Bay Harbour: September 27, 2023
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<strong>Bay</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong> News Wednesday <strong>September</strong> <strong>27</strong> <strong>2023</strong><br />
6<br />
NEWS<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Hospital Harry turns 12<br />
• By Sasha Watson<br />
HARRY IS a favourite among<br />
staff, visitors and patients at<br />
Burwood Hospital.<br />
When he turned 12 recently,<br />
he got what every cat dreams<br />
of: Many cans of tuna – as well<br />
as fan mail from all over the<br />
country, birthday cards, cat toys,<br />
and treats.<br />
Harry has been a popular and<br />
permanent fixture at the hospital<br />
for about nine years.<br />
“We spent the first year with<br />
Harry, who was about three at<br />
the time, trying to get him back<br />
home. He decided he’d like to<br />
live at the hospital and never<br />
left,” said primary carer, clinical<br />
manager of occupational therapy<br />
Cherie Porter.<br />
The fluffy, long-haired moggy<br />
once belonged to a family who<br />
lived nearby, but they officially<br />
gifted Harry to the hospital after<br />
he decided that living there was<br />
more fun than going home.<br />
“Harry is very good at finding<br />
the people who need him most.<br />
He is very tolerant, he often gets<br />
pestered multiple times a day by<br />
patients but he never hisses, or<br />
bites,” said Porter.<br />
“He will sit next to those<br />
feeling anxious before an<br />
appointment – he’s just a lovelynatured<br />
cat who is perfect for a<br />
hospital environment.”<br />
Porter said Harry brings<br />
a sense of homeliness and<br />
reassurance to a traumatic and<br />
daunting situation, and he puts<br />
people at ease.<br />
“Patients often try to find<br />
him during the day to pet, he’s<br />
become a source of motivation as<br />
well,” said Porter.<br />
Occupational therapy assistant<br />
Michael Keown said Harry has<br />
become a therapy cat to many<br />
recovering from mental health<br />
issues and dubbed him “the<br />
coolest cat in town”.<br />
“He offers a sensory experience<br />
to those who have closed<br />
off parts of their emotional<br />
wellness,” Keown said.<br />
Occupational therapist Pip<br />
Dow is another of Harry’s carers.<br />
“A lot of people are surprised<br />
to see a cat in a hospital,” she<br />
said.<br />
“But Harry is well-received, so<br />
well received in fact, he has been<br />
put on a special diet for many<br />
years due to being very good<br />
BIRTHDAY: Burwood<br />
Hospital’s celebrity cat Harry<br />
celebrated reaching the age<br />
of 12 with patients and staff,<br />
and tuna.<br />
(like most cats) at putting on a<br />
hungry face.”<br />
Harry has been featured in<br />
the Canterbury District Health<br />
Board’s online staff newsletters<br />
and even has his own Facebook<br />
page.<br />
• Follow ‘Harry the<br />
Burwood Hospital cat’ on<br />
his Facebook page<br />
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