Seniors and pets: the pros and cons

[Catherine]

Quote:Only one (sad) thing concerns me. There has been the occasional case of an elderly person dying at home and their lack of activity not being noticed by neighbours for days on end. When someone eventually raises the alarm and the house is entered (e.g. breaking a window or getting a spare key from a relative) some pets are in a very bad way after no food or drink for days. However, such cases are rare and on balance the benefits to the elderly outweigh the small risk.

As a society we need to be way more responsible towards the elderly amongst us. No one should ever go days without someone checking on them. Seniors need to cooperate with that too. Just a simple act of opening curtains and turning on lights lets people know you are alright. If your house stays dark someone should check. Letter carriers are usually alert to seniors who do not pick up their mail and alert someone.

There are volunteers in some places that will call a senior every day just to be sure they are alright. There are medic alert companies that monitor a home. The person wears an alert bracelet. Pushing a button on the bracelet will bring help. There is a transmitter in the home and the person presses a button on it each morning to let the company know everything is alright. 
Response is very quick. I have accidently triggered the alarm systems many times over the years. Some companies make a quick call or use the transmitter and the problem is solved. One company sent a security vehicle. I met him at the door with my ID and he showed me his and we had a laugh.

One should always carry personal identification when out of the house. At any age something could happen. If you have animals you should have something on you to tell people what to do. Or you could have instructions at home about who to call for the animals. I think some of the shelters will set up a plan for your animals if anything happens to you. If not one should have talked over things with friends and family and have someone who would at least take the animals in the emergency time period. If they rehome the animals latter it could be done calmly, but the animals would not be stressed out.

The whole issue is planning for possibilities. Families should work out ways to keep senior relatives safe and their pets as well. If there are no family then there needs to be friends and neighbours involved. The senior has a responsibility to be friendly to people and people need to just be aware of their elderly neighbours. 
One seniors' apartment  building has asked people to hang something outside the door when they go to bed and bring it in when they get up in the morning. It is a little thing, but the staff in the building can see at a glance down the hall that everyone is still alive. They had a death that no one noticed for days. 
Having meals delivered to a senior is good. If the person doesn't answer the door a check is made.

I could go on for pages, but I won't. You get the picture. A senior living at home with pets needs to do things so that the pets are not left in distress if anything happens. We need to be aware of who lives around us and check if anything is not right.