第2058期:Woman, Cat Help Others through Therapy

Every day Juanita Mengel, a 67-year-old woman from the state of Ohio, wakes up and puts on her manufactured leg. The device is called a prosthetic. 来自俄亥俄州的 67 岁妇女胡安妮塔·门格尔每天醒来都会穿上她的人造腿。 该装置称为假肢。 Then, Mengel does the same for Lola-Pearl, her colorful five-year-old cat. Lola-Pearl is missing her back left leg. 然后，门格尔对她五岁的色彩斑斓的猫洛拉珀尔做了同样的事情。 洛拉·珀尔失去了她的左后腿。 Mengel has many cats. Most of them have disabilities. But Lola-Pearl is special. She is a therapy cat. And, she and Mengel are partners of a kind. They are among 200 therapy cat teams registered in the United States by the nonprofit group, Pet Partners. 门格尔有很多只猫。 他们大多数都有残疾。 但 Lola-Pearl 很特别。 她是一只治疗猫。 而且，她和门格尔是某种意义上的合作伙伴。 他们是非营利组织 Pet Partners 在美国注册的 200 个治疗猫团队之一。 The group helps humans and pets alike by setting them up into teams to provide animal-assisted intervention. The teams visit hospitals, nursing homes and schools and assist those in need. 该组织通过将人类和宠物分成小组来提供动物辅助干预，从而帮助人类和宠物。 这些团队走访医院、疗养院和学校，为有需要的人提供帮助。Taylor Chastain Griffin is national director of animal-assisted interventions at Pet Partners. She said, “A therapy animal is an animal who's been assessed based on their ability to meet new people and not just tolerate the interaction, but actively enjoy it.” 泰勒·查斯坦·格里芬 (Taylor Chastain Griffin) 是 Pet Partners 动物辅助干预部门的全国总监。 她说：“治疗动物是一种根据其结识新朋友的能力进行评估的动物，不仅能容忍互动，而且能积极享受互动。” Chastain Griffin is a researcher who studies the effects of therapy cats. She said there needs to be more research done in cat therapy. She said that there is a lot of research on other therapy animals like dogs, and many people are surprised to learn that cats can be therapy animals too. 查斯坦·格里芬是一位研究治疗猫效果的研究员。 她说需要对猫疗法进行更多研究。 她说，对于狗等其他治疗动物有很多研究，许多人惊讶地发现猫也可以成为治疗动物。 "They go into a setting and people are like, 'Whoa, there's a cat on a leash. What's happening? It kind of inspires people to connect in a way we haven't traditionally heard talked about in other therapy animal interventions,” Chastain Griffin said. “他们进入一个环境，人们会说，‘哇，有一只猫被皮带拴着。发生了什么事？这激发了人们以一种我们在其他动物干预治疗中从未听说过的方式进行联系，”查斯坦 格里芬说道。 Besides dogs and cats, Pet Partners registers seven other species as therapy animals, including horses, rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, birds, mini pigs, and llamas and alpacas. 除了狗和猫之外，Pet Partners 还注册了其他七种动物作为治疗动物，包括马、兔子、老鼠、豚鼠、鸟类、迷你猪、美洲驼和羊驼。Mengel said Lola-Pearl showed signs that she would make a good therapy cat soon after the animal joined her family. Mengel took her new cat to a meeting for amputees. 门格尔说，洛拉·珀尔在加入她的家庭后不久就表现出迹象，表明她将成为一只优秀的治疗猫。 门格尔带着她的新猫去参加截肢者会议。 "She was so good with people I just knew she would be a good therapy cat. People really were attracted to her, too,” Mengel said. “她与人相处得很好，我知道她会成为一只很好的治疗猫。人们也真的被她吸引了，”门格尔说。 Recently people who attended a support group for amputees were able to meet Lola-Pearl. They petted her as she woke up from a rest. On the side of the cat carrier she rode in was a sign: “Therapy Cat” it read. 最近，参加截肢者支持小组的人们能够见到 Lola-Pearl。 当她从休息中醒来时，他们抚摸她。 她乘坐的猫笼一侧有一个牌子：“治疗猫”。Mengel was a traveling nurse when she was in a car accident that almost killed her. One of her legs could not be saved. 门格尔是一名旅行护士，当时她遭遇了一场差点丧命的车祸。 她的一条腿没能保住。Later, she connected with a friend in the state of Missouri who had a severely injured kitten. Her legs were twisted together. An animal medical specialist worked to repair the damage but, in the end, they had to remove one of the baby cat’s legs. 后来，她联系了密苏里州的一位朋友，他养了一只受了重伤的小猫。 她的双腿扭在一起。 一位动物医学专家努力修复损伤，但最终他们不得不切除小猫的一条腿。 That kitten was Lola-Pearl. 那只小猫就是洛拉·珀尔。 Mengel took Lola-Pearl as her cat after talking with her friend. Despite the difficulties Mengel has faced, she is thankful for Lola-Pearl and their work together. 门格尔在和她的朋友交谈后，把洛拉·珀尔当作她的猫。 尽管门格尔面临着困难，但她仍然感谢 Lola-Pearl 以及他们的共同努力。"It's a really rewarding experience," she said, "I get just as much out of it as the people that I visit." “这是一次非常有意义的经历，”她说，“我和我拜访的人一样从中受益匪浅。”