When most people hear the term “therapy animal,” they often think of a dog or horse — not a cat. However, more and more cats are being trained and used as emotional support animals.
As humans, we crave interaction, and cats can provide that without judgment or rejection. While therapy cats aren’t able to assist people with physical tasks the way a service animal would, they can help by providing companionship and easing anxiety, stress, depression and certain phobias. Having an emotional support cat has been linked to lowering blood pressure, reducing chronic pain and even helping treat cardiovascular disease.
The most important traits for a therapy cat are being trainable, friendly, patient, calm and comfortable around people of all ages and abilities. While cat owners may already know that some cats are much better at this than others, we came up with 25 emotional support cat breeds known to make people feel better and support mental health. You can also read more about emotional support cats and how to get your own here.
