If it wern't for my two furry red boys I don't think I could make it. I have a Maine Coon and a pound cat. They are so unconditional with their love. A head bump or underarm snuggle helps a lot. I was heartbroken when I brought one to see my husband and he had no idea what the cat was. No instinctive patting on the head that the books say will occur. No words of wisdom came pouring out of a long mute throat. So much for the books. bluedaze
bluedaze, it may have just been a bad day. We all know the ups and downs of this disease. Don't give up because of one not so good encounter. The next time may be totally different. I bet the cat was glad to see him however.
I know a wonderful pet therapy dog named Barney. He visits nursing homes and is teriffic with and for the patients. Bluedaze, he is in our area, so if you are interested, let me know. Sorry, I know you are a cat person, but Barney is certified and adorable. He has visited our support group. Everyone loves him.
Actually, after the last few weeks I have had, I could use Barney's services.
Joan-Broadmoor is supposed to be getting their own certified therapy dog. We shall see. When are your support group meetings? I'm getting frayed around the edges.
For some reason, DH is back on good terms with the little male chihuahua he has carried on his arm for 11yrs. he just forgot him for several yrs then recently out of the blue, (after takin goff namenda!) he talks/walks/pets both the dogs much to their delight!:) hes is doggy heaven now his daddy remembers him again..awwww...! so sweet to see this dog i swear he smiles now! divvi what would be do without our pets? good question, my sanity would be long gone./
We have several pets annd Hubby interacts with them more now than he did when well. He feeds the cats their soft canned food in the morning and evening( this includes a portion for OT, the Boston Terrier). He adopted Johnny Cash, the black & white Tom, but the one most attached to him is the little gray tiger, Sweetie--she races him to the bedroom when he heads in for a nap. He also has his own smaller aquariums for his Bettas (Siamese Fighting fish)--"Cruise","Red October",and "Torpedo". He has great respect for the cats and when any one of them is sleeping in his chair, he'll sit somewhere else rather than make them move. When 2 of the cats started getting pushy about him sharing his milk when he has cookies, he got them their own little dish of milk so they'd leave his cup alone. Throws me off though when he trips on the names. He knows which one I'm talking about, but doesn't use the cats' names, and calls "OT" "Dog". OT has started answering to it. And then last week he told me he'd just brought "Chantey " in. Chantey was our red dachshund, whom we had for over 15 years, and lost in 1999. OT is Black and white and doen't look anything like Chantey. Ours might not be therapy animals but keeping him involved in their care and interacting with them is helping keep him in the here and now. They help me too, with their undemanding attention and companionship.
my lil bennie the male chihuahua has started having his teaspoon of bluebell homeade vanilla along with DH in the pm everyday. DH asks him how he likes his icecream, its so endearing -divvi
This isn't about my pet... but it is what I watch when I need a lift in spirit.(therapy) I have been watching this video for almost a year now and it never ceases to amaze and move me.
Nikki-That video is great, my sister shared it with me awhile back and everytime I watched it I got goose bumps. Why do people think animals can't remember? What makes those people think they are so superior to animals? divvi-I sure your woof woof is smiling our little woof woof smiles a lot, so does our cat. When happy and you know let it show.
Did you see the piece on CNN today about the sea turtles?
Oahu, HI -- An outpouring of love from one turtle to another tore at the heartstrings of beachgoers at Laniakea Beach on Oahu's north shore.
News of the slaughtering of a turtle named "Honey Girl" brought tourists and visitors to the beach to watch the survivors. "Look at how much joy people get out of this and then something like this somebody does something horrible like that it's terrible," one visitor said.
But what happened Monday afternoon tugs at your heart even more. A large male, known as "Kuhina" appeared on the shore and quietly made his way to a memorial volunteers set up for "Honey Girl."
"They had to move the ropes aside so he could come straight up through and just came up and put his head right near the memorial right near the picture and just stayed."
Kuhina stayed for hours. Volunteers say it appeared as if he never took his eyes off her picture.
"Heart breaking to see those images but it was also so touching just to see him come up and be so close to the memorial it was almost like he was coming up to say good-bye."
Well, finally got some tears rolling! That was GREAT! I had seen another one about a different lion that a woman had adopted (looked nothing like this lion) & she had to give it up. Much later it came to the fence & put its big paws around her head. They just snuggled in bliss. Wonderful, just what I needed. THANKS.
I just love animals. If I could afford it, I would be working at some place helping to rehab wounded animals. I once took a turtle to a wildlife rescue organization. It looked like part of its snout? was cut off by a lawnmower. My son held it while we drove for miles. They actually called me back to give me a report that it had been rehabbed & put into a stream with other like turtles, like I was the mother.
I also took a white duck from a public park. Most of his feather had been picked out by other ducks. Took him to the vet (got a $45 vet bill for a public animal!) and she told me someone had feed him the wrong food, which was why he was chest heavy. Brought him home, named him Patty, since I found him on St. Patrick's day. Let him swim in my bathtub, got him the proper food, held his chest up for walks in the backyard. Bought him a kid's pool. He lived in my laundry room & Yes I cleaned up the poop. Finally, I realized he was ready to go back into the wild. I took him to a different pond. I tried to get him to go in with the other ducks, but he clung to me. Oh my. He just kept snuggling with me, no interest in the ducks. I left him. (I cried all the way home.) Came back everyday & he knew me & I fed him by hand. Then, one day, he was with another duck, guess he had found his love. He came to me for food, but went back to her. Then I knew it had a happy ending. The end. Love, The stone that cried. :-)
I sometimes bring one of our dogs (golden/lab cross of 80 pounds), Rosie, to visit my husband at the facility. She is always so excited to see her "Daddy". She knows where we are and will start looking for him as soon as we walk in the door. Sometimes he will pet her and other times he shows no interest so that is a bit heartbreaking. Many of the other residents also like to visit with her though and will often make a point of petting her and talking to her. One woman was very shy about coming up to her at first just barely pet her. The last 2 times I brought her in, Helen was petting her. Helen has not said one word to me in the last several months. She tried to get Rosie all excited and Rosie responded. Helen laughed and turned around saying "oh my God". We think Rosie was abused before we rescued her as she was absolutely shy around men (and still is to some extent) but she is so terrific with the residents it is beautiful to see. It is so nice to see so many of the residents smile when they see her.
She is also a therapy dog for me. Without her and her sister (an 80 pound golden), I would have a much more difficult time getting up in the morning and getting in some exercise. The two of them are a joy to watch when they play outside and are fun to cuddle up with. The two of them have such expressive faces, they can almost always bring a smile to my face.
Of course, if the dogs don't do it, there is always one of the four cats that is willing to step in.
Val, were you talking about Elsa, the "Born Free" lion? Wonderful story.
Mary, if you think reading about it was a tear-jerker, you should have seen the video and photos. They were interviewing people and most of them could hardly talk for crying.
Val what a beautiful story, thank you for sharing it.
There is another story about a lion who hugs the women who saved him from severe abuse while in a traveling circus..is this the one you meant ? http://www.local6.com/news/10726779/detail.html
I loved the video about Christian, It lifts me up whenever I am down. I am glad you all enjoyed it as much as I have~Nikki
Once I have sent it on to others who can relate, I delete.
I give thanks for our animals. My girl Katrina, got lots of loving after I saw that youtube.
Yeah, I am a softy after all.
Shocker of shocks. Not meaning to put it in between the sweet animal thingy, but I found out today my husband is in debt, $35,000. I called his credit card company, put in the number, the zip code, over $25,000.! Then today I saw that he had taken out a home equity line of 10k. Found it on his desk. I went into a complete meltdown. Here we were set for life ( I just can't tell you, but it was enormous.) Now I am worried that I will be liable for his debts. I don't think he has a clue as to the enormity of this all. He seems happy as a lark. Who could be in debt for 35k? I know, I know, see a divorce attorney. I'm going to google it tomorrow 1st.
I don't know if it will help, but my DD's husband is a lawyer and I asked him about this. If ANY of it happened after he had a diagnosis, he wasn't competant to sign contracts or complete transactions. You have to convince a jury, but mentally incompetant people cannot be held liable for contracts. Good luck....
YIKES!!!! Lynn is too old fashioned for credit cards, never owned one his whole life. So, I haven't faced this... so sorry you are now and let us know what you find out~Nikki
He hasn't been diagnosed. At this point I don't want one. He doesn't have AD, he has brain necrosis due to whole brain radiation. From what I have read on this site, should I divorce him (to save my own personal property) if declared incompetent, it would be much more complex and expensive. He would have to have a guardian ad litem & that would make the process very lengthy.
But good to know trisinger. Should I be stuck between a rock & a hard place, maybe I could convince someone he was incompetent when he made the charges.
Nikki.. My husband who no longer can use his computer sits with me and watches the Christian the Lion video ( actually there are several versions) on mine. He can't remember what movie we saw two hours ago but so far he remembers that video. I show it to him everytime he asks. It brings tears to his eyes everytime...He has always had a bond wiht animals It got me thinking that I need to collect other similar videos I am so glad these days to find anything that he remembers and enjoys I am finding joy in such simple things ... We talk about the video each time he sees it , just like he had never talked about it before. I'm going to check out other suggestions
Hi Anita, that is so sweet.. thank you for sharing it. Yes there are several videos... and there is also a book and a DVD movie about Christian as well. I have an inquiring mind lol Lynn too has always had a connection with animals and I bought him several baby animal DVDs aimed at children. Ones that can make him smile and laugh at their antics. It is heartbreaking, but I am glad you are able to find joy in the simple things. ~Nikki
My husband has always loved horses, had one as a young boy . I have picture books of animals and photo books of our pets in the pas t and he loves to look at them. He is not interested and cannot read any longer the books without pictures. He also loves greeting cards especially the type with sound, and if I can find one with animals he will carry it around for a l ong ti me.
We have not been able to have cats, due to my wife's allergies. She is also somewhat allergic to dogs, so we have not had one for 20 years. Our daughter recently got a miniature schnauzer, which is supposed to be non-allergenic. Whenever we are with our daughter, DW holds the dogs and is constantly petting it. The dog seems to know that she needs this. It certainly has given her a lot of pleasure.
Marsh that is wonderful! Are you able to see your daughter often? I was just curious if there was a way you could get one for your wife if she wasn't able to visit often. We have dogs, we bred them and kept them all .... couple of softies LOL... then we took in some rescue dogs as well. Lynn is NEVER without a pup, they bring him more pleasure than anything in his life now.
Carewife, I was reading how your DH carries around his musical card... that is one of those awwwww time. How sweet. Lynn too loved horses, we had up to 9 at one time, years ago. I will borrow your idea and look for some horse books for him. Thanks~
Nikki, we only see our children 2-3 times a year. We live in Maine, the daughter with the dog lives in Massachusetts (5½ hours drive), our daughter with cats lives outside Chicago, and our son lives in San Francisco. We can't have a dog because we live in a retirement apartment where dogs are not allowed. Cats are, but she is so allergic to cats that that is not an option. We do have a "stuffed" cat, which has what looks like natural fur. DW is always stroking it and talking to it. Occasionally when we are away from the apartment she will suddenly ask if "cat" is OK.
Marsh, OHHHH that is so sweet!! It reminds me of my grams, while on hospice in the hospital she missed her cat something fierce. My dad bought her one of those stuffed cats, that also breaths...it sort of freaked me out, but my Grams adored it! She pet it all the time and never let it leave her side. That is too bad you can't have a pup for her... do they have .. or allow visits from therapy dogs? Best wishes~Nikki
ps, where in Maine? I live in New Hampshire.. one of our favorite places to visit is Cape Elizabeth. We use to always go to the Wells area as well. Beautiful state you live in! :)