Assisted Animal Therapy (AAT), also known as pet therapy, is the use of certified cats and dogs as volunteers for the disabled, elderly, or frail. It can be especially useful in the hospice setting for patients who are simply fond of animals or have withdrawn from the people around them but find interacting with an animal easier and less painful.
Hospice patients sometimes turn inward and withdraw from loved ones and the world around them as a way to ease the transition towards death. Talking to loved ones might become difficult and painful, but interacting with a friendly animal is easy and offers a temporary reprieve.
