What do you feel, or think, when you read this Facebook post? This post circulated on Facebook in early February. "Yes I can help," was my initial thought when I saw this (a couple of rescue friends had tagged me). It took about 5 seconds for my brain to process the gravity of this post, and for ~what I know to come~ to surface. " Often a pet is a senior’s sole companion and when they lose their pet, the senior often goes into a downward spiral and we end up losing the senior not long after the pet is gone," as simply put on hospets.org . Losing a pet, especially for a senior citizen, can be fatal. So when I read through some of the comments on this post's thread, seeing only, "I can take the dog," "I pm-ed you," and tagging so-and-so and so-forth, I felt helpless, and at the same time wanted to scream. Hello... is anyone thinking about this lady?! Of course I commented on the thread, mentioning our rescu
More Options Now Than Ever for Pet-Loving Seniors Something shared by a friend on Facebook caught Margaret’s eye last fall. It was a post about including pets in planning. As an owner of 3 dogs, a single, middle-aged, woman, Margaret identified with the post. She had wondered, “who would take care of my pets if something happened to me?” 2020, among other things, could easily be considered, Year of the Pet. With Covid-19 came a yearning for constant companionship in the home, which led many to seek out pet ownership. Fortunately, there are more options now than ever for older Americans with pets. Many Senior Living Facilities are Now Pet-Friendly Most elder care professionals recognize the vast array of health benefits that pets offer seniors, like lowering the rates of bad stuff such as cardiovascular disease, anxiety and depression, and increasing the rates of good stuff , like social interaction and calmness. This has led many senior living facilities to not