Vietnam Vet helped with PTSD by service-cat

Why not? There are "dog people" and dogs have been used to help so why not cats?

Cat soothes PTSD for Vietnam veteran

By Mike Baird - Corpus Christi Caller-Times via Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Nov 5, 2008 15:05:48 EST

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder received an unconventional prescription in July.

“John McGahey needs a service pet,” his physician wrote. “He plans on using a cat. This pet is allowed to travel with Mr. McGahey anywhere.”

The last part of the prescription has been the toughest to fill. The 53-year-old former medical corpsman has been denied access to some public places with Patch, his 6-month-old white male service cat.

“It’s not like I’m trying to take an alligator with me,” McGahey said. “I just want people to know service animals can be other than dogs.”

McGahey was first diagnosed in the late 1970s after treatment in Philadelphia Naval Hospital. “I have a lot of flashbacks,” he said. “I get paranoid in public, and petting Patch helps keep me calm. When I’m ripping the bed apart at night he licks me.”

Stress disorder such as McGahey’s develops in some people after an event that caused or threatened serious harm or death, according to the National Institute on Mental Health.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_servicecat_110508/