The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat
“Like a bridge between the mother and daughter,” Mary had said, after my visit with Donna, and I was starting to think of Oscar in that way, as a sort of gentle guide who could take people from someplace scary to one more forgiving.
I think it’s one of the reasons we’ve kept cats at Steere House all these years. The patients like them, for the most part, either because they hark back to some forgotten relationship they may have had with a pet, or maybe because they are non-judgmental. A cat doesn’t care what you do for a living whether you’re rich or poor. A cat doesn’t care if you’re able to remember its name or if you’re up to date with the latest news. But we were beginning to realize that cats mean something to the families, too, long before Oscar started his vigils. They seem to help reassure family members who enter into the nursing home with some trepidation. For a lot of visitors, the reality of nursing home existence can be a rather harsh wake-up call. All the more reason to take comfort in something familiar. Even if it is a cat.
--David Dosa, M.D.