(MY) healing with pets

[Guest guest]

Tuesday July 17, 2007-The Star

 

 

Healing with pets

 

By ALLAN KOAY

 

Physicians find that pets have a positive effect on patients' recovery

and are including them as part of therapy.

 

WHEN the small, colourful little aquarium in her home is lit up, and

the fish begin to swim excitedly, Wong Lee Foong, 22, becomes

animated. She gestures and makes excited noises. She clearly enjoys

seeing the fish of different hues darting about in the water.

 

Wong, a spastic quadraplegic, was adopted when she was five, by Klang

resident Roxanna Lim.

 

Lim says the aquarium has done wonders for her daughter. Having an

aquarium installed in her home was a move recommended in November last

year by volunteers of the Malaysian Animal-assisted Therapy for the

Disabled and Elderly Malaysia, or Petpositive.

 

Lim and volunteers from Petpositive, a non-profit organisation, took

Lee Foong to a pet shop to choose the fish.

 

" She thought a lot about which fish to choose, " said Lim.

 

Everything was sponsored by Petpositive and Lim only had to pay a

token fee of RM100. At first, they had two goldfish, which eventually

died. But Lim has since learned to maintain the aquarium and they now

have quite a few.

 

" Now Lee Foong seems a lot happier than before, " said Lim. " She's also

always smiling and can respond very well. You can see that there's

mental activity. Before this, she used to just lie on the bed and look

at the ceiling fan. Usually in the mornings, when we feed the fish,

she gets very excited. "

 

Animal-assisted therapy for the disabled and elderly is not something

new, although it is hardly practised in Malaysia. Petpositive prides

itself in being the first such initiative in the country. In the

United States, there are programmes such as Pets Offer Ongoing Care

and Healing (or POOCH), and groups such as the Delta Society and

Therapy Dogs International Inc, that evaluate, train and register

therapy dogs.

 

Animals have also long been known to have positive effects on people

with illnesses and disabilities. Although scientific studies on the

effect of animal-assisted therapy are rare, there have been many

accounts of how interaction with animals helped to reduce heart rate

and blood pressure. A study conducted in City Hospital, New York,

showed that heart patients who owned pets tended to live longer than

those who didn't.

 

Animals are non-judgmental and are able to accept people just as they

are. They are also loving, affectionate and forgiving, and are thus

able to provide a joyful and positive environment for those who are

suffering. For the disabled, having a pet to care for also helps them

to develop a sense of confidence and purpose.

 

Dr C. Vijayakumar, a dental surgeon who is also treasurer of

Petpositive, said animal-assisted therapy is not about performing

miracles. Illnesses and problems are not going to disappear overnight.

 

" What we want to do is put a smile on someone's face, " he explained.

" I strongly believe that laughter is the best medicine. "

 

 

Dr Vijayakumar was one of the volunteers who helped to set up the

aquarium in Lim's home. He said the aquarium benefits both mother and

child.

 

" For us, it might seem like a very normal thing, but for them, it is

something out of the ordinary that helps them to break out of their

routine and monotony, " he said.

 

He has a large aquarium in his home, which he said helps him to

relieve stress after a hard day's work. He also has three dogs.

 

" You tend to be more relaxed when you have your dogs around you, " said

Dr Vijayakumar. " If you approach your dog when you are angry, he will

understand that you're not going to play with him. But when he jumps

on you, you start to forget your problems. You can't help but

reciprocate and hug him. And you will become more relaxed and your

blood pressure would definitely decrease. "

 

Dr Vijayakumar related how a patient of his, who is in the early

stages of Parkinson's disease, maintains a fish pond, which helps him

take his mind off his illness.

 

" Once you're diagnosed with Parkinson's, you tend to fall into

depression, " said Dr Vijayakumar. " Despite his limited movement, he

cleans the pond himself. Although it takes a longer time for him to do

it, he does it because it helps to prevent his body from becoming

stiff. Also, he doesn't sit around and get depressed thinking about

his condition. That gets him out of his depression. "

 

Another Petpositive volunteer, rehabilitation physician Dr Nazirah

Hasnan, deals with those with spinal-cord injuries and has often seen

how patients slip into denial, anger, depression and disbelief.

Because of one of her patients, she was prompted to find out more

about animal-assisted therapy. She believes animal-assisted therapy

has a place in rehabilitation and as part of the overall treatment of

a patient, but cautions that it should not be the sole therapy for a

patient.

 

" With animal-assisted therapy, you need to have goals, what you want

to achieve with a certain patient, " said Dr Nazirah, who is also

advisor to Petpositive. " When you know that, then you want to figure

out which animal is best. You must also have some kind of assessment

to see how effective it is. "

 

Although dogs are the most useful, all kinds of animals are used in

animal-assisted therapy, from birds to fish to rabbits.

 

She said animal-assisted therapy first started in the 1700s in a

mental asylum where barnyard animals were used to help patients gain

control over themselves. Later, the Germans used animals to help

epileptic patients. During World War II, the Americans used dogs to

comfort wounded soldiers and provide emotional and psychological

support.

 

" So, initially, it was about trying to get people to move again, "

explained Dr Nazirah. " Horses were also used, in what is called

hippotherapy, which helps people with their balance and posture.

Later, it was discovered that it also helps to build self-confidence

and improve the sensory aspects, through the stroking of the horse.

Dogs were also used to help in speech and voice training, by having

patients verbally give instructions to the dogs. "

 

Dr Nazirah has seen, first-hand, how dogs were used in therapy while

working in a hospital in Australia.

 

At a German rehabilitation centre that she visited, there were two

resident dog therapists. Apart from the social and psychological

aspects of therapy, the dogs were also trained to walk with the

patients and to pace themselves according to the patients' movements.

 

" I believe animal-assisted therapy is the way forward at the moment, "

said Dr Vijayakumar. " It cannot replace modern medicine but it is an

added therapy. "