![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/81154abf9824489863fb5a796c3bfbca.jpeg\"\/)
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A Calico Ragamuffin looks at the camera from a woman’s lap.Image via Shutterstock/Pencil case<\/p>\n
In an Instagram post via @fluffymuffinpumpkin, sweet Pumpkin shows why she’s a certifiable good girl by sharing her healing gifts with college students in need. The Calico Ragamuffin recently attended a therapy pop-up for World Mental Health Day, giving NYC students the chance to destress in 10-minute sessions.<\/p>\n
The result? The students felt calmer, happier, and grateful for the purrs, pets, and cuddles from the sweet Calico cat<\/a>. What could be better than that?<\/p>\n “As a psychologist myself, I know this work is so rewarding and important,” Mom Savanna Nicaise tells Parade Pets. “So often we hear people say that being with Pumpkin made their day!”<\/p>\n The gorgeous girl has been working with Pet Partners as a certified therapy cat<\/a> since July 2024, but she’s been working as a kitty therapist for years. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to get cat certified as a therapist, Nicaise explains they must be:<\/p>\n Have lived with their handlers for at least 6 months<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Possess the right calming temperament, which includes being OK with receiving pets and attention from others<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n It’s obvious Pumpkin heard the call for assistance and said, “Hold my treats” because she’s a natural!<\/p>\n Related: Ragdoll Cat With Sparkling Turquoise Eyes Shows off Adorable ‘Puss in Boots’ Costume<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The 5-year-old kitty is a Boston babe at heart and born during the height of the pandemic. But now, she’s a true-blue San Francisco girl living her best kitty life.<\/p>\n When she’s not making everyone’s day better, Pumpkin loves exploring the outdoors on a leash<\/a>, kayaking, and camping! She also enjoys traveling to see new sights and meet as many people as she can (bringing more smiles, no doubt).<\/p>\n About Purina’s ‘Cats As Therapy Project’<\/p>\n “Purina Cat Chow launched the ‘CATS AS THERAPY PROJECT<\/a>‘ with Pet Partners to promote mental well-being through the healing power of cats,” says Project Purina scientist and Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, Annie Valuska, PhD CAAB. The project aims ‘to highlight the healing power of cats and help bring more therapy cats to people who need them.'”<\/p>\n They’re currently helping “expand their number of therapy cat<\/a> teams across the country to help reduce stress, ease loneliness, and support mental health for people of all ages,” Valuska added.<\/p>\n Students looking for a soothing kitty like Pumpkin should check with Student Life, adds Annie Peters, President and CEO\/Pet Partners. And if there’s not one, request to create one!<\/p>\n If you think your kitty might make the purffect therapy cat, visit catchow.com\/catproject<\/a>\u00a0to learn how to apply. As for Pumpkin, give that girl a raise for all the good work she’s doing\u2014or at least endless treats (which she fully deserves)!<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc36<\/a>SIGN UP to get \u201cpawsitivity\u201d delivered right to your inbox with inspiring & entertaining stories about our furry & feathered friends<\/strong><\/a>\ud83d\udc3e\ud83d\udc3e<\/a><\/p>\n This story was originally reported by Parade Pets<\/a> on Oct 17, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News<\/a> section. Add Parade Pets as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pets have long since been at the forefront of comfort. It’s why some of us (me!) fill our…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":314672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[158318,158319,23930,210,517,158320,158323,158321,158322,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-314671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-calico-cat","9":"tag-calico-ragamuffin","10":"tag-cat","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-mental-health","13":"tag-pet-partners","14":"tag-purina","15":"tag-ragamuffin","16":"tag-therapy-project","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115397933845177207","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n\n