It is nice to see that the RCN is formally trialling placing therapy animals such as cats and dogs on wards in hospitals as a means to improve the treatment of patients such as those with anxiety or dementia. In addition, we know that children in children’s hospitals benefit greatly from the presence of interacting with an animal.
The only complication is the practical side by which I mean minimising the risk of infection from animal to patient. Clearly, dogs will be the favoured domestic animal in hospitals but there are many therapy cats in the world who are beautiful animals well trained in dealing with patients in hospitals.
