Dogs and cats have been moving into Ovation Heartwood Preserve, and they are being welcomed with open arms.
The upscale senior living community in Omaha not only allows residents of the Independent Living and Assisted Living buildings to keep pets, it encourages them to do so.
The majority of residents have left homes they had been in for many years to come live in these communities where they now have to adapt to new surroundings and make new friends. Having their pets join them provides a special comfort and sense of belonging.
“The pets who have been around them forever bring them a feeling of familiarity, comfort and joy,” said Collette Mieres, executive director of the Assisted Living and Memory Care communities.
Ovation Heartwood Preserve limits the size of dogs that residents can have on-site, following approval by the executive directors, plus verification of pet vaccinations, and a pet deposit against potential damage to floors and carpets in community apartments. Residents are responsible for the maintenance of their pets, as well as for walking their dogs — or paying a private walker — and, increasingly, their cats.
Other members of the Independent Living and Assisted Living communities have never owned a pet. But being able to own and care for one now, as they age, enriches their lives and connects them to another form of life and to fellow pet owners.
“It’s a special connectivity that combats loneliness,” said Mieres. “It’s having someone, something, there when they go back to their apartments after dinner with friends.”
The sole restriction is for animals in the Memory Care building at Ovation at Heartwood Preserve, where residents may have difficulty remembering to care for their pets. For them, and for others who may not be able or willing to keep a cat or dog, a pet therapist visits the communities once a month with an animal for residents to pet and walk. A favorite pet this fall is a turtle, which residents love to hold and walk.
For members of the Independent Living and Assisted Living communities, meanwhile, the benefits of keeping a pet go well beyond companionship.
According to the American Humane Society, research has shown that owning a pet can provide older adults with a level of social and emotional support that can help reduce distress, depression and loneliness, and can improve the overall quality of their lives.
Other benefits, studies have found, include increased opportunities to exercise, to participate in outdoor activities and to socialize.
But the proof is in the lives of seniors who have been granted a new lease on life.
One resident could no longer care for her dog, which her family had to take. She was so despondent, according to Mieres, that she began to physically decline. That’s when the woman was offered a rescue cat, which was easier to maintain.
“It made her live again,” said Mieres. “Pets,” the executive director concluded, “heal the heart.”
For information about retiring to Ovation Heartwood Preserve, visit ovationheartwoodpreserve.com.
