Nursing Home Residents Put to Work

Pima Animal Care of Tucson, Arizona, has teamed up with Catalina Springs Memory Care nursing home to care for orphaned kittens. It's a win-win program, with kittens receiving round-the clock care from numerous volunteer nursing home residents, and the residents feel wonderful doing it. Rebecca Hamilton is the nursing home's Health Service Director, and has fostered kittens for years. She was the one who instigated the new partnership.

“To some it may seem peculiar at first: Residents who are in need of around-the-clock care themselves, given the task to care for these young kittens,” Catalina Springs Memory Care Executive Director Sharon Mercer, said. “But there are skills, emotions and needs that do not just leave a person with Dementia or Alzheimer’s. The desire to give love and receive love remains. The kittens have given us the opportunity to nurture this human condition that lies in each and every one of our residents.”

The first kittens fostered at the nursing home were Peaches and Turtle, each weighing only seven ounces. The kittens quickly gained weight under 24-hour care and feeding, and will soon be ready for adoption. Read more about the program at the Pima County website, and see more pictures at Facebook. -via Fark

(Image credit: Pima Animal Care)

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I love this! My son is a nurse and for many years he worked at Dementia/Alzheimer facilities and he would take our 2 dogs to work with him for the folks to interact with. Angel was a black Lab/Spaniel mix - a real love sponge - and Meggy was a black Cockerpoo with a fake grumpy attitude. They loved going to see the people and the people just could not get enough of the dogs. Animals have the ability to reach through to ailing people in a way that mere humans cannot achieve. I know these people's lives were enriched by these weekly visits. GOD bless the animals. They give so much and ask for so little in return.

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