Sweet and silly Penny works hard as an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) for senior early childhood education major Brooke Seislove. Penny is a two-year-old black and white domestic shorthair cat with a cute little black spot on her pink nose.
Seislove had been wanting a cat for a long time and was hoping to get one that could also take on the responsibility of being her ESA. She started by looking on the website of her local animal shelter and ended up getting approved for a different cat. Unfortunately, that cat got sick and needed to be held for an additional two weeks, but Seislove needed to return to campus the next day. As she was discussing alternatives with the employee at the shelter, Penny decided to introduce herself to Seislove and her mom.
“Penny had walked right over to my mom and was purring and rubbing her face on her leg. My mom brought me over to her and when I sat down she jumped right up into my lap. We decided she was the one we had to get and she came home right then,” Seislove said.
The process of registering her as an ESA took a long time to complete, but it wasn’t too difficult. Seislove had help from Director of Disability Services Lynne Davies to figure out how to complete the necessary forms.
As an ESA, Penny helps Seislove deal with her stress. She is very good at her job, and her sweet and fun-loving personality helps bring joy to Seislove everyday.
“No matter what my day is like, I can often see her sitting in the window waiting for me to come home. Having her sit with me kind of makes the stress of the day melt away,” Seislove said.
Penny also makes Seislove laugh with her curious obsession with the bathroom and basement. Penny loves to sit in the sink and on the toilet and one of her dreams is to go down into the basement. She will sit down at the basement door and meow to be let down there. For fun, Penny also enjoys playing with and chasing springs and sparkly pom-poms all over the house. Her favorite food is canned food as she doesn’t get it very often and enjoys it as a treat.
Penny gets along well with other cats since she was around many of them during her time living at the shelter. Seislove has a dog at home that was initially afraid of Penny because she would hiss and swipe at him.
“It was ridiculous to see my 60 lb. dog shaking because of a little cat. Now that I’ve spent more time at home with her, they have learned to coexist, but I wouldn’t say they are friends yet,” Seislove said.
Although she doesn’t really like dogs, Penny loves people and is very friendly and playful with everyone she meets. We could only print one picture of Penny, so be sure to check out her Instagram, @pdog.penny where Seislove posts many cute pictures of her.
