Animal Therapy with Cats
Cats provide animal therapy, which studies have proven has significant value in improving a person’s mental state and wellness. The biggest reason for us to start Catoro aside from the rescue initiatives, was to have a space where people who couldn’t own pets could come easily and often. Many landlords do not allow pet ownership and this can have a severe effect on a person’s well being if they were used to having them previously. Companion animals play major roles in the lives of many children. In the 2008 book The Powerful Bond Between People and Pets, psychologist Elizabeth Anderson wrote about this:
It has been shown from 22 studies that there are links between pets and the psychological well-being of children. Many of these studies concluded that growing up around pets is linked to having higher self-esteem, cognitive development and social skills.
While we hope Catoro will serve as a neighbourhood institution for children who may not be able to own pets for various reasons, we even more so hope to bring in many adults who may have lost the child-like wonder and amazement for being close to animals.
Other than owning a pet yourself, it is rarely an easy and accessible activity to visit a zoo or a petting farm in our day to day lives. We wish to bring this important, stress-relieving activity closer than ever so that people can incorporate visiting us into their everyday lives.
As children, we all had our own unique experiences around animals. As I’m sure many of you can remember, there was something special about how it made you feel, something powerful and hard to explain, but nonetheless there.
This is the magic that Catoro brings to its guests.
Regardless of who comes into our store, where they are from, and what type of emotional state they are in, each person gets to experience the powerful animal therapy effect that cats bring.
