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A Pet for your Elderly Parent
We have all heard about the benefits that pets can contribute to the elderly. Hospitals, and nursing homes use "senior pet therapy" to help with the elderly because they show much improvement in the recovery and mental well being of seniors. The American Geriatric Society notes that pet ownership has a positive effect on a senior’s physical and emotional well being. Hospital studies showed that seniors and post-op patients respond better to treatment and recover faster while in contact with dogs and other therapy animals. Studies have shown that pet owners have better emotional and mental health than those without pets. It has also been shown that pets can reduce stress both when dealing in physical therapy and psychological therapy.
If you are thinking of getting a pet for your elderly parent, I would like to share my personal experience with my elderly father-in law and his pet during the last three years of his life. My father -in-law, John, had a heart attack that pretty much limited his life to just sitting at home, looking out his front room window and watching television. After a year of this, he decided that he needed a dog as a companion. He was interested in getting a dog something like a " Maltese". The dog pound and local shelters and rescue agencies had nothing. After six months or so, we found an agency that had a dog that may have been part Maltese. John loved that little dog. However, we had to build a fence in the back yard. Yes, I built the fence. Then the dog came. My wife and I had to promise to take the dog if any thing were to happen to John. John named the dog Prince, the same name of his grandfather’s Maltese. Prince and John became good friends in very short order. Prince would sit in Johns lap, and the two would just stare at each other while John would stroke Prince. For the first time in a few years John had something to be concerned about other than himself.
Prince like any dog was work. It was necessary for the family to help with his care in things like taking him to be groomed and, of course, if we went away with John to his cottage on a weekend, Prince had to have his food and dishes along with a leash for his walks. These walks were with us, not John. John was the crooked old man who found it painful to walk. He could ride a bike and did, but walking just hurt. My home is next to open space and if Prince was out too long doing what dogs do outside John would show concern for his safety. I asked, why the worry, and he said "coyotes". What I'm trying to show you was his concern for something for the first time in quite awhile. John was involved in more than just himself.
Prince was about three years old when he came to live with John. That seemed to be a good age for a dog for an elderly person. He was no longer in the “puppy” stage, which can be hard for an elderly person to care for and to have to train. Prince, at about 14 pounds, was the perfect size dog for John – not so small to trip over and not too large to handle. Therefore, a great deal of thought should go into picking a pet for seniors.
Whatever the type of pet you choose for your elderly parent, it must be something that they would like, whether cat, dog, bird, etc.
John loved Prince and that love was reciprocal. Prince sat in John’s lap till the end of John’s life. Prince and I are now bonding, and I look forward to many more years with a dog that will add as much to my life as he did to John’s.
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