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Archive for February, 2009:
Follow-up to I’m The Cat’s Caregiver
For the past few days I’ve been dealing with a sick cat who wouldn’t eat. I shared in a previous post the different things that the vet suggested I try to get Lexie to eat: canned cat food, chicken and rice baby food and broiled chicken and white rice. The first two didn’t work and I was determined not to buy chicken breasts for the cat.
Well, I had a thought and I tried it, I gave Lexie some of Cocoa’s food. Cocoa is my other cat, she eats regular Iams cat food and Lexie eats weight control Iams cat food. That did the trick. Lexie has been eating ever since.
She is still a little wobbly on her feet but she’s getting better. I think in a few more days she’ll be good as new.
OK, Now I’m The Cat’s Caregiver
Yesterday was unusual. I became the cat’s caregiver!
At 5:00 AM I went to check on Gladys and as usual, her cat Lexie was on the bed. As I shifted the covers on Gladys, Lexie got up to come to me but she was unsteady on her feet. Lexie was walking like a drunk. She kept falling and walking crooked. I knew I would have to take Lexie to the Veterinarian, so I tried to get some things done before waking Gladys.
At 6:30 AM, I woke Gladys to get her ready to go the the Adult Day Center, but she didn’t feel well. She had severe pain in one of her arms. Needless to say, she didn’t want to go to the center. OK, now I have to take care of a sick old lady and a sick old cat. I gave Gladys some pain medication and told her to go back to sleep.
At 8:00 AM I called the Vet and made an appointment. It turns out that Lexie has a condition similar to Vertigo. They gave me three prescriptions for her, one of which is used to treat humans for Vertigo. So now I have medicine for Gladys and medicine for the cat. It’s kind of funny because they take their medicine at the same time of day. Gladys asked me not to mix up her medicine with Lexie’s medicine.
Today I had to buy chicken and rice baby food because Lexie won’t eat. The vet said if she doesn’t eat the baby food to broil a chicken breast, cut it in cubes and give it to her with white rice. This is all food that I will have to buy because we don’t eat white rice any more and I keep chicken legs and thighs in the freezer because they are cheaper than the breasts. This cat is eating better than me! 
Hope this only lasts a few days.
Check on Your Aging Relatives and Neighbors Who Live Alone
Our aging society is living longer and longer and there are many elderly people who live alone. Most of these seniors live alone because that’s how they prefer to live. Some live alone because they have no relatives or friends with whom they can live; or they can’t afford an assisted living facility.
There are elderly people who need help with simple everyday tasks:
- cooking meals
- picking up medicine from the pharmacy
- grocery shopping
- transportation to the doctor’s office
- a ride to church
- help with household chores
If you know or live near an elderly person who lives alone, stop by at least once a week to check on them. Give them a call several times a week. Church groups can put together a team of people – a care ministry of sorts – to check on their elderly members on a regular basis. Many seniors forget to refill their prescriptions, some have no way to get to the pharmacy and some don’t have the money for the co-pay. Just checking on them once a week to see what they need would be a big help.
Many elderly people are really struggling right now because senior services are being cut. Meals On Wheels have cut back, food stamp allocations for seniors have been cut and Section 8 Housing supplements have been slashed.
Someone must look out for our elders, it may as well be us.
