yesterday.
This was organised by my soon to be niece-in-law. She's a nurse - marrying my doctor nephew. Fortunately for us she knows how these things work and has taken advantage of it.
Yes, I know - unfair...or is it?
I thought about this. The Senior Cat is currently 94. He will turn 95 in February next year, if he is still with us. Up until the past couple of weeks we have, apart from the time he broke his leg and when he had the fall, managed without any extra help. He isn't costing the government money by needing to be in a nursing home. I don't get paid for looking after him at home. He doesn't get Meals on Wheels or any of the other assistance other people his age are getting.
Recently our wonderful gardener/handyman said he wanted to retire too. That's a real blow to us and it also means we need to make some changes and get some new help outside. That's because there are things I simply physically can't do. I'm not big enough or strong enough. I can't climb a ladder or get rid of more rubbish than we can bin. S....has been marvellous. He has changed light bulbs, fixed a door, cleared gutters, weeded, pruned, dug, planted and more. His charges have been very, very reasonable. Losing him is going to mean finding multiple people to do multiple things - unless we make some changes.
The Senior Cat doesn't want things to change - but he knows they must. We need to be rid of the tubs he was growing things in - so he doesn't trip over them. His old "compost" arrangement has to change. He won't be using a lot of compost in future. His gardening will mean "pottering" in the containers he has at waist height - when he has the energy. I suspect he will get a little planting done and I will have to keep them watered and weeded.
But if we can keep him at home and he can do at least some of the things he did before then he will be a much happier cat. Yesterday I looked at someone I know. She moved into a nursing home about seven or eight months ago. Her children insisted. They said she couldn't cope alone...and no, they are too busy to help her. She loathes the nursing home, misses her pots and her cat (who now lives with the neighbours) and her neighbours "popping in and out". With a bit of help she could have stayed where she was but her family took the easy way out.
I don't want to do that. I hope my brother can help with the garden issues when he arrives in a few weeks time - and that the Senior Cat can go on "pottering"for a while yet.
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1 comment:
Good for you and your family for doing what is necessary to keep Senior Cat at home. It isn't always easy but, if you can manage it, it's a far better arrangement to keep you all together and for Senior Cat to have a decent quality of life.
The last place I would want to be or to send anyone is to a nursing home regardless of the standards of care. Please spare a thought for those younger people with disabilities who need special care and don't have the resources to be cared for at home and who, inappropriately, end up in nursing homes designed for the elderly.
I have heard statistics about nursing homes that make my toes curl. Fortunately, I have also heard some good stories (about one place in particular) but despite that, I would still say "No thank you!" to a nursing home.
It's a hard gig, being an unpaid carer for a loved one. This week is National Carer's Week (for whatever that's worth) but it is a good time to express acknowledgment and appreciation for the tireless work that you carers do. You save the government so much money and sacrifice so much of your own personal life. A good way to recognise carers would be to increase the carer's allowance to allow carers some quality of life and not force them into poverty.
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