Have you heard about Emotional Support Animals and their registration?

Emotional support animals (ESA) also called an Assistant animal or a Support animal is an animal that serves the purpose of companion. They are intended to provide well-being to a person suffering from a mental health condition, disability, and emotional disorder. Dogs are typically the emotional support animal but sometimes cats or other animals are considered. They are meant to support people suffering from psychological disabilities such as anxiety disorder, panic attacks, and major depressive disorder. 

Cats as emotional support animals, do they have any benefits?

An individual might decide to have a cat as an emotional support animal because researches have shown that cats can provide specific mental health benefits and you may ask how I can register my cat as an emotional support animal.  Well, you can get an ESA letter for your cat as an emotional support animal. 

• Just by petting a cat, you can have a relaxed environment and a positive mood which is why emotional support animals are usually used to assist people struggling with anxiety. 
• Cats provide companionship
• Their activeness leads to the improvement of physical health because they help to lower blood pressure, increase a person’s ability to cope with pain, etc. 
• Emotional support animals help to fight against the feelings of loneliness. 
• Having them and caring for them could give a sense of purpose. Their companionship causes the owner of an emotional support animal to reciprocate the love and care get from the animal. 

Do you ever wonder about the difference between an emotional support animal and a service animal? 

Well, service animals are different from emotional support animals. One is to provide services while the order is to live out its real nature with its owner. A service animal is purposely trained to perform some specific tasks. For instance, a service dog is trained to help a blind person navigate. While an emotional support animal does not receive any form of training to perform any kind of task. In other words, service animals are trained to meet up specific expectations or fulfill certain tasks. Whereas, an emotional support dog is one that provides, well-being, aid, support, or comfort to an individual. Emotional support animals show these qualities through unconditional loyalty, companionship, obedience, energy, and affection.

Is there any law guiding emotional support animals?

The Federal Fair Housing Act says that Housing providers in the United States are demanded to create reasonable accommodations so that individuals with disabilities can keep an assistant animal in their home. U. S Department of Housing and Urban Development demands that housing providers give an exception to ‘no pet’ policies. 

Can I register my cat as an emotional support animal (ESA)?

Yes, you can register your cat as an emotional support animal with a licensed healthcare professional. There is no official recognized database for the registration of emotional support animals. The only officially recognized medium for emotional support animals is a well-executed ESA letter by a licensed healthcare expert.