Meet Auria The CAC Cat! | Cramer Children’s Center, Florence, AL
October 27, 2025
Therapy animals can provide a level of care for clients that humans can’t. Some Children’s Advocacy Centers have furry friends to provide comfort to kids who are disclosing abuse or in a therapy session. Children who come to Cramer Children’s Center in Florence, Alabama, get to spend time with Auria, the emotional support cat. Cramer Children’s Center executive director, Kim Bevis, chatted with us about Auria and her impact on the children they serve.
How did Cramer Children’s Center end up with Auria?
She was adopted from the Colbert County Animal Shelter in April 2017 when she was 1 year old and the last adult cat available at the shelter.
She came with her name, and it suits her.
What has the feedback been from children and families?
The kids love her and will often seek her out. They will ask for Auria to be in the forensic interview or therapy session with them. The therapist and forensic interviewer have mentioned how Auria makes the children feel calm and relaxed. She does a great job with anxious children, in particular. Our Lead Forensic Interviewer mentioned that Auria senses when a child is anxious or upset. She will paw at the door to come in and then sit on their lap to calm them. It’s like she has a sixth sense and is in tune with the child’s emotions. During her first week here, she watched a young male intently. She hopped into his chair and sat with him. When he became emotional, she put her little paw on his lap, and he started petting her. She is a lap connoisseur.
Any standout Auria moments?
According to our office manager, she was initially a “flight risk.” She has escaped on several occasions and climbed the tree next to the center. A therapist had to climb on the roof to retrieve her.
She is the only member at the office who does not knock before entering our offices. She tends to waltz into therapy sessions to ensure the kids are at ease. Sometimes the door will swing open, and we think it’s a ghost. It just ends up being Auria checking in.
Each time we have a staff event, like our annual Christmas party, she will plop herself in the middle of the room in front of the gifts like she owns them.
Our state Attorney General has visited Cramer several times, and now, when I see him at an event, the first thing he asks is, “How is Auria doing?”
I was working a booth during an event at our local campus university when a former client asked if we still had Auria. It had been years since she had been to our center, but she still remembered Auria, and she said she made her feel at ease and at home at our center.
Our victim advocate introduces Auria to families by saying, “This is Auria’s house. We just work here.”
What happens with Auria when the center is closed?
Auria stays here full-time, but if we are out of the office more than a couple of days, a staff person comes by to check in on her.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
One other thing we’d like to add is how much positive energy Auria provides to the staff here. As you know, CAC work is meaningful work, but it can also take a toll on mental health. Auria is great to sense when the staff needs some extra attention and will stop in for a visit…and a treat or two.
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