Creature Comforts
Living with pets can bring healthful benefits for older adults. But are those perceived benefits overblown, and will technology replace the loyal dog or cat? By Jimmy Magahern
T
he promotional video for Joy For All companion pets shows a woman giving her elderly mother a purring, furry new friend, and captures the genuine joy the older woman experiences almost immediately upon holding it. “When she started petting that cat, and said that it felt like love, that just touched my heart,” says the daughter. The cat slowly nods and purrs in her mother’s arms. “Good morning,” the mother addresses it, smiling. Another video shows a caregiver presenting a Joy For All cat to her elderly patient, and then shows the patient’s visiting grandchildren happily huddling in close around
him to see his new friend. “The grandkids started petting it, and they had something happy to talk about,” the caregiver says. “Any moment of happiness or joy or a giggle is good. And believe you me, the cat provides that.” That pets can provide comfort and joy to older adults is nothing new; scores of articles have been published touting how having a pet can benefit both our physical health and mental well-being, from helping us reduce stress and lower our blood pressure to shake off those feelings of loneliness and boredom—and that can hold especially true for the elderly. Today a majority of independent living communities are
aggressively pet-friendly, and some even employ community pets to wander the grounds, offering every resident a furry, therapeutic head to pat. What is new about Joy For All companion pets is that they’re not real. Hasbro, the venerable toy maker whose long product line of classic kid’s favorites includes the animatronic Furbies (including the latest Star-Wars themed variation, “ urbacca” , is making its first foray into products designed specifically for seniors with a $99 animatronic cat, available in three colors, that purrs and meows in response to touch and other stimuli. ...continues on page 32
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page 30 : : Lovin’ Life After 50 : : February 2016
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