Working-Class Cats

Two homeless cats find jobs, thanks to 14-year-old boy.

In these hard economic times, job-winning traits are: a high-level of training, undying loyalty, and above all else, the willingness to work for practically nothing.

Sounds like a dog, but cats are starting to close the gap. Today, more and more cats are stepping out of traditional roles as mouser and barn cat to become therapy animals.

Fourteen-year-old Samuel, an entreprenerial-spirited teen with Asperger’s Syndrome, has already trained two service cats.

“Cats are smaller and not as noisy and a lot of kid’s who have Asperger’s don’t like a lot of noise,” according Samuel.

How can cats help the autistic? Surprisingly, in may ways. Samuel trains cats to initiate play, recognize and interrupt repetitive or compulsive behavior, distract an autistic individual frustrated by a certain task and to provide all the comfort of a lap cat.

Currently, Samuel is training two kittens he rescued from the side of the road. His truly inspirational mission is twofold: To provide trained therapy cats to special-needs children and adults while simultaneously giving abandoned and rescued cats a second chance. It’s a win-win situation.

He hopes to bring his idea to reality, building not just an empire, but a kingdom via online marketing. Visit his company, Tenure Kingdom, online at www.freewebs.com/tenerekingdom.

Just like dogs, cats are branching out in the job market too.

The Orlando Sentinel covered the story of a working-class kitty, Pushette Pudie. Companion to Arizona-transplant Gayle Knowlton, Pushette is not only trained to detect oncoming seizures, but to help avert them by gently stroking her owner’s face. Knowlton’s seizures are brought on by severe anxiety and panics attacks, but as a cat vendor, a service dog didn’t seem the likely fit. She trained her first assistance cat more than 10 years ago.

Just wait. The next Top Dogs of the working world might just be cats.

Note: The book “How to Speed Train Your Cat,”  co-written by Samuel, is available online for $5.50.