Mr. C and Lily

Fall is here and of course, cold and flu season begins. Working with seniors daily - either in Life Enrichment or Animal Assisted Therapy - I find myself using hand sanitizer and handing out "hankies" on a regular basis. Of course, I am definitely not immune to the common cold, despite my desperate attempts to combat this with the constant self administering of oil of oregano gel caps and echinacea.

One resident who resides at the Retirement home where I do Life Enrichment activities recently fell ill. There has been one of these afore mentioned "bugs" floating around, and at first it was suspect that this was the trouble. A day later, Mr. C became increasingly confused and unsteady on his feet; extremely uncommon despite his ripe age of 94 years, he was always an avid runner and fitness enthusiast. Of course, my colleagues and I had great concern and I proceeded to offer him constant attention when he was awake through the means of reading from favourite classic novels, assisting him in indulging in fruit salad with whipping cream or telling jokes from The Book Of Nonsense by Edward Lear. Although he was gracious and grateful, not much seemed to help his condition as we waited until late evening until a nurse from an outside agency could come and administer the appropriate antibiotics. Our resident cat, Lily, was always not far away, watching from the doorway or anxiously pacing around the bed beside us. Lily and Mr.C have that bond...a bond in which one is not very far away from the other.

Yesterday when I arrived at work and went to visit Mr.C in his room, he was much brighter with the help of the medicine received the night before although his now trembling hands were very apparent. By afternoon, Lily was up on his bed, as he cooed to her in between bites of his seafood platter and sips of orange juice. Mr. C had not much of an appetite prior to this but it seemed with Lily there lusting after the crisp breaded shrimp and enjoying her praises from Mr. C, his appetite seemed to whet just a bit more. After lunch we sat talking about cats and past furry friends we had and as I brushed Mr.C's hair, he brushed Lily's; as he did so, the shakiness of Mr.C's hands which was previously noted started to dissipate. The sight makes me smile as how we must have looked with Chopin in the background, primping. Mr.C then requested the New York Times and his glasses and wanted to sit in bed with Lily also requesting a glass of water for her as he said "She needs to keep her fluids up too you know." and smiled. Upon returning with the newspaper and water for both, Lily was curled up with her head resting on Mr. C's shin, looking up at him adoringly as he continued to sing praises to our fluffy grey and white working cat. Delivering the goods, I left the two of them to relax in the peace of soft light, bustling winds outside, classical, some quality reading material and noticed that the intense trembling of Mr. C's arms and hands had become a mere whisper of a shake. What was now noticable was his smile.

Animal Assisted Therapy doesnt always have to be planned and direct. At times, AAT can have the most effective result when the heart of the companion animal steps in high gear and seems to know what to do. Lily's patience and ability to comfort and calm Mr.C along with his anxiousness being controlled by some simple steps in working with Lily I believe truly helped along with tradtional medicinal treatment. Sometimes, even an act as simple as sharing a plate of fish and a hair brush can make a world of difference.