I had lots of fun during my therapy cat visit to my assisted living pals! I wasn’t sure how things would go at first. It was drizzly outside and most of the residents in the big room were napping on the couches or in their wheelchairs. But two of my regulars — the lady who likes to get high fives and the cat-loving red haired lady — were ready to greet me.
After I visited with them, I went over to the nonverbal woman with heavy hands. She was awake this visit, and she petted me for a long time with her free hand. In her other hand she was holding a piece of paper with a photocopy of a magazine picture and some sort of drawing she’d done under it. She showed it to my human and even said something to her! It was pretty amazing.
One of the staff members took us around to some of the people in the wheelchairs. One of them was a talkative Spanish speaking lady I’ve visited with before. She always chatters a lot to my human, who can never keep up with what she’s saying. Then we sat next to another Spanish speaking lady who said she was scared of cats. My human and the staff member tried to tell her how nice I was. It must have worked because she petted me.
One woman my human and I made sure to visit was a lady who used to enjoy visiting with me. She loved seeing me so much it made her cry. But her dementia got worse to the extent that she stopped recognizing me. She was sitting at a dining table right next to the big room with a vacant look in her eyes. My human brought her over to me, and her eyes focused just enough for her to reach out and pet me. For us, that was a win.
As we were leaving, one of the elderly ladies who likes me was talking with a few residents and staff, and she was happy to see me. And she reached out and hugged my human while I was in my sling carrier. It was a nice way to end our visit to the residence.
