My daughter's cat, Happy, was never intended to be a service animal. He was adopted because he was cute and sweet and we wanted another cat. I never expected what would unfold from there. Within weeks, my daughter, who is autistic, firmly attached to her cat. She held him every morning while she got ready for school, and, first thing after getting off the bus, she rushed to his side and told him how much she missed him. He would purr, and knead on her clothes, and they would snuggle on the couch for hours sharing special moments together. They were inseparable.
I didn't realize just what Happy had become until one day when I got a phone call from her teacher. These calls had happened many times before, calls to let me know that "something was wrong" and that my daughter was struggling with what we call "sensory issues." She was feeling anxious, irritable, distracted, and confused. As we drove home, I asked her several times what was going on, but she was mute. I called to make an appointment with her doctor. Nothing was physically wrong. It was just autism. Finally, we arrived back at the house, and as soon as she saw Happy, she squealed, "There's my baby kitty!" and proceeded to go right back to being her social, affectionate, talkative self. It was instantaneous.
What happened? Well, my daughter suggested later, "I think that when people are feeling anxious or confused or scared, they should go home and put on fuzzy pants and hold a kitty and listen to it purr. It makes everything okay, pretty much."
And she's right. For her, and for many other children and adults with autism and other neurological and mental conditions, cats are service animals capable of soothing anxiety, easing sensory processing problems, encouraging responsibility, and heightening feelings of compassion and empathy. However, there are several reasons that a cat can not legally be considered a service animal to a child with autism.
One reason is, in short, that a cat doesn't generally meet the requirements necessary to be considered a service animal. A service animal must be specifically trained to perform a certain task for a disabled person, and, with perhaps a select few exceptions, cats aren't trainable for service tasks the way dogs are. Comforting or providing companionship to an autistic child isn't a task that qualifies a pet as a service animal.
Even in cases when cats might be able to perform those duties, cats aren't legally recognizable as service animals. Since 2011, the American with Disabilities Act has stated that no animals besides dogs, and in very rare cases miniature horses, can be service animals. There are no exceptions to these policies, even if the cat is trained and able to perform a specific task for an autistic child.
However, parents and cat owners can take note of a little "loophole" that does allow for a little bit of special treatment. A cat that provides emotional or psychological support for someone with a diagnosed mental condition can be recognized as an emotional support animal, or ESA. Emotional support animals help people with conditions like autism, depression, and anxiety to manage their symptoms, without necessarily being trained to perform these tasks.
An emotional support animal is not legally recognized in the same way as a service animal. You can't bring a cat that is an emotional support animal to places where cats aren't allowed, and you can't claim it as a medical expense on your taxes. However, the cat's status as an ESA does offer a few privileges. For example, ESAs are allowed in public housing and college dormitories that normally ban cats and dogs, and they are allowed on flights with a prescription explaining why they're needed and certifying that the animal is not a danger to others. There is no formal certification for cats as emotional support animals for autistic kids, but if you need to move to public housing or bring your pet on a flight, you can get a letter from your child's doctor explaining the situation.
The bottom line is that, while a cat can certainly act as a service animal to a child with autism, a cat can't legally be recognized as a service animal, or granted the same privileges as a service animal. If you do have a cat who is providing service-animal-like help to an autistic member of your family, it's worth it to look into the privileges you might get in having it prescribed as an emotional support animal. However, a cat can't be formally recognized as a service animal under current law.
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