[la di dah]

So we've been staying with my DH's Nan, who needs a full-time carer.

It has been amazing to watch her with my cats, who of course we had to bring. They are very gentle, I don't know if they know she is sick or what. But she laughs watching them play chase-y and wrestle, and they hop up next to her on her chair and bounce around, and she seems to really like them, though she does tell me what "silly buggers" they are. It's funny though, because she'll call me and say "these silly bastards are keeping me up."

"Nan, if they're bothering you I'll put them in the laundry right now."

"No, leave them be. I think Blackie is just about to beat up Snowy."



Oh, and no, neither of them is actually named Blackie or Snowy, she just thinks they're more sensible/easily recalled names.

She went to hospital this last week and the cats SULKED. My female cat especially, actively would go from Nan's bed to her chair that only she sits in, look for her in it, see it empty, and glare at me and meow. Because really, I had one job, HOW ON EARTH did I misplace NAN? She's only just forgiven me today because Nan came home.

I told Nan while she was in hospital the cats missed her, and she was so happy. And when she came home the cats bounced right up to her and it was cute. They've only been here since the end of January.

Do you have any pets/seniors experiences?

[*Spikey*]

You lost your NAN?

LDD, how could you?

I'm with the cats on that one. Very careless, very careless indeed.



I don't have any seniors and pets stories to share, but I totally loved yours. They sound like they're getting on famously.

[Paddlepop]

Aww, how sweet!

Maybe the cats love having a constant lap available, and more pats and cuddles?

How are Brad and Angie the budgies going? I was stalking that thread.

I don't have any warm and fuzzy pets and seniors experiences like that. My late grandad was completely against me getting a staffy when I was a teenager and thought that she would be vicious. After about 8 years he finally realised that she was just a big sook and he would say "Come here dog" and scratch her back with his walking stick. After he died my dog would wander around his yard and house (right next door to my parents) and look a bit lost and like she was trying to find him.

[chickendrumstick]

I remember when I was 9 or 10 getting really excited that we were having steak for dinner at my grandfather's house, and I watched him chop it up and put it on the bbq, carefully turn it and cook it to perfection before passing it directly into the mouth of his overweight labrador.
Later on we ate chops (which I hate).

[la di dah]

They really are getting along, better than I expected.

Grue (Blackie, lawlz) is a creature of habit. She is very fond of the way Nan is pretty much always either in her bed or in her chair and easy to supervise. Making my DERELICTION OF DUTY all the more shocking.

Nimbus (Snowy) absolutely adores this house, because it has way, way more furniture than our unit, and also loves that now I'm getting up and down in the night. On the long nights where I'm up the most, he gets progressively happier. 1:00 AM - minor purring. 2:00 AM - buzzing around my ankles. 3:00 AM gleeful hopping. He has no idea why I didn't start doing this sooner, its so entertaining. I have literally no idea why he loves it so much but he's gotten 2x as cuddly as he used to be, it's like the night-time stuff is the most fun he's ever had. My DH has noticed it, too, how friendly and outgoing Nimbus is now, so it's not just me losing my mind.

Nimbus flirts with all the aides and physios and stuff who come to work with Nan, and honestly probably is just getting more used to visitors, we never had that many at home. Grue still hides from everyone but DH, Nan, and I, so Nimbus sucks up all the attention and tries to convince people I starve him. (Despite the fact he's going all pudgy).

Brad and Angie are going pretty well. They were Nan's budgies, actually, just really too much for her. And now they're back on the veranda they started on, but Nan doesn't have to work up to doing anything for them. She's happy they're okay but also sort of not her problem, honestly. And I like the budgies. I've been feeding them spinach and bits of grass stems and they seem to enjoy it.

I do suspect from speaking with some of the aides that used to come and visit they were doing much of the budgie care which was a) sort of outside their focus and b) only a couple days a week, which was probably part of their issues. They are using their natural branches more now. I don't think they'll EVER be tame - they still think I'm a despicable thing every time I put my hands in the cage even though they see me everyday - but they are singing and making more noise than they used to and I choose to believe that means they're happy.

This post has been edited by la di dah: 22/02/2013, 10:28 PM

[chevbrock]

Not a senior person, but a senior dog - my aunty had a corgi that was the most spoiled dog in the world. One time, Aunty and the dog came to stay with us for a week or so, which was fine - except Mum was working and all the people in the house that could cook were ... somewhere, I can't remember, so we had to have baked beans on toast for dinner that night. Not too bad, except this was the third night that week we'd had it. And the dog got a tin of RED SOCKEYE SALMON for dinner!

[kadoodle]

My MIL was the carer for her mother, who had two very devoted moggies. When she bathed GMIL, MIL used to lock the cats out of the bathroom so that she wouldn't trip over them. They'd wait at the bathroom door and cry, then try to lick her hair dry afterwards. They both stopped eating and faded very fast after GMIL died - they were older cats, in their teens - and were cremated and their ashes sprinkled on her grave.

Morphine killed my grandmother's appetite towards the end. She used to give her meals from meals on wheels to her lab x. Both her lab x and her cat only left her bedside in the last few weeks to eat, poop and pee.

[la di dah]

Haha so many spoiled chubby pets.

Kadoodle, those cats so sweet I nearly cried.

Grue camps out by the bathroom door but she does that no matter who's in there (if its one of the family) because she's just offended by shut doors. As soon as you open it she's all "oh, you came back!" and relaxes completely.

[*Ker*]

My nan and pop have never really "got" why I do dog rescue...until Anja and Kari came.

I took Anja to Easter at Nan's house, out of the blue - warned no one. My auntie immediately fell in love, as did my nephew and my Nan was besotted. Pop was having a rest in the lounge, so I carried Anja in, plopped her on his lap and left. She went to sleep and stayed there until Nan came in and stole her. Nan was sitting on the lounge with Anja on her lap facing her - I got some gorgeous photos which I posted in the thread at the time. Both Nan and Pop thought she was adorable. It was good for Anja to be out and about and meet more people too.

[dogged]

My father has always liked dogs but my mother feared them so we never had one when I was growing up. I have tried and tried to persuade him to get a dog as he walks every morning, is always home, and the companionship would do him so much good. But, to no avail.

So I take my Bernese Mountain Dog to visit Grandad. She knows the house and bounds up his driveway nearly knocking him flying in the process. He lets her inside the house (my mother would be turning in her grave if she had one) and dotes on her. She seems to sense that he needs that socially acceptable outlet for all his affection; he's quite a reserved and formal old fashioned Aussie bloke but it's ok to be soppy with a dog