The Best Pet Care Tips For Seniors
Having a pet is wonderful for seniors. Pets can significantly lower stress levels for seniors and provide companionship and love. Owning a pet can also have a very real impact on a senior’s health. Studies show that seniors who have pets get benefits like lower rates of heart disease. But taking care of a pet can be difficult for a senior as they get older. Health challenges can make pet care a struggle. In-home care can help because an in-home care provider can do things like clean litter boxes, walk a dog, and make sure the pets have food and clean water daily. Seniors can also use these tips and tricks to make pet care easier as they get older:
Use Automatic Feeders And Water Fountains
In-Home Care Wilmette, IL: Seniors and Pets
In addition to having an in-home care provider help with pet feedings seniors can use automatic pet feeders and large water fountains to make sure that pets have food and water available to them. Automatic feeders can prevent the very real problem of a pet waking up a senior parent for food early in the morning and your senior parent falling as they stumble out of bed to feed the pet. With an automatic feeder the food will be dispensed at whatever time the feeder is set for. A home care provider can make sure the feeder is properly set up and the timer set each day.
Use Senior Friendly Collars and Leashes
One of the biggest problems seniors have walking their dogs is that they can be tripped, jerked off their feet, or injured by leashes. They also may have trouble getting the dog’s collar on and off if they have arthritis or poor grip strength. Using leashes and collars that are designed to be used by people with poor grip strength can make it easier for seniors to walk their dogs safely. And taking a dog for a walk every day or multiple times each day is a fantastic way for seniors to get more exercise.
Put In Pet Doors
Pet doors are another thing that can help seniors care for their pets more easily. Putting pet doors in the basement door or the door to the litter room means that your senior loved one won’t have to get up repeatedly to make sure the cat can access the litter box. And a doggie door put into the back door means that your senior parent’s dog will be able to go outside whenever it needs to go. Then your senior loved one won’t have to get up to open the door all the time.
Get Pet Food Delivered
Pet food usually comes in enormous bags which are cost effective but also extremely heavy. Shopping for pet food in-person can be impossible for seniors who can’t carry heavy bags. But with home delivery of pet food seniors won’t have to carry those heavy bags. They will be delivered right to the door. And often the delivery carrier will bring the bags into the kitchen or garage for seniors.
If you or an aging loved one are considering In-Home Care in Wilmette, IL, contact the caring staff at Companion Services of America today at (847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas.
Source:
https://www.petsfortheelderly.org/our-work/research.php
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