Wow what a wealth of information in this thread! I am glad to see this; now it is part of PT and can be searched by others in future for some basics to get started.

I did pet therapy for 2 years with my cat, Sparkle. She is the only one of all 9 cats I've owned with the personality for it, she was perfect for it! I did it through a state wide program here. They had a training program and test for the dogs; not for the cats. I had to sit in on 3 hours of the dog training class, which coverd entering the room, asking if they would like a visit, all the things borzoimom mentioned. I was paired up with an experienced owner / dog for the first three visits, then the coordinator followed me around for the 4th visit to ensure all was fine. And I had to have all the health records, of course.

There was also a rabbit in the program!

It was SO rewarding. We visited a local nursing home, which included an
Alzheimer"s Ward. We had two really excellent experiences. One was a woman who was paralyzed. The staff would turn her periodically; and they made sure she was on her back for pet visiting times. Sparkle snuggled next to her and purred (she purrs easily) as I was chatting with the woman. Suddenly she interrupted herself to say she could feel the purrs through the sheets!

Another time we visited with a woman who had been in the nursing home 2 weeks (she arrived between pet visits), and had refused to speak the entire time. I settled Sparkle on her lap, and she leaned in and started whispering all her secrets to Sparkle. About how she didn't want to be there, but her family said she had to, how many children she had, and so forth. I had to keep looking up and away and let her talk. Sparkle is VERY good at keeping secrets!

I stopped after 2 years. I was the problem, not the cat. I would get to know that Michael in Room 202 wanted to see the cat, and then I would go and someone else was in 202; Michael had died. Things like that happen in nursing home visiting. Sigh! And I had to just swallow and move on with the visits. I just couldn't keep doing it.

It was very rewarding and I got to meet and chat with many many people.