Queen of the house
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RONAN – Kisses, a frisky, fun-loving feline, is not your everyday house pet, she has a very important job to do. It was back in 2006 when owner, Lorma Sloan first began noticing that Kisses wasn’t your run of the mill cat.
“I would let her out each morning before work, and when I got home she was always missing,” said Sloan. It was when Sloan finally received a call from St. Luke Extended Care in Ronan, that she discovered where Kisses went every day. Her cat had been sneaking into the facility, warming up the residents’ laps.
“They called and asked me to come get her, they did not want her coming to the nursing home,” Sloan said. Kisses, however wouldn’t take no for an answer, returning day after day, stealthily sliding through the doors when no one was looking.
Each day, Sloan would get a call from Betty Sieges at the nursing home asking her to come get Kisses.
“Over time, we realized we couldn’t stop (Kisses) from doing this, and began letting her come in,” St. Luke Nursing Home activities director Betty Sieges explained.
Once Kisses received a clean bill of health, there was no problem letting her become part of the St. Luke Nursing Home family. “During the last six months she has been more involved (with the residents),” Sieges said.
“(Having Kisses around) creates a home environment, since most residents used to have pets in their homes before moving here,” she added.
Since Kisses has been allowed inside at St. Luke, Sieges has seen a drastic improvement in the residents’ attitudes, and overall enjoyment at the home.
“Kisses is good therapy for the people here,” St. Luke staff member Shirley Baker said. “I believe she calms some residents (with) Alzheimer’s down.”
During the fall of 2010, when Florence Kneebone arrived at the nursing home, her health was failing and she didn’t enjoy living at St. Luke. She quickly became very depressed. That was until Kisses made Kneebone her absolute favorite at the home, spending most of the day on the woman’s lap.
“It’s nice to have a friend around, I just like animals,” Kneebone said, “She’s a nice little kitty to have around. She’s my friend.”
A typical day for Kisses begins at 7 a.m. sharp, when Sloan lets Kisses out for the day before heading to work in Pablo. According to Sloan, Kisses doesn’t walk, but runs as quickly as possible down Seventh Avenue towards the nursing home. “It doesn’t matter if there are rain puddles or snow, she will run right through it,” Sloan said as she grinned. Luckily for Kisses, she only has one block to travel before arriving at the front door of St. Luke.
When Kisses is not napping in Kneebone’s lap, she can normally be found in her “chair” in the activities room, usually sprawled out with all four legs sticking straight up in the air. “Kisses is the queen of the nursing home,” Baker said.
“She is one spoiled rotten pussy cat,” Kneebone added.
Sloan believes that Kisses’ presence has a positive impact on the health of extended care residents. Upon learning of her cat’s daily escapades, Sloan did some research, and found a book called “Making the Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat,” by David Dosa, M.D. The book describes Oscar, a cat with the ability to sense when someone was nearing death. Oscar would then sit with the person until they passed away.
“I believe that Kisses has a similar gift, in that she only wants to be with nursing home residents,” Sloan said, “This cat is the only affection or attention residents get in the home.”
Sloan also learned through her research that cats have the ability to reduce blood pressure.
While she admits that having to stop by St. Luke every afternoon after work to pick up her cat is indeed a hassle, but explained the joy that her cat brings everyone makes the task worth the extra time spent stopping by each day.
“It works out perfectly, Kisses comes in during the morning, and Lorma comes and picks her up every afternoon, sort of like a day care for a cat,” Sieges said, “we don’t have to worry about caring for Kisses at night.”
“It’s good to know Kisses is safe during the day, not running around the streets,” Sloan added.
According to her owner, in Kisses’ mind, she is just doing her job. To the residents’ at St. Luke Extended Care, something as simple as having a sweet, loving cat roaming around the halls makes a huge difference in their lives. Kisses makes their home, more of a home.
