Dogs need to be walked, all animals need to be fed and most must be groomed at least occasionally or have cages that should be cleaned regularly. These tasks are time consuming and can be hard for someone with limited mobility. Pets need trips to the veterinarian for routine wellness visits and illness. That can be traumatic, as well as costly, and difficult for a person who doesn\u2019t drive. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest part of my job is having to tell an older adult that a beloved pet needs to be euthanized,\u201d says James Moebius, a veterinarian in Sachse, TX. \u201cIt\u2019s even harder when it\u2019s an older gentlemen who lives alone and who\u2019s part of that generation that doesn\u2019t express feelings. You watch him walk out alone, silently, without his little dog, and it just pulls your heart out.\u201d <\/p>\n
Barb Cathey, CEO and founder of Pets for Seniors, an adoption program in Illinois, admits there are ups and downs and often, unexpected outcomes. She helped a client named Betty to adopt a rescued dog named Zoe, and the match was a happy one. However, Betty\u2019s family returned Zoe to the shelter a year later. A fall had forced Betty to move to rehab for several months, and no one could care for the dog. The shelter agreed to keep the dog until her owner recovered. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Betty wasn\u2019t doing well, refusing to even try to cooperate with her rehab therapist. Then her daughter brought Zoe for a visit. Delighted to see the dog, Betty immediately moved in her bed to make room. The therapist encouraged the family to bring Zoe back regularly to keep Betty motivated. <\/p>\n
\u201cBetty ended up getting better, with Zoe\u2019s help, and eventually was able to take her back home,\u201d Cathey says. <\/p>\n
Before adopting a pet, a person should carefully consider all potential challenges as well as ways to minimize problems. A key first step: choosing a pet that\u2019s a realistic match for an older adult\u2019s physical capabilities and energy level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe worst mistake a senior can make is getting an energetic puppy or young dog,\u201d Cathey says. Ditto for a dog or cat that requires lots of expensive grooming (such as a breed with long hair) or a young pet that\u2019s almost certain to outlive the owner by many years. <\/p>\n
Shelters have a hard time finding homes for older animals, but they\u2019re often a good match for older adults.<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Cathey worked with an older woman whose family gave her a Jack Russell puppy, a breed known for its high energy level.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would call me in misery because the puppy was too much for her and she did not want to hurt their feelings,\u201d she says. \u201cI convinced the family to let me find a new home for the Jack Russell pup and found an eight-year-old Pomeranian that was housebroken and just wanted to lay in her lap all day\u2014just what she wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shelters have a hard time finding homes for older animals, but senior pets often make a good match for older adults, according to Linda Ross, a retired counselor who worked with aging populations. Ross and her husband are in their 70s and are both healthy and active, yet they chose to adopt an older dog after theirs passed away in 2010. <\/p>\n
\u201cOlder pets tend to be housebroken, quieter and less energetic,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd if they\u2019re rescued dogs who\u2019ve been homeless or in a shelter, they are just so grateful to have a soft bed and a good routine. We just love on them and they love on us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finding Solutions<\/b><\/p>\n
Those heartbreaking stories\u2014the older couple who put food aside for a pet or the widow who postponed medical attention\u2014were the impetus for the founding of the Seniors\u2019 Pet Assistance Network (SPAN) in the Dallas area. Caseworkers for local aging-related agencies had noticed the challenges of elders living alone with pets, and how a little help might go a long way. <\/p>\n
Now, SPAN serves low-income older adults in the Dallas area with regular deliveries of pet food as well as help with veterinary-care costs. Grant money pays for food for about 75 animals; volunteers deliver it once every other month and spend a little time checking on each client. SPAN\u2019s clients also receive an allotment of up to $300 per year to cover routine vet care, including immunizations, heartworm medication, and flea and tick prevention. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s significant, given that many live on as little as $1,200 per month in Social Security benefits,\u201d says Laurie Jennings, SPAN\u2019s co-founder.<\/p>\n
For others, potential problems in pet ownership can be addressed with a little advance planning. Some veterinary costs, such as immunizations and spaying or neutering, can be minimized by taking advantage of low-cost clinics offered at animal shelters and pet-supply stores. For those who can afford it, pet insurance offers a way to help owners avoid wrenching decisions about vet bills. Owners pay a monthly premium but may be covered (depending on the type of plan) if pricey treatments are needed. <\/p>\n
To prevent falls, the CDC recommends that pet owners consider obedience training, installing night lights on walkways, moving the animal to another room or a crate at night, or even choosing a light-colored pet rather than one with dark fur. <\/p>\n
And in the event that an older pet owner loses a beloved animal, veterinarians can often help with the grieving process by pointing them to a pet-loss support group. <\/p>\n
Making Arrangements for Future Care <\/b><\/p>\n
Jennings often hears from family members who tell her, \u201cThat animal is keeping my parent alive.\u201d But on the flip side, it\u2019s a source of worry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a client, a 97-year-old widow, who has a very ornery, 9-year-old poodle,\u201d she says. \u201cShe lives for that dog and frets over who will care for the dog if something happens to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some older adults want to provide for their pets in their wills, according to Lori Leu, an elder law attorney in Plano, TX. She recommends checking with a friend or family member first to see if they\u2019re willing to take the pet after the owner dies or becomes incapacitated. That arrangement should be put into a will, along with (if possible) a small bequest to help cover the pet\u2019s expenses. <\/p>\n
Although they are careful to avoid making promises, the people at SPAN try to help clients \u201crehome\u201d pets if they can no longer care for them. It\u2019s not always possible, but they do have success stories.<\/p>\n
Jennings recalls Bobo, the beloved pet of an elderly woman who lived alone and was dying of cancer. Family members wouldn\u2019t take Bobo, a pit bull mix, and because he was a little aggressive, Jennings despaired of ever finding a home for him. But a rescue group took Bobo, helped socialize him and found him a home.<\/p>\n
When the young man who adopted Bobo learned of his previous owner, he offered to bring the pet to visit her one last time, just a few weeks before she passed away. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we have this photo of Bobo, this massive pit bull, lying on top of her in her bed,\u201d Jennings says. Now SPAN receives a holiday card each year from the young man, with a photo of Bobo sporting a Santa hat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou make wonderful human connections doing this work,\u201d says Jennings. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An older couple put aside some of the food delivered by Meals on Wheels in order to have enough to feed their dog. A widow delays an important visit to the doctor, fearing no one will care for her cat…<\/span><\/p>\nRead more Are Pets Really Good for Older People?<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,5,7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-getting-older","category-healthspan","category-issues-in-aging"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5691"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5722,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5691\/revisions\/5722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}