Tom the cat has 'sixth sense' in comforting ailing veterans
Source: Today
You may know about tomcats, but meet Tom the cat who has a very special gift indeed.
He’s the appointed feline friend, counselor and caretaker at Salem VA Medical Center in Salem, Virginia. There, he is revered as an animal who may sometimes know more about empathy “in the moment” than his humans who love him just for being “Tom.”
The lovefest goes both ways, as Tom returns affection in kind to the resident veterans of the hospital’s community living center that provides rehabilitation, hospice/palliative care and long-term skilled nursing.
“You can’t beat a good, purring, loving kitty cat,” Army veteran James Gearhart of Bassett, Virginia, told TODAY. He lived in the rehabilitation unit while being treated for throat cancer, and says he's doing well after being recently discharged.
“Tom knows when someone is having a hard time. He laid on my bed a lot and I rubbed and scratched him the way cats like,” Gearhart said. “One day I gave him some of my Ensure vanilla drink and he drank every bit of it. Then he rubbed on me and licked my hands.”
The hospital’s chief of extended care service, Dr. Blake Lipscomb, told TODAY that Tom stood by him one day when he had to officially pronounce a veteran dead. “Tom looked up at me and meowed. He had been with the veteran and his family at a time that was hardest for them, doing exactly what we wanted him to do — to help make a more low-stress, ‘homelike’ environment.”
In 2012, Dottie Rizzo, chief nurse in the hospital’s extended care service, along with physician assistant Laura Hart, read a book called “Making Rounds with Oscar,” by Dr. David Dosa, a geriatrician. In it, the doctor documents the story of a cat named Oscar who comforts dementia patients and appears to anticipate when they are about to die.
“We knew we needed a cat just like that,” Rizzo told TODAY. “We enlisted the assistance of a local veterinarian’s office manager who went to a shelter and visited with the cats for a long time before deciding on Tom.”
Tom brings comfort to a veteran who sleeps better knowing his cat friend is there.
Army veteran James Gearhart gives his favorite cat a treat to say "thank you."
Tom the cat is there when people need him.
Tom shares the love with a veteran, Mr. Wyman, in a way that only Tom can.
“You can’t beat a good, purring, loving kitty cat,” said Army veteran James Gearhart of Bassett, Virginia.
Read more: http://www.today.com/series/veterans/tom-cat-has-sixth-sense-comforting-ailing-veterans-t102190
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Tabby Cat Makes Life Easier for Dying Veterans
Source: US Department of Veterans Affairs, November 6, 2014
He took a few final, shallow breaths. At that moment, an orange tabby cat named Tom jumped onto his bed, curled up beside him and placed a furry orange paw in the Army Veteran’s open hand.
“That cat took him right to heaven,” said Elizabeth Gehlert, the Veteran’s wife of 68 years. “It was a beautiful passing and that cat is the one who made it happen.”
Read more: http://www.va.gov/health/newsfeatures/2014/november/tabby-cat-makes-life-easier-for-dying-veterans.asp
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