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Health & Fitness

Loving Companions – Our Pets Help Keep Us Young!

 Loving Companions – Our Pets Help Keep Us Young! 

My gerontologist and author friend, Karen Everett Watson, is always sharing the many ways that we---and of course our elder loved ones---can protect ourselves from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.   

See what she says about pets in this week’s letter to me…. 

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Aileen

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 I really don't trust anyone who doesn't love animals. One pet, or another, or a couple, or a flock, has been a part of my life, all my life. As an only child, I would have been very lonely without the love of my pets. My pets would let me talk to my heart's desire and never got mad at me for anything I said.

 It turns out that most of us know what the experts are just finding out – pets are good for our health, both physical and mental. People with pets recover from serious illnesses and injuries quicker and are less likely to become depressed. Our pets' dependence on us will get us out of bed, even when we would just like to live in one.

 Merely grooming pets and talking to them are ways to keep our spirits lifted and our bodies moving. It's hard to say "no" to our loving companions when they want us to take them for a walk. Now animals are welcome in most assisted living communities like San Clemente Villas by the Sea and therapy animals are very popular among the residents. 

My cat Dinah was a sweet companion to me as a child. She was a gift that kept on giving because every year or so she'd have a litter of kittens for me to play with. Dinah had a white body with calico on her head and tail. She always had the most beautiful kittens with long white, orange, or calico fur. She was a big part of my life for over 10 years. It broke my heart when she passed, but she gave me some wonderful years. 

Like most little girls, I always wanted a pony. It took a lot of wishing and a great deal of sacrifice by my parents, but when I turned 11, we made it to country life and a beautiful Palomino mare became my next pet. She was high spirited, much too much horse for a timid city girl. But she made a wonderful pet. I'd brush her and talk to her and she fulfilled a dream of mine in a big way.

 As an adult, animals still remained a big part of my life, especially while raising my children. We had gold fish, and hamsters. We had dogs and we had cats. When we were able to move to the country there were cows, chickens, and even turkeys that made it into our lives and into our hearts. We also had a pig, but he left my "heart" when he tried to bite my 18 month old son.

 Now that the kids are raised, my pets mean even more to me. I still love my puppies and cats, but my love has expanded to a little goat named Kasey and a flock of hens also known as "my girls." 

Kasey was just a baby when I got her. She had to be fed from a bottle several times a day. Her bed was my bathtub just next to my bedroom. She turned my world upside down until she could finally make it in a pen just outside the door. I guess because I raised her like a puppy, she really never knew she was a goat. 

Just across the street from us is a huge flock of goats that spend a lot of the day hollering to each other. Kasey never looked their way. And even though she was the best escape artist I've ever known, she never went across the street to join up with her goat neighbors.

 What Kasey liked to do is follow me all over the two acres. It didn't matter what I was doing, she was there to keep me company. She ate – everything. She ate my roses, my petunias, my veggies, and even pulled limbs off my trees. No matter how hard I tried to stay mad at her, I never could. She made me laugh – always.

 She would run at the side of the house and use it to do back flips. I built her pen after pen. I fixed her pens – daily. She still got out. Neighbors and passing motorist would stop and bring her down the driveway. I was really lucky she never got hit. But goats don't live that long. I loved Kasey and so appreciate the eight years she gave to me. I hope I made her life as happy as she made mine.

 Now I concentrate more on my hennies. I raised them from day old chicks and so enjoy their company, not to mention their spectacular eggs. Besides the wild birds, my chickens are the only animals that have ever sung to me. They have lots of songs. I like to describe my chicken's lives as "free spirited" instead of the popular "free range."

 Many times a day, they'll jump up on the porch and look through the windows of the house to see where I am. The biggest drawback is I've never been able to "potty train" them. It takes a lot of work to keep all the porches manure free. Oh, well. I've decided that happy hens are more important than clean porches anyway. 

I hope the joy of animals is a part of your life, as well as the life of your older loved ones. Life is too short not to enjoy the company of a loyal pet. It's a way to add joy to your life each and every day. 

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 Isn’t Karen great!? Remember her point here…surround yourself with animals, or even one dog or cat, and your life suddenly gets easier and lighter. And you’ll even live longer, too. Remember, any domestic animal will extend a humans life. Recent studies have stated that elderly people who live alone live an average of 5 years longer when living with a pet. A pet provides comfort and love to lonely people. Cats are most desired because they require little care.

 See why I listen to Karen!?

Aileen Brazeau, co-owner, San Clemente Villas

San Clemente Villas provides full-service, luxury assisted living to those over the age of 65. San Clemente Villas by the Sea is at 660 Camino De Los Mares, San Clemente, CA 92673. Phone:  (949) 289-1534 (949) 289-1534 FREE | Fax: (949) 234-0081. Contact:  Aileen Brazeau, Co-Owner of San Clemente Villas by the Sea. | abrazeau@cox.net

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