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I am sure you have heard the old adage that a dog is man’s best friend, but did you know that a pet could be an elderly person’s lifeline? Having a pet provides different advantages to different people. Companionship is at the top of the list. To an elderly person this extends much more than one can sometimes imagine. Many older people live by themselves. Many more live away from family and friends. Isolation is one of the worst downfalls of getting older in our society. Bringing a pet into the household sounds like a simple way to fix much of this, almost too simple. A word of caution though: Never force a pet on someone. Make sure they want and can care for the pet. The pet will need daily support in feeding, cleaning, keeping healthy, and even playing. The facts do tend to support that no matter how easy it sounds it does work. Pets are very much like children. Whether the pet is a dog, cat, or even a smaller variety such as a bird, they all need the person they belong too, which in turn makes each of their lives more fulfilling.
Housing will Affect Choice of Pet
Where they live will help determine what type of pet they can have. As many elderly people lose a spouse and find they have no need for the large home that they have occupied for years, they find themselves living in much smaller quarters. This means an apartment much of the time, where rules on having pets is determined by the apartment owner. For cases like this, I always suggest a bird or even a small animal like a guinea pig that will not mind spending part of their day in the confines of a cage. These are also excellent choices for the most elderly that may require help caring for the pet, but have still displayed an interest in having a pet in their household. If space is not a consideration, choose a cat or dog, or any animal that they would like to have.
Horses? Dogs? Cats?
Lets look at an example of one older person I had the opportunity to know. ‘John’ was seventy-nine the first time I met him. Every morning he would get up at dawn to feed his two horses, three cats, two dogs, and numerous other assorted animals, including a flock of wild turkeys that visited his yard every morning. Several years later I ran into him in the grocery store, and when I mentioned how good he looked, he instantly responded that he had no time to grow old, as he had too many animals to worry about! While this is an extreme, it does demonstrate that mind over matter is a fact. If people have things to do, someone to care for, they literally have less time to grow old.
Cats seem to be a favorite choice. They are quite adaptable to day to day changes in amounts of exercise. Do not assume cats do not like to go for walks though. A cat that is introduced early on to a leash and harness will discover the joys of the outdoors and learn to look forward to a daily walk around the block or even a stroll in the garden. A woman I knew who had not gardened in years, planted a small garden the year after acquiring her cat. When I asked her that after many years of no garden, did she suddenly start one again, she said she read somewhere that cat’s loved fresh catnip. She decided if she was going to plant some for her cat Sasha, she might as well plant a small patch of vegetables for herself also. You can see by examples like this how a pet can extend into different aspects of an elderly person’s life.
Dogs should not be overlooked. A puppy and an adult dog each has it’s own advantages. For someone who has suddenly gone through a loss of a family member, but is in good health themselves, the distraction of a puppy may be just the thing. An older dog seems to be the most popular choice though. Housebreaking has already been accomplished, chewing on everything in sight is a thing of the past, and an older dog may take to a more quiet routine than a puppy filled to overflowing with boundless energy.
Benefits
Pet ownership for the elderly offers many tangible benefits:
The physical contact of petting an animal is relaxing, and some studies have even shown it leads to lower blood pressures in people with high blood pressure, and lower cholesterol levels in those with high levels.
Pet owners in general, elderly and younger, have fewer overall health complaints. Less problems sleeping, fewer aches and pains, headaches, and digestion problems.
Pets always bring on smiles!
Many family pets, dogs, cats, even birds, have been attributed with alerting their elderly, and again younger, owners to various hazards, such as fires and intruders. While they should not be relied on for this purpose, the added benefit can not be overlooked.
Bring the Family Pet to Visit at a Nursing Home
What if your loved one is in a nursing home? Bringing the family pet to visit will help in numerous ways. After checking with the nursing home staff to be sure that you follow any rules they may have governing the visitation of pets, bring them to visit as often as possible. If you are one of those who never know what to say to a loved one in a nursing home, this is a perfect way to open conversations, and pet visits can lead to communication between residents of the nursing home who would otherwise have nothing in common. This leads to a benefit of an ongoing nature even after the visit is over.
Is a pet a good idea for an elderly person? Ultimately, the decision needs to be on an individual basis, but keeping in mind all the benefits hopefully will help you make a wise decision. And if your loved one is in a nursing home, can you think of a better reason to visit than the family pet needs some one on one petting time with his fellow friend!
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