08/10/2026
Therapy Cats are very different than other cats you encounter in public, including cats at cat cafes. Please respect the boundaries that are in place to protect the wellbeing of all animals you meet.
Stitches and I were tested for aptitude to deal with a large amount of scenarios involving interacting with the public. Her & I were routinely evaluated for her enthusiasm to be in these situations, and I had to continually prove my ability to protect her from situations that ranged from making her uncomfortable to being dangerous for her. The core of Pet Partners Therapy Animals training is You Are Your Animal’s Best Advocate, or YAYABA.
All locations we visited, including MSP Airport, required our continuing evaluations and my continued training in order to maintain our registration. Our registration included a very large liability insurance coverage.
Stitches, like all registered Therapy Animals, was very different from animals you encounter in your daily life, including cats at cat cafes. It was Stitches’ choice EVERY TIME to go to visits. (There were many scheduled visits that were canceled because she wasn’t feeling up to it!) She had every right to end visits early, and my training and evaluations had to show that I could read these signals and be able to end the sessions.
Please understand how very few animals are truly available for the public to interact with and respect the parameters that are in place for your, and most of all the animal’s, safety and wellbeing.
Please respect the rights and rules of our friends at cat cafes!
Miss you, HRH Queen Stitches.
