school district and no longer bringing Beamer or Rosie to class. However, both animals, and a couple of others, are still practicing therapy animals. We keep their therapy certifications up-to-date as well as attend AAA and AAT conferences whenever one is offered in our area. I urge the readers to get on any animal therapy website and look into AAA or AAT (some are listed below). One suggestion I would have is to get started with a potential cat when it is a kitten. Just as we found out, “…if a kitten is raised wearing a harness, getting bathed, going for trips, meeting new people then the cat has a better chance” of being a of being a

Click here to read about Beamer the therapy cat who went to school.

Each animal has their own strength and can be used in multiple settings. For instance, Rosie went to school as an AAA dog on Fridays. Her only purpose was to be there for the kids to read to her or to be petted. Beamer, was more of an AAT animal – he served a purpose with goals and objectives. Bailey loves people and has a sense to her that there is nothing to fear, so she can go in any situation and feel comfortable – whether called on to play with kids or just sit and be petted, she doesn’t care. Topper, obviously, does not go into buildings, but has

To be a therapy animal, all animals are screened and must pass rigorous testing. All our therapy animals are able to go into any setting and we know they will behave and not show fear or aggression. They are outgoing animals to begin with, then with constant training and socializing, they are able to meet the needs of any situation or visit. In our case, I try to size up what is needed in the setting we are called upon, and then I decide what animal(s) will go. Since I am only one person, I can only take one animal at a time, unless we are giving demonstrations.

If you are able or interested in doing animal therapy, please get certified through one of the groups listed below. A quality therapy organization should have training and screening both for the animal(s) as well as yourself. If the organization does not provide both, then try another organization. The Delta Society is the Grand-Daddy of them all. They have been there, done that, and have set the standard for animal therapy for all species of animals. They are international. KPETS follows the regime of Delta Society, with intensive training and partnering before you are