What do you think about pets for seniors?

We have a 7 yr. old Cotton and 2 cats. It's a constant hair ball here and cat fur there. Haha
We won't get any more, but they are under foot all the time. No matter where I sit, they are
there or have just been there. In my office Cola the Male Maine Coon is under my desk bunny
kicking my shoes. There spaded and just want more love. Whenever Snowball and I are
Together all 3 are piled with us in the room. Half of what we talk about is them guys.
Cola, Spec and Rosie Posie. Someone is always getting attention. One sleeping on a hot
air register, the other on my easy rocker in my office. Rosie has her own chair there.
 

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Supernatural said:
Yes dear @packleader we went out today. As soon as we arrived back home CoffeeBean came to see both of us, meowing what sounded like "Wow, I'm so glad you're home..." Purring, body rubs, tail hugs the lot. Sat by his treat box put a paw on it and meowed "treat".

Then after we'd put everything away, we had lunch. Sitting between the two of us, he enjoyed nibbling on the slices of roast beef sticking out of our sandwiches.

Once completed, he laid down his head on my leg and his backside on daughter's arm. Stretched comfortably, he promptly fell asleep.

They know and learn your routine very quickly and are pleased to come and tell you that they've done their business in their litter box. They enjoy watching you cleaning it out.

CoffeeBean is always into everything we do. Prime example, we've an aid bench across our bath. When we take a shower, you've just turn around and there on the bench is kitty keeping an eye on you. He loves it!

They're more with you than a dog. Sorry, but I've seen the differences over the decades I've had both as pets. Dogs are great for protection and fantastic for the disabled persons.

If you're relatively healthy and able bodied a kitty kat, is quiet (no barking šŸ˜‚) cuddle buddy and full of love. An adorable wee fury companion to have... Sorry!
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I had a little dog named Coffee 30 years ago. Dumb as a stump though. I would dig a trail and a playground in the snow.
 
I would advocate maybe an adult or senior pet. Senior pets especially are a good choice as so often seniors are harder to adopt.
But good to keep finances in mind...ie, pet insurance, vet bills. Also, pet food not covered by SNAP benefits. Plus, have someone in place willing and able to take the pet if you are no longer able to keep it
 
hollydolly said:
Dogs are the best pet anyone can have... they don't potty in other people's gardens...
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There's this guy who walks his small dog past our house every morning and evening, and the thing was pinching off a pile on my front lawn every single time. I think it's a Shitzu.

Anyway, after the third turd, when I saw the guy and his pooch coming our way I walked out with a box of latex gloves, like the ones your doctor has in the exam rooms.

By the time I was eye-to-eye with this chump, as predicted, the dog had dumped a dooty, so I looked the guy in the eye while I put on a glove, kind of theatrically, and then I picked up the dog's crap, pulled off the glove so that it turned inside out and the pouch's poo was safely inside, tied it off and handed it to his jerk master...and by that I'll say I mean his jerk of a master.

Me: Keep the box, and feel free to drop the full ones in my bin right over there. But the next time I see you NOT picking up your dog's sh!t, I promise you...I will shoot.

Chump Neighbor, posturing like a chump: Did you just threaten to shoot my *effing* dog?!

Me: Hell no...it isn't the dog's fault.

As you probly guessed, it didn't end there. He got all bent outta shape, we yelled at each other for a while and I eventually went inside the house. I watched him from my front window; watched him pace back and forth while he talked to an emergency dispatcher.

Police came and we talked, and I told them I don't even have a gun - not really a lie; I have 3 - and they asked if they could come inside and look around, and I said No, and they told me it isn't good to make shooty threats.

And they talked to the guy and told him he has to pick up his dog's crap; it's a city ordinance; violators pay a fine and repeat violators could ultimately lose their pet. They also suggested he walk his little poopy dog elsewhere.

And that was it. I didn't see the guy for a few days, and then I did. He carries his dog when they pass my house.

That works just as well.
 
Marie5656 said:
I would advocate maybe an adult or senior pet. Senior pets especially are a good choice as so often seniors are harder to adopt.
But good to keep finances in mind...ie, pet insurance, vet bills. Also, pet food not covered by SNAP benefits. Plus, have someone in place willing and able to take the pet if you are no longer able to keep it
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That's the main reason I won't get another cat. I think about what if I die. I can't stand the thoughts of it being here alone without having food or water. I don't have anyone that would even look after it if I were to be in the hospital somewhere. It would be worse to get one and then to worry about that.
 
We've got the "best" pet experience. The young neighbors across the road have a wonderful little beagle. When they go to work, she shows up on our front porch and spends the day with us. We keep a pan of fresh water under the porch, and a pack of dog treats to give her one or two a day. She loves to be petted, and spends most of her day napping on the porch. We get plenty of hours of companionship, and the neighbors get the vet bills....an ideal situation.
 
I have a cat. Pixel. He's FIV-positive and has all the symptoms that causes. Fortunately, my wife is sure to outlive me, and if Pixel outlives me as well, she'll take care of him.

But if I was alone I'd be thinking about euthanizing him sometime soon. Taking care of him is kind of a chore and treatment is expensive, and FIV is contagious so he shouldn't go live with someone who already has 1 or more cats.
 
Murrmurr said:
There's this guy who walks his small dog past our house every morning and evening, and the thing was pinching off a pile on my front lawn every single time. I think it's a Shitzu.

Anyway, after the third turd, when I saw the guy and his pooch coming our way I walked out with a box of latex gloves, like the ones your doctor has in the exam rooms.

By the time I was eye-to-eye with this chump, as predicted, the dog had dumped a dooty, so I looked the guy in the eye while I put on a glove, kind of theatrically, and then I picked up the dog's crap, pulled off the glove so that it turned inside out and the pouch's poo was safely inside, tied it off and handed it to his jerk master...and by that I'll say I mean his jerk of a master.

Me: Keep the box, and feel free to drop the full ones in my bin right over there. But the next time I see you NOT picking up your dog's sh!t, I promise you...I will shoot.

Chump Neighbor, posturing like a chump: Did you just threaten to shoot my *effing* dog?!

Me: Hell no...it isn't the dog's fault.

As you probly guessed, it didn't end there. He got all bent outta shape, we yelled at each other for a while and I eventually went inside the house. I watched him from my front window; watched him pace back and forth while he talked to an emergency dispatcher.

Police came and we talked, and I told them I don't even have a gun - not really a lie; I have 3 - and they asked if they could come inside and look around, and I said No, and they told me it isn't good to make shooty threats.

And they talked to the guy and told him he has to pick up his dog's crap; it's a city ordinance; violators pay a fine and repeat violators could ultimately lose their pet. They also suggested he walk his little poopy dog elsewhere.

And that was it. I didn't see the guy for a few days, and then I did. He carries his dog when they pass my house.

That works just as well.
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if people had legal guns in the Uk there would be a lot more cat owners shot dead for the mess they make of people gardens than any dog owner that's for sure..just about every dog owner I know.. well all owners I know pick up after their own dog, and don't let them onto other people's property ..
 
Marie5656 said:
I would advocate maybe an adult or senior pet. Senior pets especially are a good choice as so often seniors are harder to adopt.
But good to keep finances in mind...ie, pet insurance, vet bills. Also, pet food not covered by SNAP benefits. Plus, have someone in place willing and able to take the pet if you are no longer able to keep it
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I agree Marie. An older shelter pet from the humane society or online. Someone who doesn't have anyone they can trust to take care of their pet afterward can have a request in to have their animal put down. It's what I would do.
 
My third husbandā€™s ex wife was dying of cancer and had a young dog, young cat and an older dog. She found a home for the young dog. Her son found a home for the cat and she was going to put to sleep the older dog and my stepson was heartbroken but was in the military so couldnā€™t take her.

I took her although I had 3 dogs and I found her a good home with a friend of mine. 4 years later the dog is alive and happy. Also if you adopt a old pet from a shelter and it gets put to sleep when you die it had a longer happier life than if it remained at the shelter. I actually never minded our neighbor cat in our yard or garden. She wasnā€™t afraid of our little dogs but with all the coyotes cats that go outside often donā€™t last long.
 
hollydolly said:
if people had legal guns in the Uk there would be a lot more cat owners shot dead for the mess they make of people gardens than any dog owner that's for sure..just about every dog owner I know.. well all owners I know pick up after their own dog, and don't let them onto other people's property ..
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At least cats bury their business. Or at least they try to bury it. Burying your neighbor over any pet mess isn't actually worth it. šŸ˜›

I think dog dookie smells way worse that cat pudding.
 
I haven't had a pet for years unless you count the magpies that used to nest in the gum tree at the front of the house and the other various wild birds that drank from the bird bath at the rear. These included a number of sulphur crested cockies, noisy miners and the occasional lorikeets that feasted on the bottle brush trees, none of which required anything more than making sure the bird bath wasn't dry.

I also leave out some fruit each evening for the brush tail possum that is now a regular visitor after the sun has gone down. Possie is very shy but the fruit is always gone by morning and I have had occasional glimpses from time to time. She sits on her haunches and holds the fruit to her mouth in her front paws. She looks ever so ladylike.

Quite recently I became the caretaker of five little silky hens that belong to my daughter. As she says, they are dumb as rocks but they are quite entertaining. Every morning now my first task of the day is to let them out of their coop so that I can clean it thoroughly. They are usually lined up ready to scratch around on what I laughingly call "the lawn".

I refresh the laying boxes, transferring the droppings to the compost bin, which is in better condition than it has been for a long time. Then I use the yard broom to sweep up the fresh droppings from the concrete under the coop before hosing it very thoroughly. I feel like a zoo keeper at times.

After scratching around a bit on "the lawn" they retire to the fernery to escape the heat. If it isn't too hot, they will venture out to dig holes in "the lawn" and the small circular garden where the bird bath is found. They are very enthusiastic excavators.

Basically they live on laying mash pellets and water but I provide treats in the form of table scraps, chopped spinach, cherry tomatoes, cracked corn, rolled oats and four bean mix from a tin. Not all at once. Just small quantities scattered on "the lawn" to give them something to do and to relieve the boredom.

The treats are also appreciated by some wild birds that I hadn't seen in the back yard before. The cheekiest of these are the crested pigeons that fly down and forage alongside of the chickens. Quite often I see the chickens and the pigeons sitting side by side on the grass, totally unfazed by each other.

Caring for "the girls"; Betty White, Ginger Rogers, Barbara Bach, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the inappropriately named Colin, has caused me to be more regular in my sleeping habits. I go to bed and wake earlier. Before becoming a zookeeper my sleep patterns were very erratic.

These are the girls exploring the back yard.



This is a crested pigeon

 
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Warrigal said:
I haven't had a pet for years unless you count the magpies that used to nest in the gum tree at the front of the house and the other various wild birds that drank from the bird bath at the rear. These included a number of sulphur crested cockies, noisy miners and the occasional lorikeets that feasted on the bottle brush trees, none of which required anything more than making sure the bird bath wasn't dry.

I also leave out some fruit each evening for the brush tail possum that is now a regular visitor after the sun has gone down. Possie is very shy but the fruit is always gone by morning and I have had occasional glimpses from time to time. She sits on her haunches and holds the fruit to her mouth in her front paws. She looks ever so ladylike.

Quite recently I became the caretaker of five little silky hens that belong to my daughter. As she says, they are dumb as rocks but they are quite entertaining. Every morning now my first task of the day is to let them out of their coop so that I can clean it thoroughly. They are usually lined up ready to scratch around on what I laughingly call the lawn.

I refresh the laying boxes, transferring the droppings to the compost bin, which is in better condition than it has been for a long time. Then I use the yard broom to sweep up the fresh droppings from the concrete under the coop before hosing it very thoroughly. I feel like a zoo keeper at times.

After scratching around a bit on "the lawn" they retire to the fernery to escape the heat. If it isn't too hot, they will venture out to dig holes in "the lawn" and the small circular garden where the bird bath is found. They are very enthusiastic excavators.

Basically they live on laying mash pellets and water but I provide treats in the form of table scraps, chopped spinach, cherry tomatoes, cracked corn, rolled oats and four bean mix from a tin. Not all at once. Just small quantities scattered on "the lawn" to give them something to do and to relieve the boredom.

The treats are also appreciated by some wild birds that I hadn't seen in the back yard before. The cheekiest of these are the crested pigeons that fly down and forage alongside of the chickens. Quite often I see the chickens and the pigeons sitting side by side on the grass, totally unfazed by each other.

Caring for "the girls"; Betty White, Ginger Rogers, Barbara Bach, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the inappropriately named Colin, has caused me to be more regular in my sleeping habits. I go to bed and wake earlier. Before becoming a zookeeper my sleep patterns were very erratic.

These are the girls exploring the back yard.



This is a crested pigeon

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Never seen chickens that look like those. Very cool (y) The pigeon is different from what I've seen as well.
 
that last photo is very eye catching!

I think anyone who wants a pet and can look after it and can afford it should have one.

retired people a have more time to spend with them s o that ca n be a good thing
 
I think pets are fine even if they result in less contact with humans. :)

Love love love my dog. Could not, would not, be without him around. He's not smart, clever, and he does no tricks. He won't play ball, and he hates to cuddle. He sheds hair everywhere. I call him a git. But he knows I love him, so he has the upper edge.
 
If seniors are inclined to be petted, I am all for it.
 

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