Monday, February 5, 2024

Join us for Pet Partner's Pet of the Year 2024 Fundraiser!


Vincent the therapy rat visits with a child for the Reading Rats Read With Me program



Who are you?

My name is Abby Chesnut and I'm a retired therapy rat handler. Yes, you read that right! I started Healing Whiskers as a blog to show our adventures and to bring more awareness to therapy rats. I've had three therapy rats: Oliver, Vincent, and Franklin who visited schools and libraries for finals destressing, reading programs, and public events. Along the way, we changed people's perceptions of rats, both locally and globally, and made people smile, which was my main goal.



What is Pet Partners?

Pet Partners is one of the largest and most diverse national non-profit therapy animal organizations and are the reason why I was able to do therapy work with rats.

They register dogs, cats, llamas, alpacas, pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, and rats! Pet Partners provides education for teams looking to visit in both typical and unique environments like emergency situations and interacting with Alzheimer's patients.

Pet Partners is the biggest advocate for therapy animal work and they help bring a spotlight to its importance by providing research on the impact of the human-animal bond.

A boy smiles with his new book and Vincent the therapy rat for the Reading Rats Read With Me program


What do you mean by "registering"?

So any animal and handler can approach a hospital and say they are a therapy team. But a team that is registered through Pet Partners...

  • Has had the animal looked at by the vet and confirmed healthy
  • Has liability insurance just in case of any injuries
  • Has had training and both the handler and animal have passed a species-specific therapy animal evaluation that is renewed every 2 years

Yes, there is a test for therapy rats! It's very thorough and it is done that way because you never know what kind of situation you may get into when visiting. 

Pet Partners focuses on YAYABA (You are your animal's best advocate) and I've taken that to heart. During visits, I would constantly focus on my rat and keep watch for any signs of stress. 

Vincent the therapy rat is fed a treat by a child while visiting a school

Why are you fundraising?

Pet Partners is special and to help keep rats on the radar I am fundraising in memory of one of my late therapy rats Vincent. He volunteered just about 100 hours of therapy work in schools, libraries, and public events meeting close to 1000 people. We even participated in a Read With Me program where kids would read to him in order to build confidence. 

Vincent the therapy rat visits with a child for the Reading Rats Read With Me program


Why should I donate?

Donations help Pet Partners continue with research and education while increasing awareness which in turn brings in more therapy animal teams that help people in need. And that means the possibility of more therapy rat teams!

I'd love to see more therapy rat teams and Pet Partners is currently the only organization that registers rats.

Vincent the Therapy Rat is wrapped in a towel, or a "rat burrito", being held by a smiling child at a Halloween event

How do I donate? 

Even if you can't donate right now, we would love to have you on our team to help spread the rat love. It's completely free and we get special points for recruiting people and which is always helpful!

Last year, we raised $890! I would love to beat that this year!

This event lasts from February 5th to March 18, 2024

This year, I have neat prizes for those who donate!

$25+ gets a special coupon for our Etsy shop

$50+ gets a thank you card in the mail with some goodies,
 and a special coupon for our Etsy shop

$100+ gets an exclusive large "Rats Make Me Boggle" button pin,
 a thank you card, and an Etsy shop coupon

$150+ gets a rat sticker pack,
 "Rats Make Me Boggle" button pin
, a thank you card, and an Etsy shop coupon

(If you donate, keep an eye out in your inboxes for an email from us so I can send you your prize.)

Donate and join our team

Vincent the therapy rat poses next to a small card with a heart on it
Thank you!

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Join us for Pet Partner's Pet of the Year 2023 Fundraiser!

Vincent the therapy rat visits with a child for the Reading Rats Read With Me program
Last year we participated in Pet Partner's Pet of the Year fundraiser and we are back again!

Who are you?

My name is Abby Chesnut and I'm a retired therapy rat handler. Yes, you read that right! I started Healing Whiskers as a blog to show our adventures and to bring more awareness to therapy rats. I've had three therapy rats: Oliver, Vincent, and Franklin who visited schools and libraries for finals destressing, reading programs, and public events. Along the way, we changed people's perceptions of rats, both locally and globally, and made people smile, which was my main goal.



What's Pet Partners?

Pet Partners is one of the largest and most diverse national non-profit therapy animal organizations and are the reason why I was able to do therapy work with rats.

They register dogs, cats, llamas, alpacas, pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, and rats! Pet Partners provides education for teams looking to visit in both typical and unique environments like emergency situations and interacting with Alzheimer's patients.

Pet Partners is the biggest advocate for therapy animal work and they help bring a spotlight to its importance by providing research on the impact of the human-animal bond.

A boy smiles with his new book and Vincent the therapy rat for the Reading Rats Read With Me program


What do you mean by "registering"?

So any animal and handler can approach a hospital and say they are a therapy team. But a team that is registered through Pet Partners...

  • Has had the animal looked at by the vet and confirmed healthy
  • Has liability insurance just in case of any injuries
  • Has had training and both the handler and animal have passed a species-specific therapy animal evaluation that is renewed every 2 years

Yes, there is a test for therapy rats! It's very thorough and it is done that way because you never know what kind of situation you may get into when visiting. 

Pet Partners focuses on YAYABA (You are your animal's best advocate) and I've taken that to heart. During visits, I would constantly focus on my rat and keep watch for any signs of stress. 

Vincent the therapy rat is fed a treat by a child while visiting a school

Why are you fundraising?

Pet Partners is special and to help keep rats on the radar I am fundraising in memory of one of my late therapy rats Vincent. He volunteered just about 100 hours of therapy work in schools, libraries, and public events meeting close to 1000 people. We even participated in a Read With Me program where kids would read to him in order to build confidence. 

Vincent the therapy rat visits with a child for the Reading Rats Read With Me program


Why should I donate?

Donations help Pet Partners continue with research and education while increasing awareness which in turn brings in more therapy animal teams that help people in need. And that means the possibility of more therapy rat teams!

I'd love to see more therapy rat teams and Pet Partners is the only organization that registers rats.

Vincent the Therapy Rat is wrapped in a towel, or a "rat burrito", being held by a smiling child at a Halloween event

How do I donate? 

Even if you can't donate right now, we would love to have you on our team to help spread the rat love. It's completely free and we get special points for recruiting people and which is always helpful!

Last year, we raised $1,285! I would love to beat that this year!

This event lasts from February 1st to March 15, 2023

Donate and join our team

The donut button works too!

Other ways to donate

Vincent the therapy rat poses next to a small card with a heart on it
Thank you!

Monday, August 16, 2021

Spring & Summer 2021: Summer Reading & Second Chances

Spring & Summer 2021: Summer Reading & Second Chances


With 2020 behind us, let's get into 2021. As always, thank you to those who follow us on social media: FacebookTwitterInstagramTumblr. I started working full-time in 2021 so I wasn't able to do much in the early months, but let's see what we have accomplished so far...