Pet Therapy and Maine Coon

Rediscovered [1] subject of several scientific researches, that with different methods of approach skirt the symbolic emotional, the Pet Therapy, the sweet therapy through the pets, looks today as a possibility full of unexpected resources. From the Esculapio's Cock, to the evocative images of the canary-birds bred by a convict in the film The Birdman Of Alcatraz, we have a history full of close relationship between the man and the pet, in favour of the cure and the prevention of several privations typical of the frail human nature.

It is of the "being" involved of a living being, in proportion with the person, the generation of direct and indirect effects on the latter: they are wholesome and often literally therapeutical effects. The two pioneers Katcher & Friedmannel had already considered that pets could remarkably reduce anxiety and arrange a stimulation of the nervous system, that is to decrease the stress, since source of pleasant contacts, a relaxing vision and a perception of strong certainty and serenity. [2]

It is certainly not enough that the person get in touch with a pet for establishing a therapeutical process. Even if sometimes the sole presence of a cat induces to smile! It is inside a more complicated circuit, where manifold relations interact, that the object of the affection, may it be dog or cat, can positively influence the considered privation, leading to a possible and simplified situational opening where the patient is usually supported by a specialized assistance.

A synoptical marking inside the fascinating horizon of ethno-medicine lets us notice the valuable role of the smallest of the felines in the psychosomatic stimulation over the centuries.

Let's talk about the cat. Once upon a time owned by witches and wizards for a shadowy power to it assigned, today there is no doubt about it's incidence in the emotional mechanism, to the extent of being able to monitor the results of the emotional induction in its psyhosomatic valences and to value its incidence properly. The feline Pet Therapy is employed not only for psycho-educational [3] and psychiatric purposes, in particular for the treatment of states of anxiety and depression [4], but also with "medical" aims. In this regard, many noteworthy studies about feline Pet Therapy and arterial hypertension have been performed by Aaron Honori Katcher, since 1981. From his research it can be inferred how petting a cat (or a dog) takes to an actual ease of the pressure and the following evocation of the same situation in a different context replicates the same effects. [5]

The instruments for a suitable methodological precision are still on the way to perfectioning and it will be necessary to convey strength and bravery in order to amplify the possibilities that has the feline Pet Therapy to be appropriately collocated in a therapeutical area and to appear as a valid support for the improvement of everyday life. We can acknowledge how the cat, and in this case the Main Coon cat, has some features that particularly well fit to the disposition required to the Pet for being a good co-therapeutist.

Scanning some of them, it immediately emerges the formidable and majestic bulk of the smallest feline and the biggest cat. Some male specimens widely go beyond 10 kg. The Maine Coons can be held close, sometimes also in arms and they love being cuddled, but they love their freedom and may draw back with noble insouciance, educating to an approach respectful of different times and manners, yet being disposable to be stroked. What the English call petting is determinant for a reassuring relationship and the Maine Coon, with their nature of "good giant", own a high capacity of inducing emotions across the pleasant contact with their silky and bushy mantle. The eyes of the cat differ from other Pets especially for the placement of the eye, not lateral but perfectly frontal; endowed with a reflecting formation, called shiny carpet, it fixes straight with persistence and profundity.

Their half-long mantle does not require a great care, they can keep themselves clean alone and, in favour of the pleasantness of the contact, the Maine Coon, like any other cat, does not perspires! Even if they have not an excellent sense of smell, their long and solid whiskers permit them to touch the person and they bush the skin before their arrival. Tuoching, petting, kneading a soft Maine Coon does not only relaxes, but also helps to regularize the pressure and the cholesterol level in the blood. Decennary studies, supported by laboratory experiences on samples of 1000 subjects, certify that several psychosomatic illnesses, such as headache, psoriasis and concerning the digestive system, derive a benefit from having a "soft" cat to touch: according to feline Pet Therapy, petting a cat generates a noteworthy sedetion of the tension and de-ascalates the mental straining.

The enterprise is one of the main feature of their character. Curious and brave explorer, the Maine Coon have no fear of taking the lead, starting up also from that sense of shyness [6] that their mighty size may inspire at first sight. They are very good playmates, especially in two, have a good sense of membership and submission and express their aggressivity across links of dominance-dependence, this is why it is better to have two feline co-therapists, in some cases.

Looking after a Maine Coon requires, even if moderate, a certain carefulness, and this is suitable for the development of the sense of responsibility in teen-agers, while for the treatment of depression it encourages a higher care of itself and makes aware of the values and of the emphatic relation with the cat, first, and of other relationships, then.

This "huge cat", completely natural, has not been altered by man, yet, to follow stereotyped schemes or standards, and the breeders maintain this with the greatest care, protecting the breed to the utmost and looking for the best specimens for health, character, typification. The Main Coon are also called "guardian cats". It is not difficult to be surprised to see this crafty feline to keep watch the all night long, immovable, like the warriors of remote times... it is an ancient instinct that puts in common men and cats, dated back to the times in which the control of the ground meant the difference between life and death. And it is just this more "natural" part that the Maine Coon whets in man, not an animal instinct, like in the case of our friendly cat, but a spiritual one: the brave conciousness of living.

[1] We talk about rediscovery considering how the healthy relation between man and animal has always been present in the different cultures.

[2] Cf. Katcher, A. H. and Friedmann, E. (1980) Potential health value of pet ownership. Compendium of Continuing Education for the Veterinarian, 2, 117-121.

[3] One of the first informative courses of Pet Therapy in Italy took place in June 1994, organized by OMS/FAO Centre Of Collaboration for the Veterinary Public Helthcare of Rome, together with other facilities. The executed researches already pointed out good results, both within the behavioural ambit: physical relaxation, undertaking of rules; and within the cognitive ambit: better progress at school, sensitization of inductive reasoning; and also within the psychosocial one: improvement of socialization, beyond the providing of a catalyst of the aggregation process.

[4] Cf. Beck, A. M. and Katcher, A. H. (1984) A new look at pet facilitated psychotherapy. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 184, 414-421.

[5] Cf. also: Friedmann, E., Katcher, A. H., Thomas, S. A., Lynch, J. J. and Messent, P. R. (1983) Social interaction and blood pressure: The influence of animal companions. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171, 461-465.

[6] it might be interpreted as an anthropomorphical process, according to which the feline is assigned some human "features", this helps to open out to reality when the people are too concentrated on themselves and enfolded in egocentrism. Cf. Combs A. Pet therapy and increased socialization among elderly clients. Ky Nurse 2002 Oct-Dec; 50(4) 15-6.