ok, look at this...i work in the community with primarily seniors and palliatives...
Carol · Oct 17, 2009
many of them have pets, all of them were aware of the fact that they needed a plan in place for their pet in case they were unable to care for him/her any more.
seniors and the dying are aware that life can end or change in a flash so they make their plans, they take care of their affairs and usually they have made arrangements for their furry friend.
so why to we get so many..owner has died, or gone into facility care calls?
because..it is easy to be nice and a good friend, daughter or son when mom or dad look like they are going to be around for awhile....little rover or fluffy, is cute, sure i will take care of him...no problem.
whew..ok then, that is settled. thank you so much.
not.
when push comes to shove, and the house or apartment are getting packed up...so are rover and fluffy cuz caring for them now just became a real life problem... all of the roadblocks, challenges and obstacles just magically popped up.
i cannot imagine settling my parents estate and dropping their furry friend off at a rescue or shelter on the way to cashing my inheritence cheque. that has to be one of those go straight to hell card things...because you lied...you did not honor your word, you led someone to believe that someone they loved would be safe with you but now you found an excuse.
think about it for a minute...how many of your animal loving friends, have asked you the animal lover reading this blog to be the guardian to one or more of their pets? if it suddenly happens tomorrow...can you really do it? and if you have said yes to several different friends, can you manage all of their pets if they all get killed together on a tour bus today?
can you really do it? can you take whatever animal(s) in and love them and care for them forever til life naturally does them in?
if you are the person, asking others to care for your pets...have you considered that something big might change for them one day as soon as you are dead? maybe they will get sick, maybe they will lose their job and their house and home? maybe by then they will have too many time committments, kids or pets of their own. maybe if taking your animal(s) became a reality, they will not want to, or be able to...
then what?
what is the back up plan?
i get at least 5 or 6 calls or emails a week...so and so just died or went into care and i am looking after fluffy but can't anymore...do you have room? do you have any foster homes? do you have a list of folks looking to adopt old orphan dogs/ (or cats) ...if you can't help me, can you point me in the right direction to where i can get help?
i called the poubds and shelters..they said they would put her down cuz they can't find homes for senior animals...i called the vets but they don't want to put her down, she is 15 years old but healthy so now i am stuck and i can't keep her.
poor little fluffy, so sad at the loss of her human friend has no idea the trauma she has just caused to someone who on second thought, did not really want her to begin with.
be careful what you promise, cuz one day you might have to follow thru. be careful of who you ask to take care of someone special to you.
and have a back up plan or two in place too cuz i am telling you plain and clear...what you think might happen when you are gone, is not necessarily going to be true.
when mugsy and cleo's dad asked us to be guiardians to them..i said sure (he was only in his sixties and they were already old dogs) when he got mad at me because i did not drop everything and run over to the island to pick up a tractor that was not that important to me and he took that to mean...i wouldn't come for his dogs either..so he made other arrangements.... i thought, oh yay, off the hook...i don't need two more sketchy dogs.
when his other arrangements failed miserably to care for those dogs..i paid someone to go to the island and get them immediately and bring them home to me. i knew beyond a shadow of a doubt or the slightest excuse i could find...that i was now responsible for the happiness and well being of those dogs for the rest of their lives.
but i am also telling you here..that my kind of committment is not all that rare BUT...also...it is not always there either. i know what i am getting into when i say yes to this kind of thing...not everyone else does, because they don't really believe it might happen one day...so they said yes when they should have said no.
even the ones like 4lane...whose family really did try to take him in and love him..they found he was just too difficult for them and for his happiness and theirs, they just could not keep living with him.
anyway...there are ways to ensure that pets are well loved and cared for past your own life but nothing is written in stone, things change, new understandings come to life...
protect your furry beast and protect those of your friends and family by knowing that nothing is simple, shit happens and fail proof plans need to be made.
I do think seniors should only adopt seniors. It doesn't make sense to me when an 80 year old person adopts a puppy...very good chance the dog will outlive them.