Home care provider's therapy cat becomes an internet sensation

A six-month-old kitten called Quita, who is training to be a therapy cat for a London home care provider, has become an internet sensation after her photos appeared on Instagram.

When Quita is fully trained, she will help to boost the health and wellbeing of elderly and disabled people cared for by Penrose Care in North London.

During her training walks around the capital, Quita has already met comedian Ricky Gervais.

The ragdoll kitten also met London Mayor Sadiq Khan at London's City Hall when Robert Stephenson-Padron, managing director of Penrose Care, attended a social care meeting with key policy makers.

Mr Stephenson-Padron said: “We originally purchased Quita to simply make the office environment more uplifting.

“It was my aunt, Carlotta Lincoln, a nurse in California, USA who suggested we train Quita to be a therapy pet. Her training involves getting her used to changing her environment and meeting strangers. We believed this would be a good addition to the Penrose Care team given the evidence of the power of pet therapy.”

As well as having thousands of followers on Instagram, one of Quita’s video’s on a bus on Tik Tok has over 420,000 views.

Animal assisted therapy also known as pet therapy has been shown to reduce pain, stress and anxiety in people with health problems.

When Rosie who has cerebral palsy met Quita, she said “Every bad day I’ve had this week is just gone”.

Mr Stephenson-Padron recently took Quita up to Edinburgh, saying: “It was very heart-warming to see Quita bring so much joy to so many different people while she was in Edinburgh. At the same time, she visibly had a very enjoyable time – particularly liking travelling on the train to and from Edinburgh. We believe her training is going very well indeed.”

Quita will not be ready for formal pet therapy until she reaches one year of age in January 2020. Until then, Quita will continue her outdoor adventures, morale boosting visits to organisations, and ad hoc invited therapy sessions which are all part of her training.

Mr Stephenson-Padron has taught Quita, a ragdoll cross-breed to walk on a lead. When she is fully trained, people cared for by Penrose Care will be able to request visits from Quita, with Mr Stephenson-Padron saying: “We want her to keep bringing smiles to as many people as possible.”

Penrose Care has been hailed by the Living Wage Foundation as a leader in the care industry, and was rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, earlier this year.

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