Therapy Cats for my austistic brother?

My brother is the sweetest, most intelligent, most loving boy in the world. He also has autism, which makes him a little shy and not that social. He doesn't really have any friends. That was, until Fatty came (he doesn't have the same bond with Kitty-black is his least favorite color, but he still is gentle). At first he was quite wary of them and maybe even scared. Then, one day I saw him with a toy camera and telling Fatty to "open your mouth and smile". Fatty remained completely docile and started to purr. Since then, he sings to them, plays with her, and when she hides under the bed, my (shrimpy) brother climbs under there and cuddles with her. Right now they are playing "blocks" to build a house for Fatty. I was looking around on MS Word earlier, and I noticed a document that said, "Fatty good kitty". This was what he wrote:

Andrew loves Fatty
Andrew likes Fatty's paws because they are pink
Andrew likes to play with her

She is a great cat
She's cool
She rocks

Mom calls her Maddie
Julia calls her Fatty
Andrew is very gentle with her

the end

I started to say "AW" about a million times. I am glad he has such a gentle companion.

Originally Posted by Bella713

OMG, that brought tears to my eyes, Bless his sweet heart

I'm so glad Fatty is a source of comfort for him

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Thank you. It made me cry (tears of joy, of course), too. He is such a smart and kind boy and I love him to death.

That is so beautiful and sweet. You and your brother just made my day. Thank you so much for sharing.

Thanks for sharing

regards, Christine

Oh, that is sooo incredibly sweet. Bless his heart. Thank you for sharing that with us.

What a wonderful story! Animals can really work wonders for autistic children. I have read stories of children who never speak that will talk to animals, then gradually to people as well.

Fatty is a wonderful kitty!

Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Laurie

It is amazing what animals can accomplish. Thank you for sharing that with us.

Hi Zane,

most autistic people are perfectly safe and friendly and it does sound like fattykitties familiy loves him and the cats to pieces.

I'm sure Andrew is perfectly safe with both cats .

regards,

Christine

Originally Posted by Zane's Pal

My late cousin was autistic, and when I read this article I got chills down my spine. This never happened wth him, and I don't know how my aunt would have coped with it if it had. I know that not all autistic people go this way, but it is not unknown.

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I'm sorry, but this is pretty offensive. My brother is perfectly safe. He might swat someone if he's REALLY mad, but that's rare. He has never, ever touched the cat violently. We have paid attention to his emotions and have given him ways to cope with his anger. I doubt he'd ever injure a human, let alone his fuzzy little cat that he loves. In any case, austistic people are not prone to violence more than the general population.