 Karma and Jamey - a retired racing greyhound - on Day 5 after Karma's arrival. |
Karma - destined to be a PALS cat
Update April 27, 2003 - Karma passed his PALS screening and he is now a PALS cat - one of a very select few! (Most PALS pets are dogs.) He is now allowed to do pet therapy visits. Tineke will take him on nursing home visits first, so Karma can become comfortable with his new role. Then he will also go to the Children's Hospital for the organized chaos of visiting with kids. Congratulations to Tineke and Karma!
About Karma and his new home
Karma is one of five orphaned kittens who were found in a hole under the foundation of a house. They were hand-raised in a lively MEOW-volunteer foster home with teens, dogs and cats. The family fed the kittens replacement milk until they were weaned, and gave them plenty of tender loving care. These beautiful kittens became well socialized and friendly, and all found homes through MEOW when they were old enough to go out on their own.
Karma was adopted at 5-months old by Tineke, who volunteers with PALS - the Pet Access League Society. She takes her pets visiting to the Children's Hospital and seniors' homes. She was looking for a kitten who would fit in with her existing pets and who had potential to become a pet therapy cat. She chose Karma for his easygoing friendliness, and he went to live in her multi-pet home. Meet the gang:
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Dogs
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| Age | PALS pet | Age | PALS pet | ||||
| Misty | 16.5 | Yes | Bailey | 11.5 | Labrador | Yes | |
| Foggy | 15.5 | Retired | Heidi | 5.5 | Labrador | Not yet | |
| Jasper | 7.5 | Yes | Jamey | 3 | Greyhound (retired racer) |
Not yet | |
| Jet | 7.5 | Yes | |||||
Tineke's dogs are used to living with cats, and her cats are used to living with dogs. They are all well-trained and friendly to both people and other animals. They are relaxed and calm in unusual situations, and they are not skittish or shy. Jamey is a "cat-safe" Greyhound, and lives peacefully with Tineke's cats. Even so, before Karma came home, Tineke thought a lot about every aspect of introducing the new kitten to the rest of the gang. The introductions took five weeks before the animals were all allowed to be together loose and unsupervised all the time. With other animals, these introductions could take even longer!
Tineke's 5-week introduction program
Week 1 - first introductions |
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| Day 1-2 |
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| Day 3 |
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 Heidi meets Karma. |
| Day 4 |
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| Day 5 |
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| Day 6 |
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| Day 7 |
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 Foggy comes in to visit Karma (in cage) while Jasper looks on. |
Week 2 - integration week
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| Day 8 |
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| Day 9 |
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| Day 10 |
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| Day 11-12 |
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 Karma in his little round bed in the pen in the living room. Misty is in the large bed. |
| Day 13-14 |
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Weeks 3 to 4 - settling in |
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Week 5 - nearly there |
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The animals all get along fine now. Foggy has become somewhat of a mommy to Karma. She lets him do almost anything except tackle her. Misty is OK with him too, unless he startles her. Six-pound Karma has decided that 18-pound Jasper is his best wrestling buddy, and Jasper enjoys it. Jet and Karma are "I'll race you down the hall" kind of buddies now. The dogs are totally fine with him, as you can see from these pictures taken in the first week.
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Karma and Heidi |
 Karma and Bailey |
 Jamey and Karma |
 Karma and Misty |
Karma follows Heidi everywhere. He absolutely adores her. He holds her face between his paws and grooms her. He plays with her tail. He sleeps between her front paws. If Heidi is sleeping on her side, Karma will walk on top of her and then sit on her side and knead away - Heidi loves it!
Karma's PALS training and testing
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| Karma and his dog buddies - love those pajamas on Jamey! |
Karma will probably become one of a rare breed - less than 4% of PALS pets are cats (roughly 12 cats to 300 dogs). And Karma's roommates - Misty, Jasper and Jet - are 3 of those 12 PALS cats!
Karma won't be tested for suitability as a PALS pet until he is a year old. Meanwhile Tineke is training him to be mellow. When he snuggles, she will occasionally pinch his toes, or pull his ears or tail. She turns him on his back frequently and holds him up over her head, things most cats don't like. He often goes for car rides in a cat carrier to get him used to travelling. Eventually, Tineke will help him get comfortable with a collar and then a harness and leash, required for pet-therapy visits. Karma also gets picked up often for plenty of hugs and kisses to get him well accustomed to much affectionate human contact.
When he is old enough, Karma will go for his PALS test. He will probably be the only cat in a smallish room full of dogs and people. If he remains totally at ease there, he goes to a private room for further testing. A stranger in a wheelchair will pick him up. He will get his toes pinched, and his ears and tail pulled to see how he takes it. Then he will be encouraged to jump off the lap to see if he uses his claws. He will be flipped on his back to see if that makes him struggle. They will test how he behaves if startled by a loud noise. If he passes all these tests, his temperment will be OKed for pet therapy. He will be retested every 5 years until he is 10, and then every year as long as he's doing pet therapy.
Karma's looking forward to joining Jasper, Jet and Bailey to visit sick children and seniors. Misty's looking forward to passing the torch to Karma and retiring after 12 years as a PALS cat. Karma will surely be a ray of sunshine for people who badly need a little cheering up.
Visit the PALS website for more information about this volunteer program.
You can check on Karma's progress at his own website. And he has his own email address so he can keep in touch with his special friends!
