When the Pima Animal Care Center (PACC) in Tucson, Arizona needed assistance with orphaned newborn kittens who needed around-the-clock bottle feeding to survive, they turned to the Catalina Springs Memory Care (“Catalina Springs”), where the senior residents were more than happy to share their immense amount of love with the tiny, furry creatures who needed it. This brand new program, the brainchild of Catalina Springs Health Service Director Rebecca Hamilton, RN, was wholeheartedly embraced by PACC and the first two kittens, Peaches and Turtle were welcomed into the waiting arms of adoring residents.
In a novel new program designed to not only save more pets’ lives but also enrich the lives of Pima County community members, PACC has partnered with residents from Catalina Springs Memory Care in Oro Valley to provide the bottle feeding, socialization and love these kittens need to survive and thrive. “To some it may seem peculiar at first: Residents who are in need of around-the-clock care themselves, given the task to care for these young kittens,” Catalina Springs Memory Care Executive Director Sharon Mercer, said. “But there are skills, emotions and needs that do not just leave a person with Dementia or Alzheimer’s. The desire to give love and receive love remains. The kittens have given us the opportunity to nurture this human condition that lies in each and every one of our residents.”
via I Heart Cats
