[Vision2020] Caturday (October 6, 2018)

Moscow Cares moscowcares at moscow.com
Sat Oct 6 05:24:52 PDT 2018


Kittens make everything better on Caturday..

Courtesy of the Kearney Hub (Kearney, Nebraska) at:

https://www.kearneyhub.com/news/local/these-two-kittens-are-making-friends-with-seniors-at-the/article_d4e75ffc-c591-11e8-9532-c7ca8aa3dccc.html?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

———————————————

These two kittens are making friends with seniors at the Christian Homes Care Community

HOLDREGE — Kittens romped around the Christian Homes Care Community courtyard, chasing one another under plants and occasionally pouncing on a twig or a blowing leaf.

Sally Massey, a resident at Christian Homes, spotted them through the door into the courtyard and immediately came out to watch them play. She called them to her and held one close when it climbed into her lap, but it soon scampered off to chase its sibling. Peals of laughter echoed through the outdoor space whenever one of the kittens would chase or tackle the other.

The 6-week-old kittens, Bella and Sissy, are spending their days at the assisted living facility in Holdrege.

Kendra Norton, director of Chrisoma West assisted living at Christian Homes, took in the kittens after their mother was ran over by a vehicle. Bella and Sissy were only about 14 days old, and Norton had to bottle feed them around the clock. Because the kittens needed constant care Norton got permission to bring them with her to work.

Even though residents in the assisted and independent living sections of Christian Homes can have cats and dogs as pets, the kittens immediately drew lots of attention.

“I had some residents that were stopping in and (asking), ‘Oh, are we going to keep them?’ At the time, we weren’t going to. I just hadn’t thought about doing that,” Norton said.

But the more time the kittens spent at Christian Homes, Norton began to see the positive effect they can have on residents and staff.

“It just came to me, why can’t I just get these kittens used to being here with us? And they can go out in our courtyard and get used to that. The residents love to hold them. They love to watch them,” she said.

She decided to continue working on getting the cats acclimated to the residents and to be therapy cats at Christian Homes.

Norton hadn’t given the kittens proper names, so residents were able to vote on what to name them. Bella, an orange tabby, is laid back and enjoys attention, while her sister, Sissy, started out as skittish and shy. However, she’s starting to come out of her bubble, said Norton.

The pair have a large cage on wheels with climbing features, blankets and even a tiny hammock. Norton typically wheels their cage to the TV room in the morning where residents can watch them play, nap or hold them. Since they are so young, Norton keeps a close eye on them to make sure they are getting plenty of time to rest. She continues to take them home each night and back to work with her each day.

Norton has researched the positive effects animals can have on residents, and she already has seen the influence Bella and Sissy has had at Christian Homes.

“(Animals) can lower blood pressure for them. If they are feeling stressed, it brings their stress level down,” she said. “It just enlightens their day just to even hold them, pet them.”

Norton began working with Ellen Montgomery, Christian Home’s skilled care activity director, to share the kittens with the skilled care residents a few times a week. Montgomery will take the kittens room to room or to the activities center where residents can watch Bella and Sissy play.

“The residents really like to use the toys to try to play with them. We kind of encourage them to use the toys because it’s kind of good for motor skills and that kind of stuff on top of the emotional and mental side of having the kittens,” Montgomery said.

One skilled care resident, in particular, struggles with different behaviors and coping with dementia, but when the kittens are around he immediately changes, Montgomery said.

“Anymore now, if we notice that this specific resident is having moments that he is uncomfortable or he is just struggling to cope with the day, the first thing that staff say is, ‘Where are the kittens?’ They want to figure out how to get him to the kittens to kind of help him calm down in that moment and provide him a little bit of emotional stability,” she said.

Montgomery and Norton are excited about having the kittens at Christian Homes, especially for the residents who are cat lovers. Therapy dogs are fairly common visitors at the residency, but it’s much harder to find cats who are able to visit, Montgomery said.

“This kind of helps with that because it’s amazing to see when the cats come down the hallway and our true, true cat lovers (come to see them). You hear them tell stories about their animals from home and how they miss their cats,” Montgomery said.

Bella and Sissy have many fans among the residents, and they have won over staff members, too. Montgomery will often spend her breaks with the kittens, and she spent one of her lunch breaks last week helping them get used to spending time in the courtyard. Norton and Montgomery will continue to work with Bella and Sissy on being handled, and they plan to train them to walk on a leash and harness.

Bella and Sissy’s short time at Christian Homes already have provided plenty of smiles for residents and staff members.

“We even have residents that don’t really communicate much, and the second you bring them around and you kind of help them put their hand up there and they just smile. It’s neat to see that part of it because it’s kind of their form of communicating with them, and they are just so happy. That makes me happy to see that,” Montgomery said.

——————

Photos . . .

Christian Homes resident Sally Massey holds a six-week-old kitten, Sissy, before the kitten darts off to play in the grass with her sister, Bella.
http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_100618_01.jpg


Christian Homes Care Community Skilled Activity Director Ellen Montgomery waves a blade of grass in front of resident kittens - Sissy, front, and Bella, back. The kittens often play in the Holdrege assisted living and nursing home courtyard while residents watch them.
http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_100618_02.jpg

———————————————

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20181006/13bec061/attachment.html>


More information about the Vision2020 mailing list