The purr-fect pet outing for San Mateo resident

If Savanna Kiefer’s cat is a sign of the times, dogs might be out of a job soon.

Kiefer, a San Mateo resident and psychology graduate student at Stanford University, said Pumpkin, a ragamuffin cat, is a certified therapy animal through the Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA. She takes her on leashed walks and hopes to include Pumpkin in her future practice.

“They were really excited about having a cat as a therapy animal,” Kiefer said. “She was very friendly to all the evaluators.”

The process was fairly simple. PHS asked general questions about the cat’s temperament, picking up her paws, petting her in weird ways, and poking and prodding to see how she would handle it, Kiefer said.

For now, the duo visits schools during finals and stressful times to offer students a stress reliever. Kiefer said schools will reach out to the PHS for a therapy animal and she is contacted. The two will visit the school if she is available. She has visited Serra High School, Menlo College and Woodside Priory.

“Everyone loves her and everyone is so excited to see a cat, or they say things like, ‘my cat would never be able to do this,’” Kiefer said.

More recently, for her own enjoyment, Kiefer has found a cat community on Instagram for those who take their cats out on leashes. It is a growing trend she said is fun for the adults, maybe more than it is for the cats.

“The cats get to explore and the humans get to connect, sometimes they wanna hang out and sometimes they don’t. But it is always fun and a fun way to bring together the community and connect with other cat-parents,” Kiefer said.

The cat meetups happen every few months, usually in San Francisco. One time as many as 15 cats came out to the meetup.

“The cats sometimes like it, sometimes they hang out in the backpacks,” Kiefer said.

Now, Kiefer said the cat community started an Instagram page and is in talks with the San Francisco Parks Alliance to bring the community a cat park.

Kiefer said she envisions the perfect cat park to be a fenced off area with cat-friendly toys and plants. From the first time she put Pumpkin’s harness on, it took some incentives with treats but she said she is an easy-going cat, so it was fairly easy. She was inspired by a friend who took her cat out on a leash and Kiefer thought it was cool.

“Now when I pull out the harness, she runs to the door because she knows she’s going outside,” Kiefer said. “People light up and get so excited when they see her walking around on a leash and I think that is one thing we hope to inspire others.”

Other cat owners interested in a community cat park or wanting to meet up with their adventure cat can visit, @fluffymuffinpumpkin on Instagram.