PetStartle

I’m not sure what is causing me more stress these days. The amount of cardboard I need to take out to the recycling bin from online purchases, the plastic produce bags at the grocery store that are nearly impossible to open without licking my finger or the obvious. Thank goodness I can force my pet to love me after a stressful day… 

Did you know that a cat’s purr has healing powers for bones and skin, they can sense illness, their DNA contains tiger traits and their smell compensates for their lack of sight? I saw these facts on a TikTok video so they must be true.

Whether you’re a cat, dog, parrot or scorpion lover, pets are an extension of the family. We argue, bond, embarrass one another and force quality time. They sometimes make our decisions for us, they are unfamiliar with the concept of personal space and we share pointless stories about them. That reminds me, I should phone my brothers this week. 

Nonetheless, there’s no denying that pets are therapeutic. They provide cuddles, attention and a listening ear helping us forget about our troubles (and forget the fact we’re talking to an animal).  Although, one thing people forget to tell you about being a pet owner is that pets cause worry.

Are they sleeping too much? Is that dandruff? Are they looking thin? Why aren’t they sleeping with me tonight? Are they dehydrated? Is their poop a funny colour? Are we spending too much time together during this pandemic?

I will say, worrying is a sign of caring and it’s something new to talk about these days.  

Worrying is unavoidable and so is acting goo goo ga-ga over pets – even when they are not real… 

In Cold Hands, Warm Heart, Frozen Brain Cells, I raced to get my temperature checked. Today, my heart raced.

Moving into a care facility comes with a lot of change to one’s lifestyle, routine and independence. Once moved in, residents often comment on the fact that they’ve left behind either their home, family, vehicle or pet.  There are facilities out there that allow personal pets or building-wide pets. We are not one of those facilities. 

Can you imagine sharing your pet with 200 people? It’s hard enough sharing a pet with a partner – someone is always favoured. 

An alternative especially for people with Dementia or other cognitive impairments are robotic pets. There are various kinds available of different colours and textures who bark, meow, purr, shake a paw and interact. They’re pretty much a knock off of the “Furby” but less creepy. 

There are many perks to robotic pets. They cause familiarity, they’re cuddly, life-like and there’s no litter box or trips outdoors required.

This past year we received two cats and two dogs for our residents. As we all know, math isn’t my strong suit but 4 robotic pets for 200 residents doesn’t seem to add up. So the other Recreation Therapist, Occupational Therapist and myself got together to examine the pets and decide how we were going to efficiently use them.

Later that afternoon, I re-entered the office to sit down at the computer when suddenly barks, meows and moans erupted behind me like a brawl in an alleyway. 

I jumped out of my chair, whacked my knee on the leg of my desk and whipped my head around to find 4 furry friends innocently staring back at me. 

I turned them off as quickly as possible pausing to ponder what it would be like if I could occasionally turn off my cat’s meow like that. 

As I sat back down to nurse my knee, a Resident Assistant came by and noticed the cats and dogs. She stated, “you know, they’re cute, but one meowed when I entered a resident’s room and it scared the shit out of me.”

I couldn’t relate.

I can’t say for certain that the Occupational Therapist turned them on to startle me, but I can say for certain, real or not, pets do cause worry.