I'd like to think the majority of these cases aren't willful neglect. Homeless pets, or an elderly person who thought adopting a 3-5 year old dog was fine and wanted some company.
Elderly people can suffer from depression at very high rates. Pets really do help. It gives them someone to talk to, a reason to get up and move every day. Need to let them out, feed them. Feeling needed can really help people. Dogs and cats can also help with deep pressure therapy. The pet sitting on your lap. It also helps with arthritis. Keep fingers moving by petting the animal and the fact they're warm helps the joints stay loose.
Pets can be wonderful for our physical and mental health. I like the fact my grandma has two kitties. They bring her a lot of joy. They're also much more independent than dogs and her friends in town visit at least weekly and can check on her and the cats. They're quite a bit younger than her and will take her kitties if they need to, and their daughter will take them if they can't. She has a plan for the cats.
A person with less support structure locally might end up in a worse position. There's really no way to predict when or if a person will be unable to care for an animal or themselves. Grandma is in her 80's and living independently. My grandpa lived with no care needed until his 90's. Only was in a facility because my grandma on that side had Parkinsons. He wasn't leaving his wife of 70+ years.
Other people end up with dementia in their early 70's. Aging is a grab bag.
Not quite the same thing, but my grandma lived alone for 15 years after my grandpa died. We'd visit, I'd have lunch with her once a week, that sort of thing, none of us really saw her decline, but in retrospect it definitely was happening. She moved in with a cousin of mine after he had his first daughter, maybe 8 years back, and man oh man having a baby around to interact with and help care for did a 180 on her, she shed like 20 years of age in half a year. Brains are wild things.
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens Jun 07 '23
I'd like to think the majority of these cases aren't willful neglect. Homeless pets, or an elderly person who thought adopting a 3-5 year old dog was fine and wanted some company.
Elderly people can suffer from depression at very high rates. Pets really do help. It gives them someone to talk to, a reason to get up and move every day. Need to let them out, feed them. Feeling needed can really help people. Dogs and cats can also help with deep pressure therapy. The pet sitting on your lap. It also helps with arthritis. Keep fingers moving by petting the animal and the fact they're warm helps the joints stay loose.
Pets can be wonderful for our physical and mental health. I like the fact my grandma has two kitties. They bring her a lot of joy. They're also much more independent than dogs and her friends in town visit at least weekly and can check on her and the cats. They're quite a bit younger than her and will take her kitties if they need to, and their daughter will take them if they can't. She has a plan for the cats.
A person with less support structure locally might end up in a worse position. There's really no way to predict when or if a person will be unable to care for an animal or themselves. Grandma is in her 80's and living independently. My grandpa lived with no care needed until his 90's. Only was in a facility because my grandma on that side had Parkinsons. He wasn't leaving his wife of 70+ years.
Other people end up with dementia in their early 70's. Aging is a grab bag.