The Depressed Cat

Actually, here is a true story, it was in New Scientist about 10 years ago, summarised from The Lancet.

A cat was living with an old woman, who died. She had no relatives or visitors, and was not found until she had been dead some time. The cat was a dreadful mess, and was presumed to be senile. It was about to be put to sleep, but a psychologist appeared on the scene, saying she could cure the cat.

She felt it was suffering from depression, after its dreadful experiences, it didn't wash itself, eat properly or bother with proper toilet behaviour.

She gave it small, special meals, groomed it, and generally treated it for depression, in a friendly, talk-therapy, hands on sort of way.

It worked. The cat was cured.

The story was written up in the Lancet, together with a photo of the cat.

But--get this--because the cat was 'a patient' rather than 'an experimental animal', there was a black bar across its eyes to protect it's identity.