Caregiver’s Toolbox Ep. 15 “Pets and the Elderly” on Apple Podcasts

Click here to view our Podcast Directory

Ryan McEniff:

Hello everybody, and welcome to The Caregivers Toolbox podcast, tools to help you with everyday caregiving. My name is Ryan McEniff, the owner of Minute Women Home Care, and today we’re talking about seniors and their pets.

Ryan McEniff:

Hello everybody, and welcome to The Caregivers Toolbox, tools for everyday caregiving, where we give you tips, information, and education on senior care topics. We are brought to you by Minute Women Home Care, and as always, I am joined with Janet. Janet, how are you?

Janet:

I am well.

Ryan McEniff:

So today’s podcast is certainly near and dear to my heart. It deals with pets and the elderly, and I’m talking more about the pet side, but we are going to be talking about what to do with the pros and the cons of having pets in with the elderly. So what are your thoughts on this, Janet? What do you think some of the pros and cons are?

Janet:

Well, I think it’s kind of funny that when a young kid is begging for a dog, a lot of times parents can come up with a bunch of reasons why they shouldn’t. And yet when mom or dad lives alone, they think maybe a pet would be a great idea. Well, the pet is still the pet with the same needs, and there are the same issues. And pets are wonderful. They don’t usually talk back. I mean, my dog used to bark sometimes, but I have a rabbit now, so they’re really quiet and they don’t yell back at you. And they provide companionship, but they’re a lot of work and we have to stop and think of is this something that mom or dad could handle in their older years or they already have the pet and your parents are getting more frail and what do you do? So, I mean, you have your dog. Jackson is a hoot and a half, and I’m trying to imagine my elderly parents dealing with that dog.

Ryan McEniff:

Absolutely. That would be a difficult thing to see happen. I mean, the pros of … For the listeners, I got my girlfriend a puppy for the Christmas holiday, a small Havanese. And I wasn’t really thrilled with getting a puppy, but even I underestimated how much attention that this dog was going to be needing. In your head, you think about all the great things that are with a dog, but then you forget all about the bad things that are with a dog, or with whatever pet it might be. You obviously have the companionship of them, but you also have some of these issues, whether that’s the cost and also the time that you need to allocate to feeding the dog, walking the dog, or whatever it might be. Dogs are obviously, quote unquote, “Man’s best friend,” but there are some other options like cats or bunnies or fish. I mean, what are your thoughts on more of those less maintenance animals than just a dog?

Janet:

Well, I think the idea of people think a dog has to go out, a dog has to be walked. A cat doesn’t need those things. A cat can remain indoors. There’s still kitty litter that has to be maintained and that type of thing. People think, well, a bird would be easy. Well, birds can be a bit of a problem and they can be high maintenance. I don’t know that much about them. I just know friends that have had them. And fish, a gold fish somebody thinks would be the easiest thing, but you have to change the water. You have to take care of those things. You’ve got to transfer the fish out of the bowl if it’s just a simple little fish bowl. So if you’re relying on your parent or whoever it is to be able to care for them themselves, you’ve got to think about that.

Janet:

I know that one thing that I deal with, because I have a therapy bunny. I live with my parents. And just like the bunny, as cute as she is, and just like I’ve seen your little dog, they can get under foot real fast.

Ryan McEniff:

Absolutely.

Janet:

And that can be a safety risk.

Ryan McEniff:

Absolutely.

Janet:

Cats do the same thing. They like to walk in between your feet and that’s something you really have to look at.

Ryan McEniff:

Yeah. I mean, I think with any type of pet like that, especially an animal like a dog or a cat or something that has open access to the floor plan of your home, that is the biggest concern. With me being a really big guy or whatever, if Jackson gets under my foot, not that I want to do this to him, but he’s going to … The foot is going to win. Jackson is going to lose. I’m going to-

Janet:

That’s right.

Ryan McEniff:

The momentum of me walking is going to always win. But when somebody’s older and they’re frail and they’re not as strong as I am and they’re not walking as briskly as I would be walking, that can be a massive tripping hazard that can cause serious, if not fatal, consequences because of that fall.

Janet:

Or just coming right up behind you. I know that I’ve seen Jackson just scoot up right behind your feet. Let me just say with my bunny, my bunny is housebroken. So it’s like having a dog or a cat, and she will hop around. But you could walk up to something and they can come right up behind your feet and you don’t know they’re there. I know I’ve almost ended up upside down because of my bunny scooting up behind me.

Ryan McEniff:

Absolutely. It can be a good thing and a bad thing because you can certainly understand the companionship. I know that when my mom passed away, my mom and dad before she had passed away bought a small Yorkie, and of course named it Brady after Tom Brady since we’re in Massachusetts. But when she passed away, that was his last living animal that was associated with my mom. So when Brady passed away unexpectedly, that was devastating to him because it provided him companionship, as well as that was a connection to his lost wife.

Janet:

Absolutely.

Ryan McEniff:

So I certainly understand the companionship and the emotional side of things on that.

Janet:

Yeah. And I think that there are things too, that if your family member, say they’re going to go to an assisted living or nursing home, some places will allow pets, but that’s a whole nother thing, because your pet may get along great with you, but it may not get along with everybody else in the community. There is also the issue of who’s going to do the kitty litter and who’s going to feed the pet. And we’re not even really spending the time here today, but just like our healthcare costs have gone up, so have the healthcare costs of animals. And as they get, they need their shots, they need their tests. They can have different problems and they can’t tell you. So sometimes they can get a little more advanced in an illness.

Janet:

But if you cannot separate your mom or your dad from the little dog, you need to find a place that will let you have a pet, but you need to find out what their rules are and what’s the plan if it doesn’t work out because in some cases … Cats usually work out better in assisted livings than dogs, but I’ve seen dogs. I’ll never forget going to a facility where the little old lady let the dog out of the apartment just like she used to let it out of the house, and it would pee on the floor right outside the apartment. And then she’d let the dog back in. So everybody’s like, “This can’t continue.” Well, she had put down an artificial grass mat outside her door, and as far as this woman was concerned, it was her backyard. So, you have to kind of look ahead a little bit as to what the problems might be.

Ryan McEniff:

Absolutely. And I think in the end, when you’re in a situation like that, somebody just shouldn’t have an animal. So if we are in that situation, finding the new home, what do you in that situation?

Janet:

Well, I think you have to have a chat with your, we’re using your mom as an example, in this case. It’s good to talk to them first so they feel like they’re part of the decision. Oftentimes they will say, “Oh, well take Spot home with you.” Well, maybe you’re not the play to have the dog because you work, because you have another pet, because that’s just not going to work. If they have friends and a friend could take the dog, that’s another option. One of the best options I think, is to either talk to the vet, because they’ve probably been to a vet and there’s some relationship there, and they have a lot out of resources. They know of adoption agencies. They know of what are referred to as no kill shelters. And sometimes it could even be they know someone that will put it into a therapy program where it will go and visit other people.

Janet:

But you need to do it as soon as you realize that your mom and the pet-

Ryan McEniff:

This isn’t going to work out.

Janet:

… are not going to stay. And sadly, there are situations where the pet doesn’t adjust well, because they’re so devoted and they either stop eating or they become cranky or whatever. And again, it’s good to work with the vet because there are situations where the kindest thing people have done is have the animal put down because they’re so miserable. That’s the last thing you want to do, and there’s more happy endings than there are bad endings, but you really have to think it through.

Ryan McEniff:

Yeah. And one thing that I think you maybe left out on that is social media. The backstory with Jackson is that he came from a breeder, and those are more expensive, but the reason we went that way was because we had a previous dog named Riley. Riley was a big brown lovable lab. But the problem with Riley was he was a pound dog. Something happened to him very early before we received him, and he would be extraordinarily aggressive towards anybody that wasn’t in his inner circle, which was four or five people. And he was a big dog. Jackson’s eight pounds. Riley was 70 pounds. So the concern was if Riley ran off, which he loved to do because he was a happy dog in those situations, but encountered somebody that scared him, that’s a terrible situation waiting to occur. So we felt that that was cause enough to put him down in the most humane way, because he would’ve hated going back to the pound or going to a new home. It would’ve never worked out.

Ryan McEniff:

And the reason I’m bringing that up is I think that’s a big fear for people that are looking at adopting dogs nowadays, because of whatever reason, it seems that there’re just more dogs that have more developmental issues than going directly to a breeder. So if you have a dog that’s really laid back, is really friendly, doesn’t have those issues, it might be worthwhile putting that on Facebook to say, “Hey, my mom has a dog that she no longer can handle. He is six years old, in great health, and is not a problem whatsoever. We’re just looking for a good home for him or her. This isn’t because there are developmental issues or there’s aggression issues or whatever that is. It’s just because we no longer can care for the dog anymore. Does anybody out there want a free dog that’s a really, really dog? Try him out for two weeks, and if it doesn’t work out, bring him back.”

Ryan McEniff:

We all have these huge networks specifically on Facebook, that there are constantly people looking for dogs, but they’re just worried about getting the dog that is the nightmare, that unfortunately Riley was going to be if we kept him for a longer period of time.

Janet:

Yeah. That’s an excellent point because what can also happen too is the dog has just been with this one family for so long, they may become more protective and they were the sweetest, kindest thing, and to you folks and in your family, they still are, but to go to another family, they may not like that. And just like we have issues when we get older, people that have elderly people with older dogs, they’re having vision problems, they’re having hearing problems. And that can be a change in personality that the two elderly have come to accept each other, like my grandmother and my old dog, Heather, Ethel and Heidi were great together, because they understood each other’s crankiness. But you need to give a lot of thought as to what’s the best thing to do.

Ryan McEniff:

Absolutely. And sometimes, unfortunately the best thing to do is to put a dog down because maybe they’re too old that nobody’s going to accept them because they’re going to have too many health issues, but that’s-

Janet:

And they’re going to be scared.

Ryan McEniff:

Yeah. They’re going to be scared.

Janet:

I think our pets look to us to take care of them and do the right thing.

Ryan McEniff:

Well, we’ll have to deal with Jackson in 15 years. We’ve got plenty of time. He’s only four months old and he’s driving me nuts already.

Janet:

Oh, he’s got a long way to go.

Ryan McEniff:

Excellent. So that wraps up this podcast on the pros and cons of having pets with the elderly. Thank you very much for listening to The Caregivers Toolbox, tools for everyday caregiving brought to you by Minute Women Home Care. If you have questions or want to reach out, we’re on Twitter @MWHomecare, and podcasts come out every Tuesday. Thanks again, and have a great day.

Ryan McEniff:

Thank you for listening to The Caregivers Toolbox podcast, which is brought to you by Minute Women Home Care Services, located in Lexington, Massachusetts. Call us at 1(844) BESTCARE if you have caregiving questions or needs. For comments regarding the podcast, find us on Twitter. Our handle is @MWHomecare. Thanks again, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Connect With Us

Facebook

LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Caregiver’s Toolbox Podcast

iTunes

Google Podcasts

Stitcher

Spotify