Living Alone With Pet When an Emergency Happens (legal, best, wife)
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Does the social worker have the authority to require the patient to move to a facility, if the patient does not want to?
The hospital social worker is involved at the order of the emergency room doctor. I’m not sure what her powers are but she said the patient will be going home and that because the doctor ordered this it will expedite any services available and result in a home inspection. The “negative” is several neighbors did a cleaning of her apartment and it looks better now than I have ever seen it! Definitely not a true representation of how she lives. The social worker has my number, good neighbor’s number and niece’s number. She is still there and it has been 5 days. Some test of her urine is indicating a potential infection of some sort and they want to get a handle on that before they let her go but everything else is good.
Well, no you cannot force someone into a home unless they have dementia or some form of cognitive impairment. A co-worker would go in filthy places and one man was ****ting on the floor instead of the toilet.
Sorry, you might be right- depending on a quality of local shelters.
I based my recommendation for shelter based on what is around me- literally-designed and built like the best houses- with heated floors- huge windows and individual enclosures, not cages. Volunteers and staff taking them on walks in a wooded areas...
Still not an easy change for a doggy but it could even be adopted by an older person...
It's highly unlikely anyone would adopt a 14 yr old dog. That's why I think it could be kinder to euthanize him, if a home can't be found (or if I couldn't take him).
I've been to shelters and seen the beautiful dogs caged up, in misery and loneliness. Some I figured were left after a senior owner had passed away and the family didn't want the dogs. I remember a pair of Lhasa Apsos together in the same cage, all shaved down. Waiting to be euthanized. It's a traumatic experience for dogs, even under the best conditions.
I used to volunteer at a shelter. Volunteers come & go, don't show up, aren't reliable. It's an emotionally taxing volunteer job, walking dogs you know may spend the rest of their short lives in cages without loving owners. A loving volunteer is no substitute.
It depends a lot on the kind of dog it is, though. If it's a yorkie, there's a chance. If it's a big black mixed breed, his future would be bleak. Big black mixed breed dogs are hard to adopt out, even when younger & healthy.
People should really consider this situation ahead of time, for their pets' sake. My brother has personally assured me that he will handle finding a loving home for any pets I may have, if I die before him. He has also personally assured me that they will not go to a shelter, that pursuant to my instructions, he will be present while having my elderly or sickly pets euthanized. If he needs to kennel them temporarily, he can use my estate funds to kennel them in a proper kennel. No shelters. (I would have only small pets, so I think younger small pets would be able to be rehomed.) My brother is older, though, so if he passes before me, I don't know what I'll do.
<unpopular opinion> Yet another case of an elderly person deluding themselves by thinking they're living "independently," when in fact it's taking 2 other people to enable their folly. Look, I get that no one wants to admit their frailty and give up independence, but if you can't even take your own dog to pee, you're not independent. If you can't get your own food & personal items, like adult diapers, without help, you're not independent. If you can't keep up your own home, you're not independent. You are dependent upon other people to enable your daily life.
I agree with this opinion. My 86 yr old aunt, who is pretty crippled from prior spinal surgeries & injuries, should have been using her walker indoors, but wasn't, as she insisted she didn't need it. She uses the walker without fail when going out. She's in terrible physical condition on top of that, no upper body strength, weak legs, a lifetime of being sedentary.
A week ago she fell in her apartment while getting out of bed (3rd time falling) and this time she ended up breaking her arm in 3 places, and she'll be having surgery in less than a week. She was on the floor for 4 hours until my mother happened to find her. Aunt wasn't wearing her Medic Alert pendant at the time and wasn't near any of her phones.
She'll be in the hospital for several days after surgery and then off to a rehab facility because she's so weak she can't walk and can't use her walker right now. She's going to need round-the-clock assistance (including 2 people to lift her and get her to the bathroom). I have a feeling she'll need to have 1 or 2 aids full-time if she insists on staying in her retirement village apartment afterwards. I have a bad feeling about all of this..she seems to be going downhill quickly.
It's highly unlikely anyone would adopt a 14 yr old dog. That's why I think it could be kinder to euthanize him, if a home can't be found (or if I couldn't take him).
I've been to shelters and seen the beautiful dogs caged up, in misery and loneliness. Some I figured were left after a senior owner had passed away and the family didn't want the dogs. I remember a pair of Lhasa Apsos together in the same cage, all shaved down. Waiting to be euthanized. It's a traumatic experience for dogs, even under the best conditions.
I used to volunteer at a shelter. Volunteers come & go, don't show up, aren't reliable. It's an emotionally taxing volunteer job, walking dogs you know may spend the rest of their short lives in cages without loving owners. A loving volunteer is no substitute.
It depends a lot on the kind of dog it is, though. If it's a yorkie, there's a chance. If it's a big black mixed breed, his future would be bleak. Big black mixed breed dogs are hard to adopt out, even when younger & healthy.
People should really consider this situation ahead of time, for their pets' sake. My brother has personally assured me that he will handle finding a loving home for any pets I may have, if I die before him. He has also personally assured me that they will not go to a shelter, that pursuant to my instructions, he will be present while having my elderly or sickly pets euthanized. If he needs to kennel them temporarily, he can use my estate funds to kennel them in a proper kennel. No shelters. (I would have only small pets, so I think younger small pets would be able to be rehomed.) My brother is older, though, so if he passes before me, I don't know what I'll do.
There are rescue organizations set up to rescue dogs of seniors who cannot take care of them anymore. You can donate to them, or make plans with them for the care of your dog when you pass on.
One in Pacific Grove (Monterey area) is called Peace of Mind Rescue.
The situation with the pet varies greatly from place to place. Some places have little or no services for such situations. Other cities, usually larger places, sometimes have services specifically designed for seniors who need help with a pet.
Where I live if you fall and can't get up, and call 911, they take your pet to the local shelter. The local shelter is a "no kill" shelter. After seven days they put your pet up for adoption, and if someone adopts it, that's it, end of story, you don't get your pet back. Other places do not have "no kill" shelters and after a certain number of days if you don't come pick up your pet, they might put it up for adoption or they kill it.
So the thing to do is have someone who will take your pet some place where you won't lose it if you're in short term rehab for two weeks. Or so it's not put to death. I have an estate planning attorney that knows to take my dog to a really good kennel. The kennel has all the info on my dog, like all the records of her shots. Also they have my Credit Card on file. That way if I'm unconscious in the hospital I won't wake up in a few weeks to find out my dog was given away, or some other terrible thing.
Some communities and churches specifically have people that will help. Also, in some lucky places there are rescue organizations that will step in and provide foster care for your pet. It can be hard sometimes to find these places. I've called senior services and it's like I'm the first person on the planet to ever ask about this and they are zero help. Hopefully you have better people where you live. The Internet was somewhat helpful, but not everything in on the Internet. We totally lack that type of foster care here, I've asked all the vets in town, the shelter, everyone I know and everyone says "never heard of that".
My mom had a stroke in 2008 and we had to put her in a care facility with her dog. I stayed there for many weeks with her. At some point I had to go home, and when I came back the facility, without asking, had given her dog away as it kept peeing in the room. Poor dog, no one there to let it out or walk it, wasn't the dog's fault. But the dog was just gone and they couldn't even tell me who they'd given it to. My mom was so out of it from the stroke, I don't think she even knew.
Point is, if you love your pet, as I dearly love my dog, you'll take steps to make sure some tragic event doesn't occur when you become disabled and strangers are making decisions for your beloved pet.
If someone in your neighborhood needs help and you're able to give it, you should do it just because of the goodness that's in you. You shouldn't expect or demand to be thanked, because sometimes, that won't be given. Other people who see you doing it may not commend you and some might even be suspicious of your motives.
I had a neighbor who'd developed arthritis earlier than most and had trouble mowing her lawn. So after I'd mowed mine, I started going over and doing her patch of grass, which was only medium-sized. I did this for a couple of years, but she never said a word to me about it, let alone thank me, but that was no problem with me. Then one spring, some little forget-me-not flowers grew out into the grass, as they often do. Most people just buzz them off, along with the grass, which is what I did. There was a huge patch of them remaining in the flowerbed.
But she came screeching out of the house, yelling at me for chopping down her beautiful flowers and carried on for quite awhile. I didn't say a thing, but that was the last time I mowed her grass. I saw her granddaughter there mowing it after that, who had to come from the far side of town.
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"Smartened up and walked away!"
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nobodysbusiness
There are rescue organizations set up to rescue dogs of seniors who cannot take care of them anymore. You can donate to them, or make plans with them for the care of your dog when you pass on.
One in Pacific Grove (Monterey area) is called Peace of Mind Rescue.
I agree - this poster should do some research. Once my two that we have pass on - I will not adopt another animal but we plan on fostering any elderly dogs that need temporary homes - and most likely will stay with us until they pass as most don't want an elderly dog - but I'm going to make sure they enjoy their life until the end and it won't be inside a cage.
But she came screeching out of the house, yelling at me for chopping down her beautiful flowers and carried on for quite awhile. I didn't say a thing, but that was the last time I mowed her grass.
Mr. 2WD used to plow not only our half-mile driveway, but nearly all the rest of the neighbors driveways that fed into it, clear up to their garages. Some people thanked him, some brought him hot drinks and a few even gave him fuel for the tractor sometimes. Some never said a word but that was okay too. One morning as he was making his first pass, he left a ridge of snow roughly 8-10" high along the shoulder. Of course he was planning to scrape it over on another pass, but before he could even finish the first run, an elderly woman living on the street came out of her house to the side of the road and gave him holy hell, pointing at the small ridge of snow (the car they drove was a Suburban 4X4. He never engaged her just looked at her like she was crazy (maybe she was?). Also he never plowed them out again.
I agree with this opinion. My 86 yr old aunt, who is pretty crippled from prior spinal surgeries & injuries, should have been using her walker indoors, but wasn't, as she insisted she didn't need it. She uses the walker without fail when going out. She's in terrible physical condition on top of that, no upper body strength, weak legs, a lifetime of being sedentary.
A week ago she fell in her apartment while getting out of bed (3rd time falling) and this time she ended up breaking her arm in 3 places, and she'll be having surgery in less than a week. She was on the floor for 4 hours until my mother happened to find her. Aunt wasn't wearing her Medic Alert pendant at the time and wasn't near any of her phones.
She'll be in the hospital for several days after surgery and then off to a rehab facility because she's so weak she can't walk and can't use her walker right now. She's going to need round-the-clock assistance (including 2 people to lift her and get her to the bathroom). I have a feeling she'll need to have 1 or 2 aids full-time if she insists on staying in her retirement village apartment afterwards. I have a bad feeling about all of this..she seems to be going downhill quickly.
yes - at that age, once they fall and break something - the end is not long
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