What About the Pets?

Pets are an important part of many of our lives, but they are often one of those parts of senior care that go untalked about. The animals that we love and the pets that are elderly loved ones have are a major part of our lives, but for some reason, when it comes to senior care, they are ignored–until they cannot be.

 

Pets provide that unconditional love that we all crave. A dog or a cat can be a faithful companion. For seniors that might not have a lot of contact with people outside of their home, a pet is a loved family member and provides much needed companionship. However, this can be an issue when someone begins to show signs of physical or cognitive decline. Caring for a pet becomes harder. They may even need to move into a facility to get the help that they need. And unfortunately, when someone is required to move into a senior care facility, either a nursing home, assisted living, or something else, pets typically cannot come along with them. This creates an unwelcome separation, and can even be a traumatic experience–both for your loved one and their animal.

 

Luckily, when it comes to in-home care, pets are usually not something that need to be sacrificed. When a family is able to benefit and utilize in-home care, no relocation is needed, and therefore, there’s no need to worry about finding a new home for the animals that we love. Even if your elderly parent is struggling to keep up with their daily tasks, the right caregiver can help step in and help with feeding the pet, errands, and any of those other tasks that might be just a little more difficult than they should be for our elderly loved ones.

 

Pets are an area of senior care that are not given much thought–until there’s no choice but to do so.

 

If this is a concern that you or your family has, it’s important to speak with the prospective caregiver or service that you are looking at about their policy on pets before you make any sort of commitment. This is not something that you can take for granted as organizations all have different policies and procedures when it comes to what they will and will not do regarding pets. It is better to know ahead of time what will happen than to be unpleasantly surprised. If pets are a concern, knowing what will happen ahead of time can be a big burden that you will not need to worry about.

 

Of course, this is not the only benefit that comes along with in-home care. It’s not even one of the main benefits that this type of senior care has. But it’s important to remember that the continued care of pets is a big part of our lives. In-home care can help with this and many of the other little things that we don’t spend too much time thinking about until they become an issue. Again, in-home care isn’t perfect for everyone, and for some it isn’t realistic or right. But for those that it can benefit, there are many little things that you may not have ever considered that will make your life a lot easier.

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