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Show Page A8 - THE DAILY HERALD, Provo, Utah, Tuesday, December t'St'' ten helps sn patient i therapy :,T J V ft .2...... 19, 1995 - 1 41A By LINDA GOLDSTON er Knight-Ridd- V J.I - . ' SAN JOSE, Calif. Don't' even think about calling Thelma Louise a sissy. ' He doesn't like it. - "V-- WW The 21 21 .SS Palatina neckwear from Superba Reg. $35 Fabulous updated patterns in yet very progressive designs. Men's Furnishings . j-- Newspapers semi-retr- .99-2- 4. Wrinkle-fre- e Van Heuseii dress shirts o, Reg. and $32-$3- Broadcloth or oxford button downs pinpoint oxfords. Men's Furnishings 9 long-sleev- Northlander sweaters Reg. $64-$6- Select group in 6 and crewneck styles. Men's Better Sportswear San Jose cat does wear a lavender dress from' time to time, but that is only when he performs therapy at the Veterans Administration Hos, pital in Menlo Park. That distinction may make him, the first cross-dressicat in the But the time, most of country. Thelma Louise is just a cat who is still grateful for being brought in from the cold. "I found him at Fort Ord in April 1994," said Delila Shaler,. who instantly fell in love with the "beautiful, gray, exotic-lookincat" she saw hunkered down under a car on the base. It was dark at the time, and Shaler thought the cat was a female and impulsively named it g, , half-starv- then-desert- - .,; If Thelma Louise. Only later, when she and her friend David Rummler got back to their hotel room did she realize that Thelma Louise was a he. The up I 'I name stuck anyway. "That night in our room Thel- ma clearly was delighted at once again being in the company of A ' ' humans," Shaler said. "He galloped back and forth between David and myself, con- stantly searching our faces for clues as to how well he was being received, falling over backwards when we attempted to pick him ' up." The rest, as they say, is history at least in the world of therapy. And because of, ' another of Shaler's whims. ; ,. "For Thelma's first Christmas, on impulse I bought him an infant's lavender dress at the Sal- vation Army Thrift Shop," ,said, Shaler, who is a senior staffing'. consultant at Intel. "When 1 put the dress on him, Thelma began to the i j j 1 ed . ' , purr- I s J h1 Knit rugby shirts by Halifax Terry robes Reg. $40 Men's Sportswear Wrinkle-fre- e cotton Reg. $40-$4- 2 twill slacks by Savane, Haggar and Dockers ...31.99 lf terry wrap in Reg. $85 assorted patterns and colors. Reg. $25 Pajamas ...17.99 Men's Furnishings Mid-ca- Christmas 9 St I.N.C . therapy. He was. ; "I always joke he has an identicrisis because of his dress,'' said ty Claire Schaefer, a recreational therapist at the VA Hospital who works with the group of geriatric patients Thelma Louise visits once ' : men I turtlenecks Mock turtlenecks, turtlenecks and prairie shirts in eight solid colors. Men's Better Sportswear $24-$2- diagnosed this August, quickly decided she could not keep Thel-- . ma Louise to herself. The cat with the big gold eyes had brought such, pleasure to her and made so many, of her friends laugh that Shaler was sure he would be a natural or a month. Schaefer, who also has a dog named Joy visit her patients, said Thelma is truly amazing at what he does. ; "We have a lot of patients who ' don't really react to anything but f when they see the cat, some of , them will just hold it and start pet- f ting it." One of the patients, an elderly ' man, is so taken with Thelma that he delights in having the hefty cat sit in his lap while he brushes j Thelma's fur. Others are content to j pet him and admire his lavender I I dress. ; "Is it a he or a she? I get .it I mixed up," joked Leslie Gurnee .'rf Reg. , Shaler, who has had Lyme disease since 1986 but only had it' 29.9 mrmm ; - "Obviously somewhere in his past, some little kid had dressed.' him up in doll clothes and in The!-- , ma's little cat brain, he was 'home: i ( ! 5 during Thelma's visit Monday night. "I never thought I'd see, a cat in a dress, male or female." ; Gurnee, who will turn 75 next month and looks jaunty herself in i a baseball cap, quickly buried her j head in Thelma's fur and said, !i love you, I love you, I love you.," I She wondered though: "Maybe he can spend the night. I've got room on my bed." Some of the patients, who suf- fer from both medical and mental problems, whisper things to Thel- ' ma, while some address the whole room. l "Just look at this guy," quipped Bob Kampcrmann, 73. "The Scottish wear a lot of skirts, so maybe ' ' ' this cat is Scottish." the hour,' Halfway through Shaler changed Thelma from his j lavender dress to jeans. He nor- mally only likes wearing his jeans ' at home, but tonight is special. Shaler has added a plaid scarf, flannel shirt and down vest to the ; 'J jeans. "I like that outfit better," Kan permann said. "He is a male." To i Shaler, he is just Thelma Louise. .; "I had a pet duck I dressed up as a kid," she said, "but Thelma is v always making me laugh. Everybody looks forward to a visit from. a cal in a lavender dress." : ; j ? r 7 ? ' ! 24.99 Woven sportshirts by Halifax Reg. $36 Men's Furnishings Gold Toe pattern socks Reg. $8-$- Wrinkle-fre- e 2 cotton twill slacks Reg. by Savane, Haggar and Dockers ...31.99 $40-$4- Cotton dress socks in assorted patterns. Men's Furnishings 9 I -- !Zi CJV1 I Shop All Stores Monday throuch Saturday 8 Order by phone: In Salt Lake, 579-6666; A.M.-1- 2 midnight. (ZCMI II Foothill: 9 A.M.-1- 0 elsewhere in Utah and in the U.S., ! p.m.). Closed Sunday. j , , |