Cancer patients find a new Buddy

A cat who "mews on cue" is helping cancer patients recover, according to his owner, psychologist Dr Maureen Burke.

A clinical counsellor at the University of Queensland, Dr Burke believes she is the first practitioner to combine traditional relaxation and visualisation techniques with pet therapy.

Her Siamese cat, Buddy, who "talks" patients through therapeutic visualisation exercises, is the star of a unique self-help audio cassette.

The tape was produced initially for a friend of Dr Burke who was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"As a psychologist I had made a number of cassettes as relaxation therapy for people with anxiety, for people suffering bereavement and for those being counselled after rape," Dr Burke said.

"I decided to use Buddy to help my friend visualise successful outcomes for her chemotherapy."

On the tape, Dr Burke encourages patients to imagine Buddy as a predator stalking "vermin", which signifies their disease.

"I don't equate the cancer to a rat, because some people like rats and keep them as pets," Dr Burke said.

Patients are then told to visualise their own white blood cells coming in to finish off the "vermin".

Dr Burke, Director of Student Support Services at UQ, recently presented a case series of 12 patients, who have each used the BUDDY TARGETS CANCER tapes, to the European Congress of Psychology in London.

Eleven of the patients reported feeling empowered by the material, and believed it had contributed to their treatment.

"This is a complementary therapy," Dr Burke said, conceding that some colleagues were sceptical of its value.

Pet therapy has been demonstrated in studies in hospitals and nursing homes to have health benefits.

Buddy, a five-year-old chocolate-point, was an ideal partner in the therapy as his responsiveness facilitated making the tapes, Dr Burke said.

"He mews on cue just about, so the first one for my friend in which I used her name only took two takes to make," she said.

In the professionally produced generic tapes which followed, Buddy's miaows were added post-production.

Dr Burke acquired Buddy as a kitten, following the death of her husband and her former cat within a fortnight of each other.

Buddy has a website at www.thebuddytapes.com.au and is working on a self-esteem tape called BUDDY TARGETS FEELING GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF.