Do Pets Help Alzheimer’s Patients?
As a pet lover myself, I suspect that a relationship with a pet would be very beneficial to those suffering from Alzheimer disease. Pets can provide unconditional love and acceptance, and give the Alzheimer’s patient a purpose by helping to care for the pet.
For my mom, cats are her favorite animal. We always had cats while I was growing up, but she now treasures her feline friends in a way she had not before. We have four cats, and Mom loves them dearly. She likes to help with feeding them and cleaning their litter box. She checks on them all in the evening (sometimes getting up in the middle of the night), and tries to get them all inside.
She really enjoys spending time with the cats. They like curling up on her lap and sleeping with her in her bed. Mom carries on conversations with them, and tells us funny stories about some of their antics. She even lists all of their names with hers when she sends greeting cards. They are definitely an important part of her life.
We also have two dogs, a lab and a coon hound. While Mom doesn’t really like the dogs, she feels safer with them around because they will bark if someone drives up to our house. She gets annoyed with them easily, and she would rather they stayed outside all the time. Even though she’s not very nice to the dogs, they get along with her okay. Our lab is very loving and sensitive to people, and I think he knows that she is more fragile and different than the rest of us. He doesn’t jump or roughhouse around her, and I’ve noticed that he waits to make sure she makes it in when she walks from the car to the house.
For my mom, having the pets (especially the cats) brings her joy and happiness when the rest of her life can seem confusing and difficult. If Mom would ever have to live in an assisted living facility, I know she would be much happier if she lived in one that allowed the residents to have pets. No matter what, I hope we can continue to keep pets a part of Mom’s life as long as possible.
