http://www.care2.com/greenliving/your-parents-pet-friend-or-foe.html
Your Parent’s Pet: Friend or Foe?
By Paula Spencer, Caring.com senior editor
Is your mom’s Fido a faithful friend or complicating nuisance? What about Grandpa’s Fluffy–healing creature or potential deathtrap?
One look at the pleasure my 87-year-old Dad gets cradling Coco, the miniature (and I do mean tiny) dachshund he lives with convinces me of all the research established on how pets do older people a world of good. They help a person relax and are a form of socialization. (Even if he has to look at her collar every few minutes.)
And companion animals can be a very real health risk, it turns out. More than 21,000 elderly Americans are treated in emergency rooms each year due to falls associated with their pet dogs and cats, says a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s not a huge number. But the really scary part: The highest rate of injuries from all pet-related falls occurs in people older than 75. And the most common diagnosis is the potentially life-altering one older people really want to avoid: Fracture.
The biggest dangers
• Tripping over pet toys
• Untrained excited dogs who jump up
• Pets who sleep on the bed or at one’s feet
• Tripping over a cat or dog lurking around one’s ankles
• Getting tangled in a leash
So what’s a well-intentioned relative to do? If someone insists on keeping a pet
• Warn them. For many elders “fall” is a very scary word. Just knowing the danger might help them move more carefully.
• Really watch their interactions. Is it a frisky dog who jumps up on people? The CDC recommends obedience training, but many older people can’t follow through with the rigors of training and many old dogs won’t learn new tricks.
• Really watch the person. Being unable to care for a pet can be a red flag about the person’s ability to live independently. When vision problems are severe, for example, even a well-behaved animal can be a hazard.
• Consider hiring a dog walker a.k.a. a local teen–who can exercise the animal for the person.
• Have someone walk with the person who can control the leash while going out together.
• Routinely scour the house for chew toys, etc. just as you look out for throw rugs, papers on the floor, and other potential hazards. Just get rid of them.
If someone can’t keep a pet
• See if a friend or relative will adopt the animal who’s also willing to bring it for visits. Spending time with animals really can lift the spirits of the ill or housebound.
• Look into pet-therapy programs in your area that bring pets to homebound people. Someone with mid-stage dementia may be comforted by any pet, not necessarily their own. Start by asking a program coordinator at a senior housing facility or your area agency on aging.
• Know that some long-term care facilities do allow pets.
• Don’t feel overly guilty about removing an animal who can’t be cared for. It’s always sad when pet and owner must part ways. But in the big scheme of things, you have to prioritize. If you’ve done everything you can think of to help a pet-lover maintain the benefits of having one, and to find the pet a good home, that’s huge on top of all of a caregivers’ other demands, even if it doesn’t work out perfectly.
Pets are neither all-bad nor all-good. Like most of us.
Caring.com was created to help you care for your aging parents, grandparents, and other loved ones. As the leading destination for eldercare resources on the Internet, our mission is to give you the information and services you need to make better decisions, save time, and feel more supported. Caring.com provides the practical information, personal support, expert advice, and easy-to-use tools you need during this challenging time.
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30 comments
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Kabin
Konteyner
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why is this inappropriate?
Kabin
Konteyner
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why is this inappropriate?
The leading cause of debilitating injuries in the elderly is the bathtub. Should we prohibit baths to people after a certain age?
Aging is too often a very lonely thing in this culture,and people truly do suffer a sense of worthlessness and purposelessness. A pet does make all the difference.
Humans can't live in safe cages, protected from every potential risk. A life like that simply isn't worth living.
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why is this inappropriate?
I made a lot of misspellings in my comment.
Wake up, Benji! *hits self on head*
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why is this inappropriate?
I agree with Wendy. If I'm to the point where I can't take care of my dogs, just pull the plugs. I don't want to live in a house that doesn't have at least one dog.
I think pets are great for seniors. I have a neighbor that's an older lady. She had this old dog,too. He recently passed away. Before he passed, she was always so happy. ALways greeting me. Always smiling. Now that he'd gone, I rarely see her. It's really sad and heartbreaking.
I think someone should volunteer to take care of the pets for the older person whether than rehoming them. A lot of seniors are stressed enough. Rehoming their faithful companion is only going to stress them more.
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I think that senior pets for senior people is ideal - each understands the other very well and can complain to each other! Also very important to match the lifespans, so that the younger pet doesn't have to face homelessness once its human companion's life comes to a close
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why is this inappropriate?
If you are trying to develop a plan for your pet's care in the event you are hospitalized, etc., please copy-paste this link in your browser:
http://www.opspot.org/permPEP.pdf
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why is this inappropriate?
My Mom is 81 and has 2 cats and 1 dog. she has the beginnings of Alzheimers and so far is able to care for her animals. The give her so much love. If she comes to live with us, she will have to give them to a cousin, as I have 2 cats and a dog.
My husband has been retired for 6 years and without my dogs(we just had one die) I don't know how he would have coped. He likes his dogs more than most people.
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When I can't live without dogs, I don't want to live.
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Both my grandmother and my father broke a hip in slip and fall accidents: no animals involved!
If I am lucky enough to last long enough to be considered elderly, it will be because of the efforts of my cats, the greatest little stress-reducers I know. Incidently, I do have many allergies, including cats, but they are kept completely manageable due to weekly injections. Allergies should not keep you from animal companionship: consult an allergist. If they tell you to get rid of your animals, get rid of the allergist and find one that actually knows what they are doing!
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