Cats are wonderful companions to many, and these furry felines are popular pets to solo individuals and large families. Cats have distinctive personalities and generally bond strongly with their owners, which might make you wonder whether your cat can be a service animal. Our article gives you insight into cats as service animals, the support tasks cats can perform, and answers your frequently asked questions about kitty companions and their benefits.
What Are Service Animals?
Service animals are animals that are trained to perform specific disability-related tasks in order to relieve the symptoms of a certain disability. Some of the most well-known service dog tasks are guidance support for the visually or hearing impaired, medical alert service dogs, and psychiatric service dogs. Service animals are generally dogs or miniature horses, and only these two are qualified to be federally protected service animals according to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Can a Cat Be a Service Animal?
Cats may be wonderful companions and very supportive to individuals with certain conditions. However, cats are still not eligible to be considered service animals and receive the federal protections that service animal classification brings. Your cat cannot be trained to complete specific disability-related tasks, they are not able to guide humans or be brought into the public as they perform service dog work, and they generally don’t have the temperament to be a service animal. Only dogs and miniature horses are recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act as service animals, and no matter how well you train your cat, they will not be eligible to take advantage of federally protected service animal rights.
Service Cats: What Your Feline Companion Can Do
While cats aren’t qualified to be service animals in the same sense that service dogs are able to help their humans, they may still provide benefits to individuals in need. Below, we give some details on the two most popular jobs for support cats.
Emotional Support Animal
Cats are very well-suited to emotional support animal work, and cats don’t need to be trained in any way to act as emotional support animals. Your feline companion can provide you comfort, stress relief, and a sense of routine in addition to relieving stress or other negative emotions as they spend time with you. Many individuals with mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, or chronic stress benefit from the presence of an emotional support animal in their lives.
Therapy Cat
Therapy cats are cats that have the tolerance to travel to new places and meet individuals to provide them with therapy or live in an environment such as a nursing home to provide comfort and support to residents. Therapy cats cuddle up with residents or allow individuals to pet them, take naps alongside individuals, and generally relieve stress and brighten the days of individuals in need of a little boost.
Are There Laws That Protect My Support Cat?
If your cat is officially registered as an emotional support animal, they are eligible for protection by the Fair Housing Act. This act is designed to prevent discrimination among individuals who need to live with their companion animals in order to relieve the specific symptoms of mental health conditions or disabilities but who don’t need a fully trained service dog.
The Fair Housing Act guarantees you and your support cat can live together in a suitable housing area and that landlords or rental agencies must make reasonable accommodations for you to live alongside your cat.
Previously, the Air Carrier Access Act protected emotional support animals and allowed you to bring your support cat into a plane cabin with you without paying extra fees. However, recent changes to this law have made it so that accepting emotional support cats is now done on a case-by-case basis, and you may need to register your ESA as a pet plus pay certain fees to ensure they can fly alongside you in the air cabin. Contact your chosen airline directly for more details about traveling with your emotional support cat.
Does the Americans With Disabilities Act Apply to My Cat?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not apply to your cat, as the ADA only covers service animals for individuals with disabilities. Under this federal regulation, only dogs and miniature horses can be service animals, and your service animal must be trained to complete disability-related tasks that are specific to a disability, such as guidance for the hearing or visually impaired.
Because cats cannot adequately be trained to complete most service animal tasks, and they don’t have the size and strength needed for service animal work, they are not protected by the ADA. Only the Fair Housing Act protects cats that are officially registered as emotional support animals.
FAQs About Service Cats
Service cats and cats as companion animals tend to raise a lot of questions. Review our answers to frequently asked questions about service cats for more details about these wonderful felines.
Can I Train My Cat?
Training your cat is possible, but this can be a difficult process to undertake. Some cats may train more easily than others, while some cats will never want to work with you fully and learn; it all depends on your cat’s specific personality and motivation to learn or focus on new tasks.
If you attempt to train your cat, keep in mind that they likely won’t be able to learn more complex tasks, and it is highly unlikely that your cat will learn specific disability-related tasks in the same way that dogs can. This is simply due to differences in domestication, personality, and motivations.
How Do Support Cats Benefit Their Owners?
Owning cats as a pet and as emotional support animals brings many benefits to individuals who may be suffering from certain mental health conditions. Scientific studies have shown that when cats act as emotional support animals for individuals with anxiety, depression, chronic stress, PTSD, and OCD, certain symptoms are relieved, and the individuals report an overall happier or more relaxed daily experience.
When owning an emotional support cat, you can benefit from their presence, the comfort they provide, and the routine that cat ownership brings without the added stress or care needs that a dog has, such as daily walks.
Can I Live With My Support Cat?
It is possible to live with your support cat wherever you need to, even in areas that have pet or breed restrictions. The Fair Housing Act protects your right to live alongside your emotional support animal, and once your cat is officially registered as an ESA, you won’t be required to pay any pet rent, pet deposits, or extra pet fees.
Keep in mind that your emotional support cat may still be denied if they are out of control, dangerous, or destructive. You will also likely need to pay for any damage that your ESA causes to an apartment or home.
How Do I Register My Cat as an Emotional Support Animal?
Registering your cat as an emotional support animal is essential if you wish to take advantage of your Fair Housing Act rights and ensure your ESA lives alongside you in any apartment or rented home. If you want to register your cat as an emotional support animal, you must first meet with a licensed mental healthcare provider in your state. They will determine your eligibility for an ESA and help you with a treatment plan that aims to treat and relieve any symptoms of your specific mental health condition.
Once you have been approved for an emotional support animal, your mental healthcare provider will provide you with a letter stating your need. You can use this letter as you move into rented housing or speak with your landlord about living with your emotional support animal; this letter helps you access your federally protected fair housing rights.
Can I Receive a Certificate Online for My ESA?
It is possible to receive a certificate online for your emotional support animal, but you should keep in mind that only a mental healthcare provider licensed in your state can give you an official ESA letter. Suppose you meet with your provider virtually, and they provide you with an official letter and certificate. In that case, this is acceptable, and you will be able to use your letter to request accommodation as needed.
However, if an online website is charging a huge amount of money for a certificate, you don’t get to meet with a mental health provider, or you receive a generic templated letter or certificate, this is likely to be a scam. Only a doctor or mental healthcare provider licensed in your state can provide you with an official letter registering your cat as an emotional support animal.
Benefiting From Your Kitty Companion
While only dogs and miniature horses are legally allowed to be service animals and protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, cats are still beneficial companions to many. Your kitty companion may be a wonderful emotional support animal, and some felines are suited to the job of therapy cats.
If you could benefit from an emotional support cat, your first step is to speak to a licensed mental healthcare provider in your state. They will help you figure out a treatment plan and provide you with the next steps on officially registering your kitty companion as an ESA so you can benefit from their companionship no matter where you live.