Long before Oliver went to his Older Cats For Older People foster home -- where he still lives -- he delighted the elderly who participated in the other portion of our Program -- farm visitations. We periodically opened our cat farm to assisted living groups serving up an afternoon of lemonade and cat speak.
Their buses would park and the residents would slowly exit using walkers and wheelchairs to navigate the ramp leading to the shelter. It was an ideal escape from the mundane life of residential care -- providing not only a roomful of geriatric cats to enjoy, but also a country visit complete with a 19th century refurbished barn for our show-and-tell colony of feral cats.
For many seniors, the visit triggered fond memories of their childhood when they lived on such a farm and had cats of their own to cherish. Sadly, many assisted living facilities and most nursing homes prohibit pets and the loss the elderly feel when they give up their pets -- just so they can receive necessary care -- is often as difficult as the loss felt at the death of a close family member.
Although there are many pet visitation programs servicing hospitals and nursing homes, they are almost always dog programs. Cats just don't make good travelers. Even those that are cute and cuddly at home become shy and withdrawn in public -- seeking out hidey-holes, not laps. Our unique cage-free setting gave us a chance to turn the tables and make the recipients the visitors so they could enjoy "cat-assisted" therapy at its best.
Oliver (or Olivia as we first knew him) was taken to the local shelter when he was 8 years old without any explanation provided. He lived in our cat retirement shelter for three years before we matched him to an elderly Ann Arbor woman seeking a lifetime companion. The match worked great and six years later Oliver, his foster mom -- and our original visiting volunteer are still together. At 17, Oliver may finally have his forever home.
Oh yes ... you may wonder why we changed Olivia's name to Oliver? Shortly before we fostered Oliver, he became very ill vomiting almost non-stop. When an endoscopy identified a foreign body in his stomach, Oliver had emergency surgery to remove it. We were suprised to find the blockage was an unusually large fur-ball he was unable to pass. Not nearly as surprised, though, as we were when the surgeon also discovered Olivia was a neutered male cat. That pretty fluffy red fur held a secret that the shelter intake information was mistaken -- as pretty as he was, Oliver was definitely not a girl!
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