ANIMAL MAGIC................

PETS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE A CALMING INFLUENCE... NOW THEIR HEALING PROPERTIES HAVE BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED BY DOCTORS AND THEY WORK MIRACLES FOR CHILDREN IN HOSPITAL.........

Kirsty Reid does not have a lot to smile about. Last month the bone in her right thigh snapped when she and her disabled mother were hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing. Kirsty will need six or seven weeks in traction and many more weeks of physiotherapy before she can walk properly again. Today though, the 11 year old is beaming as a special visitor pads in to the Kingfisher Unit at Chase Farm Hospital, North London. "Shh, dont tell the nurses" she whispers conspiratorially as a blanket is laid out on her bed and Shadow, an immaculately groomed border collie, leaps up beside her. Actually, the nurses are in on the secret! Shadow, Willow the rabbit, and guinea pigs Laa Laa and Po, are regular visitors to the Kingfisher Unit. The animals are brought in by volunteers from CHATA - The Children In Hospital and Animal Therapy Association - and they are as much a part of ward routine as doctors rounds and meal trolleys.

Shadow is quite simply "a miracle worker" according to Hilda Reid, Kirstys' mother. "The first time the dog had been there I couldnt believe the change. Kirsty had been miserable for a week and in an awful lot of pain. After she'd seen Shadow, there was a complete transformation, as if someone had taken away the sad Kirsty and brought back a completely different child."

Astonishingly, animal theraphy has been recorded since the 9th Century when doctors in Flanders encouraged disabled patients to look after animals to "re-establish the harmony of soul and body."   Today there is growing evidence that contact with animals can speed recovery times and combat depression. Research at the University of Zagreb revealed that Croatian children caught up in the Balkans conflict were more able to deal with the traumatic experiences they had witnessed if they owned an animal. In Britain, and many other countries, animals are routinely taken into old peoples' homes to boost the morale of both residents and staff. It was during one such visit that the idea for CHATA was born. The charitys' founder Sandra Stone, a childrens' nurse for 21 years, was helping a friend take two dog "visitors" round an elderly peoples' home when she was struck by the impact the animals had on everyone. "As we made our way around the room, the level of conversation rose and there was a wonderful atmosphere - everyone just looked so much happier" she says. "We were about to leave when I noticed a gentleman sitting a little away from everyone else. He had only said half-a-dozen words in all the months he had been there." When Sandra took the dogs up to him "it was like opening the floodgates. He started to feel them, running his hands down their bodies, putting his arms around their necks, talking to them. He began to talk about dogs he had owned. It was very, very moving and it really made me think about the value of animals. Those dogs were the key to releasing so many emotions" she says. Like all mothers, Sandra had often used the family pets to treat tears. As she watched the old man emerge from his solitary world she became convinced that animals could be used to help seriously ill children. "I realised there was so much untapped opportunity for therapy" she explains. She approached a number of London hospitals. Some welcomed the diversion but wanted to keep the animals in a playroom. "If you put animals in that setting they're seen as toys; children want to dress them up or put bandages on them. That's not what we're about" says Sandra firmly.  Dr Melinda Edwards, a consultant paediatric psychologist who has pioneered animal therapy in the childrens' wards of Guys Hospital, London, agrees. "They're much more than a play item or a distraction" she says. "I witness so many benefits. When children are in hospital for a long time they lose contact with what it is like to be an ordinary child - everything focuses on their body and treatment. Animals allow them to be ordinary for a while."

CHATA volunteers take animals to Guys every week and visits are arranged to make sure they are targeted at the children most in need - some long term patients, many terminally ill. Animals have helped to rouse youngsters from coma and are even taken into the intensive care unit. On one occasion, a little girl who needed a heart transplant agreed to surgery only on the condition that she could see a chinchilla when she came round - CHATA fixed it and she has now fully recovered.

At first there had been doubts about the animals transmitting infection, but they are thoroughly checked by vets and Sandra follows a strict protocol agreed with each hospitals' infection control unit. If ward visits cannot be arranged, children who are well enough to leave hospital can also take part in day trips and outings organised around animals.

A study is now being set up at Guys to try and pinpoint just how animals can exert such a positive influence on our health. Melinda Edwards believes the volunteers (all of whom must have childcare, or teaching or medical experience) also play an important role. "It's not enough to have the animal and child, you need a skilled adult facilitator to pick up on things the child says and relate that back to them." For instance, a child who comforts an animal may be acting out their own anxiety. By gently drawing them out - asking what frightens the animal for instance - volunteers can encourage children to voice their own fears. Often it's a case of recognising an oblique reference to an incident which has upset the youngster - a clumsily taken blood test, for instance, or a harassed medic not finding time to explain things fully. Sandra believes the animals help give control back to the child. "When an animal comes on to the ward the childs' role changes - they become the carer, not the patient being cared for. The child can feed and groom it - even if it's only for 15 minutes. It is also a focus for the child to talk about their own pets, or experiences with animals. They can direct the conversation, not simply answer questions about their illness or injury." Dr Edwards says "For some children, life is a horror movie which they cant switch off and they just get totally unresponsive, but Sandra putting rabbits on the bed and chatting away can turn a totally unresponsive child into a positive outgoing one. Animals break down barriers." In some cases, animals can get through when nothing else can. The children of a Vietnamese refugee family were eight, six and four when Sandra first met them. They had witnessed terrible hardship during their escape and then suffered, at the hands of a violent father. At a safe haven, all three elected to become mute. They would not communicate with their mother, their teachers, other children or even with each other. A CHATA rabbit made them smile for the first time but it was the squeaky noises of a guinea pig which really hit the mark! "I started telling them what each noise meant - I made it up half the time - and the children began to imitate them" remembers Sandra. "They began to speak in whispers at first to each other and then to their mother." They are now all back at school, joining in happily.

It is not just ill or traumatised children who can benefit from contact with animals. Researchers at the University of New York at Buffalo found that pet owners in general have a lower resting heart rate and blood pressure than those who dont keep animals; they also recover from stress more quickly than non pet owners. Pets might even help prevent marriage breakdowns - another study at Buffalo revealed that pet owning couples had closer relationships and were more satisfied with their marriages.

YUKI

Adorable Yuki, a five month old Akita, is training to be a therapy dog. We wish her lots of luck and know that she will bring a lot of love and comfort to many people. Please watch this space for news of Yuki's progress! Good Luck Yuki and God Bless you

Sincere thanks to Barbara for supplying this beautiful photograph of Yuki

Please visit K9Treasures where you can purchase beautiful animal related products and at the same time you will be supporting the Akita Animal Rescue Group. Thank You.

FOR INFORMATION OR TO SUPPORT THE CHARITYS WORK, PLEASE SEND AN SAE TO:  CHATA, 87 LONGLAND DRIVE, TOTTERIDGE, LONDON, N20 8HN.

If you have any similar stories of this kind to relate to other people please send them to me and I will put them on this page..... thank you.

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31/03/01