I went to visit my mother the other day with the familiar feeling of dread in my stomach arising. The last few visits she has been extremely bad, and the visit before last was in A&E has she had had a fall somehow and they were very worried about her – but as usual strong as an ox she carries on to defy everyone. My brother and I went up into the second floor of her home – reserved for the severe cases of Dementia and she was nowhere to be found and a bright ‘young’ girl came to say “Oh she’s down in the garden with animals”….
And she certainly was – we found her with the biggest rabbit in the world sitting on her lap. It had been with her for an hour and she wasn’t going to give it up – and unbelievably she was chatting away ten to the dozen as she used too. It was impossible to understand a word – but for someone who has not spoken for nearly 12 months this was/is an incredible break through. After I managed to prize the rabbit away, she had the sweetest and smallest guinea pig for a while and then I took her in her wheel chair to see the pigs/goat/donkey/pony/duck and hens that were also there.
It really was so lovely to see the truly magically effect these animals had on all these people and clearly brought great happiness. Three cheers to my mother’s nursing home!!!
i love the fact of animal MAGIC. I work in a care home and would really love for our residents to experiece animal magic just like your mother. BUT i will need to argue this with the bosses there answers will be who would care for them etc etc so please if you have any suggestions for my argument please e- mail me many thanks
on July 25, 2012 at 4:22 pm richardRichard – many thanks for your comments. I didn’t explain properly – but the animals are brought in by a company just for a couple of hours which is perfect for everyone. I imagine there are a number of similar people that do the same – as they also take them into schools and fetes etc. However at the home she is at they do have birds and fish which are easy to look after. At another home I know someone who works there brings in their dog which is also a great way to get around the problem of who looks after them etc.
on July 26, 2012 at 4:02 pm Catriona W