Cat immersion therapy (my modified name for this!) is using the power of the cat in images and sound to bring joy to a person who is isolated in hospital. Hospitalized happy people recover faster than unhappy people don’t they?
This is an uplifting story that brings into sharp focus the benefit of the cat companion to human well being. It a story that is an antidote to the nasty attitudes of cat abusers, haters and shooters.
Without waffling on needlessly I’ll present the video. It is a good video. You’ll like it.
Maga is isolated
Apparently Maga (Maga Barzallo Sockemtickem) is isolated from other patients and people to help avoid contracting an infection as she has a compromised immune system due to cancer. She is undergoing a bone marrow transplant.
Maga loves cats and misses her cat. I am very impressed with the hospital staff and the guys and ladies who imaginatively set up this 3,000 cat slide show with sound effects using an Apple Mac and some sheets! Wow. Love that. The cat pictures came from well wishers and are on Facebook. The hospital looks fantastic.
I love the way Maga strokes the sheet. She just loves to be in contact with her cat.
Cats and dogs are often used as therapy animals. There are countless examples of sick people benefiting from contact with animals. Here are two articles on dogs and cats as therapy animals:
Why are dogs and cats such good therapy animals? My answer is: they bring us back to nature. The put us in touch with nature. Nature is where we find our roots. And they are innocent and without malice. Domestic cats are utterly reliable and predictable. These are reassuring traits.
Here is a still image from the video in case the video goes offline:

My thanks to Dorothy for spotting this story.
Note: This story has been republished from 2012 because it is so nice. It needs to be ‘brought forward’ to highlight how animals enhance our lives. Therapy animal are widely employed to assist in recovery.
Yes, 3 hours is alot, and every day after work I would be so excited to go and see him I was practically running. For the first time in a long time I was for a start not in a human relationship and I really felt so happy hanging out with Red.
My therapist said that she thinks (this relates to what you said about formative years) – …the fact I was shipped off to another country, England, when I was 8 years old and spent the next 10 years of my life in the boarding school system had a profound effect on my later life. She thinks the that the one place I find peace and freedom and solice is when I spend time with cats is a direct result of my upbringing. I hated boarding school, and at first I was the only french kid there to make matters harder. I have reached a point now in my life after several decent relationships and alot of friends and social life stemming from also growing up in London during my off-school time – where I have less time for people and I dont need to upgrade my social life constantly. Infact I truly enjoy spending time with my cats more than people these days and that started taking shape when I met Red and his littermates, some time after being separated from Lilly.I have lived all over the world and in big citys for the most part, and now I am moving away from it all. I would rather be with my cats now. Its a little anti-social but its the truth and I don’t feel I should fight it. I am also quite happy. I love my cats more than the people who have been in my life, because they dont put pressure on me. My avoidance of pressure and people and problems stems from the pressure of being in boarding school with hundreds of kids and strict rules. Ironically, because of that I am quite socially agile/able, and it puzzles people that I choose to spend time ‘alone’ as they see it. I of course know its quite the opposite, I am not alone at all. I suppose this is still about cat immersion – but sorry to go off topic on this thread.
Red had more play time than most cats have in a long life. That was amazing. I agree that 2-3 hours play is awesome. Sorry to hear about Red, though. My first cat was a complete darling. I was indirectly responsible for her death and never got over it. She died in 1994. I have her ashes. I deliberately don’t think about it. I am not sure why some people form complete attachments to a cat companion. I have a feeling it stems from a person’s formative years and difficulties during those years which gives the person a particular sensitivity and empathy towards vulnerable creatures.