This week, my therapy cat visits are at assisted living facilities. Since these people were suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But this visit was really sweet.
We always visit the big room with the TV. I immediately saw a couple of regulars, the girl who always wanted to high five me, and a newer resident, who had now settled in. They were sitting together on a couch, so I snuggled between the two of them and took a lot of attention. And of course I high fived the first lady.
My man noticed one of our other regulars, the nonverbal woman with heavy hands, was at the far end of another sofa, and he could tell she was waiting to join me. I think the high five girl saw it too, and said she had enough time with me and to see other people. (She’s actually the most mentally present resident out of everyone I see there.) So we did, and the girl was very happy to see me and kissed me. He doesn’t say anything, but it’s obvious.
Two old women were hugging each other on another sofa, and they were both happy to be with me. (Not all residents are that old. Others are only in their 50s or 60s. These women are probably in their 80s.) We saw a woman in a wheelchair looking at us and smiling, so I visited her as well. We even spent some time with a health worker who was there.
The last thing we saw was a man happily chatting with me in Armenian as he caressed me. He was not familiar with my person so watched him closely as he interacted with me. But he is a very kind person, so he finally relaxes.
It was a really nice visit, and I enjoyed entertaining the residents for a while.
Here are some of my other visits to assisted living residents:
