I mentioned before that I work at a retirement community, and I manage two dementia neighborhoods. We have pets on the two neighborhoods that I manage, and the residents love having them around. We have a dog, three cats and two love birds. The dog is always around, so it is easy to get a photo of her, but the cats are often hanging around in a resident's room, so it can be difficult to find them at times. It took me a few days to actually capture these photos, and I still haven't been able to capture the 3rd cat. His name is shadow. he is pure black. He is hard to find when you want him. At least I was able to capture these, so I figured I would introduce you all to the ones I could get to. The golden's name is Cheyenne. She is about 12 years old, and the residents love her to death. They will often sneak her a few treats, and she loves it. The grey cat on the left is Pewter, he is about 8 years old. He enjoys lying in front of the computer, right in front of my secretary so she can give him treats. The one on the right is Callie. She is about 8 years old, and for some reason she enjoys plants. They are great to have around, and as I said before, the residents love them dearly. The animals definitely help to make it feel more like home. That is our primary goal, to promote a home like environment.
Animals are such a comfort and so open to making new friends...a wonderful addition to any nursing facility. My friend was in the hospital last week and one evening a volunteer came by to say some dogs would be visiting the next day and she asked if he would like one to visit so I guess this trend is catching on.
Wow! How wonderful! I do know that having pets in an Aged Care Facility is wonderful therapy. So glad that you work where they do it !
Great photos - thanks for sharing.
Hi Rick, I'm in Brisbane Australia.
We have had a mild winter with not too many cold nights.
I've noticed everything is starting to shoot.
September is the start of our Spring here.
A lot different to your part of the world :D
What fantastic therapy, an animal can always communicate with someone in someway and it's always special, you must have such rewarding and yet saddening job all in one - my hat goes off to you!
Yet another reason why animals are so awesome. One of our past rescued Golden Retrievers we adopted when she was 12 years old after her owner had passed away. She was an amazing dog and we discovered that she was really drawn to elderly people. Only years later did we find out that she actually frequented a retirement home on a regular basis which explained things a lot for us. Love how therapeutic and powerful the unconditional love of animals can bring people.
Your community sounds a wonderful place and why not have pets they are a comfort to many and bring joy to the lonely-? they also make a community a community. Thanks for introducing them.
August 10th, 2010
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Great photos - thanks for sharing.
We have had a mild winter with not too many cold nights.
I've noticed everything is starting to shoot.
September is the start of our Spring here.
A lot different to your part of the world :D