Bea knows how to make them feel better 🐱
One of six cats, Bea lives and works at the Look Ahead Vet in Oroville, California.
“The girls are Elfie, Uno, Bea and Peggy, and the males are OJ and Theo,” Crystal Bessmer, the vet at the animal hospital, told The Dodo.
“They each were brought to us at various times by different clients. They were all found as stray kittens, and most of them had severe injuries.”
The crew of cats are one big happy family when they are together, with free run of the animal hospital, they play a vital role in helping patients and their owners to feel better.
“It’s a fairly big indoor hospital, so they have lots of room to run and explore,” says Crystal.
“We all care for them throughout the day with love and snuggles, and our clients absolutely adore them. They’ve been very therapeutic for our clients and for us.”
Bea’s job is to pet each animal in the hospital on her rounds – the ‘Head of Nursing’.
“She’s always so curious and so gentle,” Crystal said.
“She loves to walk up to them and often just puts her hand in slowly to check them out. Oftentimes she’ll even pet them.”
“She definitely loves everyone, especially the new kitten, Peggy,” she added.
“She’s always been like that, too. She never seems to be afraid of anything either — even the really big farm animals.”
Each of the six cats plays their part to help with the smooth running of the hospital.
“Theo’s definitely the comforter … he can sense when someone is really sad, and he’ll go and sit on their lap,” Bessmer said.
“We call Elfie the head of security because she’s a little spicy and likes to run towards the chaos. OJ is our doorman. He loves to hang out by the door and greet everyone.”
“Uno is our babysitter. She loves to watch puppies and kittens especially and keep an eye on them.”
“Lastly, our new edition, Peggy. She’s still pretty young, so we call her the ‘hospital Cat in training’ or ‘intern.’”
The furry felines also give the humans in the hospital the support they need.
“We’re all very close to them because we work long hours here,” Bessmer said.
“Most of us are here more than we are at home, so we treat them like they’re our own, which basically they are.”
