Patches has helped Parkland Place memory care house residents with behavioural outbursts and memory loss issues during his two-plus year stay. (submitted photo/Jacquie Sundelin).

By Aaron Schulze

Purr-fect Addition

‘We don’t have to use as much medication’: adopted cat a positive influence for Parkland Place

Jan 29, 2020 | 5:05 PM

A six-week-old stray kitten arrived on Parkland Place’s memory care house patio in September 2017.

Residents began feeding and interacting with the kitten before eventually welcoming him into the house.

Since then “Patches” became a full-time resident at Parkland Place in Melfort — the first kitten to ever earn a permanent stay.

Patches was taken to Gateway Veterinary Services in Melfort to ensure he became and stayed healthy. He’s now grown up in the memory care house for over two years.

“He’s used to wheelchairs and our residents all love him,” Parkland Place recreation therapist Jacquie Sundelin said. “Any staff that are allergic to or don’t like cats just don’t work in that house and any residents that don’t want to be around the cat, we just make sure they don’t live there either. [Patches] knows which residents adore him. He stays away from anyone else that doesn’t want him around.”

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The memory care house at Parkland Place hosts residents who often deal with behavioural outbursts and decreased memory, which are managed with medication.

In the two-plus years since Patches arrived on the scene, Sundelin told northeastNOW she’s seen a dramatic impact on the residents’ lives.

“We don’t have to use as much medication because when our residents see the cat, it makes them think of cats from their own lives,” she said. “It provides emotional support, decreases agitation and depression, minimizes boredom, and increases conversation among the residents. They have taken the initiative to look after the cat to make sure it’s fed, loved, and played with.”

Patches’ success with the memory care house has influenced residents and families in other sections of Parkland Place to ask for their own furry roommates. Sundelin said Parkland Place is still getting used to life with Patches and brings in animals to visit, but bringing in more pets in the future is not out of the question.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow