Pet Therapy While on Dialysis??

[PMP]

My father just started on hemodialysis.  His biggest complaint is boredom and, I think, a little bit of sadness at having to go through this ordeal three times a week.  Most everybody else in there looks bored as well.  So I was wondering about pet therapy.  Any thoughts on this?

I know it's done in nursing homes and in pediatric units in some hospitals, with good results, apparently.  Any reason why it couldn't be done for dialysis patients as well? 

I am 100% biased, I admit, because I am a dog lover from the get-go.  But anything to put a smile on the face of those patients would be worth it, in my opinion.  And let me say that I love cats as well (I have two), but cat allergies seem to be rampant.

Does anybody know if this has been tried before?  I'm a novice at this dialysis thing and am just looking for something to maybe give dialysis patients a little something to look forward to.

Any comments (negative or positive) would be truly appreciated!  Thank you.  And if you want to e-mail me, my e-mail address is pmporter@att.net

Pat Porter

[Sara]

I doubt they would ever allow it, because of "risk of contamination/infection."  Joe's center won't even let ME in the back so I know that's one center than would NEVER allow pets.

[PMP]

I was afraid of that.  Maybe if I could come up with a doggie surgical mask or something, and doggie surgical gloves.  Hell, I'd do it.  I think most patients would love it.

Pat

[Epoman]

I was afraid of that.  Maybe if I could come up with a doggie surgical mask or something, and doggie surgical gloves.  Hell, I'd do it.  I think most patients would love it.

Pat

Not me! I love animals and all, but I am there to save my life not have "fido" lick my toes. Besides the risk of diseases and contamination spreading from the dog could you imagine if something spooked the dog and he went wild and pulled out the patients needles by accident. Oh man the lawyers would be hovering all over that center.

[Ohio Buckeye]

I remember there was a cat and dog in the nursing home where
my aunt was.  I don't think it would work in a dalysis center tho,
Some people don't like animals and don't care to be around them.
And there would be the messes to clean up and animal hair and drool.
I love dogs but I don't think it would work there.  JMO 

[Sara]

Pat, I don't know how old your dad is, but would he be able to work a portable DVD player?  Or maybe a headset and CD player, or an iPod.  Might help the boredom a little bit. 

[BigSky]

Animals roaming the treatment area is not one thing I would care for.  There is a place for this type of thing but not in an area like the dialysis treatment area.

[goofynina]

I dont think it's all that bad, afterall, look at the hospitals with terminally ill patients that allow animals in.  I think it is an awesome idea.   

[Epoman]

I dont think it's all that bad, afterall, look at the hospitals with terminally ill patients that allow animals in.  I think it is an awesome idea.   

That is a much different setting than a dialysis center, I love dogs and all but a dialysis center is no place for animals, hell it isn't even a place for humans. 

[Panda_9]

I wouldnt want animals in there either, its bad enough as it is trying to be clean and sterile with everything. I have a long haired cat and at the moment he is malting and his hair is freaking everywhere. I have to check everything while Im setting up to make sure there is no hair on it. One time I had just finished setting everything up and when I unscrewed the lines there was a cat hair right on the end of it. Had to pull it all down and start again. Not only did it really piss me off, it was a waste of an entire set up.

[AlasdairUK]

You have to keep in mind that it is an infection control environment. We already have slightly reduced immune systems. I love animals, but not in a hospital.

Dogs would just get in the way.

[jbeany]

I found a number of articles on the idea while I was searching for info about dealing with my cat in the house while I'm on home hemo.  (I've found plenty that says the cat shouldn't be anywhere near you during PD, but not much info on whether or not I could safely let my little one in the room with the hemo machine, at least while it wasn't running.  I know I can't let her in while I'm using it - she loves to chew on soft cords.)

I read an article about an Aussie clinic that did regular visits with pet therapy.  (Haven't found that one again, though. . . )  I just googled again and got this one - http://www.aakp.org/aakp-library/Pet-Therapy/


Oddly enough, when you google anything with pets and dialysis, you get long lists of clinics where you can get dialysis for your pet.  Good grief, who would do that to an animal?  It would be hard enough to make a child understand why they had to be hooked up to a machine.  Why would you do that to a pet who couldn't possible understand that you were trying to save its life? 

[PMP]

jbeany, thank you for the article you Googled.  That was very interesting.  I hadn't thought about doing that. 

And thanks a bunch to everybody else who responded, REALLY, even if you didn't agree with my idea.  This is all new to me, and I can't think of a better group of people to ask for advice on something like this.

I wondered about the pet hair and the germs and the doggie drool and lawyers and people who are not keen on animals.  Those are all major obstacles.  Especially the lawyers.  (Just kidding!!)

Maybe I'll try and think of something else.  My dad does have a portable CD player and there are TVs in the room, but I did see quite a few people who came with nothing and looked like, frankly, they could use some cheering up.  And who can blame them. 

Thanks again for your responses!

Pat

   

[Sara]

Maybe a large aquarium in the treatment room would work?  You might try suggesting it.  It would at least give them something to watch.  It's very nice of you to try to break up the monotony for them.   

[PMP]

Oh, Sara, that IS a good idea.  And watching fish in an aquarium is really relaxing.  Thank you.  You've given me something to think about.

Pat

[kitkatz]

Our clinic has an aquarium in its waiting area.  Nice fishies that look like Nemo from the movie.  It takes a lot of work to keep that tank up and those fish living well.

[goofynina]

I think if they can keep us alive and well then they better do it for them fishies too

[kitkatz]

I pray for dem fishies regularly!

[scyankee]

At my center we have a patient with a seeing-eye dog that comes with him.
I was so concerned for the welfare of the dog that I recommended to the owners
to bring a blanket for the dog to sleep on while he waits on the floor.  I explained
about the drops of blood that could be around the chair and if the dog were to
lick it he could get sick.  I personally don't think the dog needs to be there since
where is his owner going to go? His wife could bring the dog in at the end
of his run.  I am always bored and sleep during this time with my CD blasting so I
don't need to hear all the other TV's and staff.  And since I only get about 3 hrs
sleep a night I try to catch ZZZZZZZZ there.

[Black]

At my center we have a patient with a seeing-eye dog that comes with him.
I was so concerned for the welfare of the dog that I recommended to the owners
to bring a blanket for the dog to sleep on while he waits on the floor.  I explained
about the drops of blood that could be around the chair and if the dog were to
lick it he could get sick.  I personally don't think the dog needs to be there since
where is his owner going to go? His wife could bring the dog in at the end
of his run....

Generally the assistance dogs are trained to never leave the person's side while they are in "uniform" and "working".  When they are home, and have their "uniform" removed, they are allowed to just be a dog.  Even then some take their job so seriously they will not leave the person's side unless ordered to do and tempted with a ball or frisbee.

[boxman55]

My father just started on hemodialysis.  His biggest complaint is boredom and, I think, a little bit of sadness at having to go through this ordeal three times a week.  Most everybody else in there looks bored as well.  So I was wondering about pet therapy.  Any thoughts on this?

I know it's done in nursing homes and in pediatric units in some hospitals, with good results, apparently.  Any reason why it couldn't be done for dialysis patients as well? 

I am 100% biased, I admit, because I am a dog lover from the get-go.  But anything to put a smile on the face of those patients would be worth it, in my opinion.  And let me say that I love cats as well (I have two), but cat allergies seem to be rampant.

Does anybody know if this has been tried before?  I'm a novice at this dialysis thing and am just looking for something to maybe give dialysis patients a little something to look forward to.

Any comments (negative or positive) would be truly appreciated!  Thank you.  And if you want to e-mail me, my e-mail address is pmporter@att.net

Pat Porter

[livecam]

A gentleman used to bring his dog in to keep him company while he was on treatment.  The dog sat quietly by his chair and was a problem for no one.  I guess it all depends on the temperment of the dog more than anything else.  The one 3 houses down from me that is barking it's head off as I write this is about to get a big surprise.  I'm thinking Kentucky Fried Chicken.

[goofynina]

  Livecam, be nice......  (give me the chicken)

[PMP]

"A gentleman used to bring his dog in to keep him company while he was on treatment. The dog sat quietly by his chair and was a problem for no one. I guess it all depends on the temperment of the dog more than anything else."

I don't know where that dialysis center is, but I think it's sooo neat that they let that patient bring his dog.   

Pat

[RichardMEL]

This is interesting because I was just talking about this with one of my nurses. Inetrestingly she started it by saying "When will you bring your cat in?" - they all know I have a cat who runs my life since the parting joke is that now that I'm off the machine if I'm off to take care of my mistress

Anyway of course I responded that no way would I bring my cat in - apart from all the stuff discussed above about contamination etc, a cat would go bananas in a dialysis unit.. all those pretty bright moving tube things for me to swat and play with - oh yeah. Not to mention that some paitents (or staff) may be alergic to cat hair or even an animal... no..

though the nurse DID suggest I could bring my cat in in a carrier.. I'm not certain if she was serious or not. Anyway I wouldn't ever subject my kitty to 5+ hours in her carrier. That is not fair.. and it's not like she could really keep me company except look beautiful on her blanket. I have piccies of her on my ipod if I need a fix.

I have often sat there on the machine thinking "hey wouldn't be so nice if my cat could sit on my lap while I was doing this. She'd keep me warm and give me something to pat and interact with" - while my cat is generally pretty laid back and placid I can't see her sitting still for 5 hours! LOL. And it's not like I could jump up and run after her if she ran around the unit "visiting"

On a slightly related topic though and fitting in with the "Pet Therapy" topic - my cat HAS had hospital experience. I thought I would share this story because it was so beautiful...

Briefly my mother loved my cat. She had no grandchildren, so my cat was the closest she's gotten to a grandkid. So she spoiled my little one as much as any grandmother could. Whenever I brought her (my cat) around when we had a family meal (usually weekly) mum would always make special effort to get her fresh chicken, or ham, or some other kitty treat. Indeed she would insist the cat ate when we did (and indeed my cat had her special windowsil right near where we ate, so she could sit up there and be part of the family).

Anyway my mum unfortunately suffered a DVT and it eventually caught up with her going into her lungs and she was admitted into hospital early this year (January). in Feburary when various treatments were not working, and indeed some antibiotics ended up killing off her liver and kidney she elected to stop all treatment and finish her life with some dignity.

Given this decision, we (the family) were looking for ways to make her last days as pleasing and comfortable as possible. We arranged "drinks" in her room with some of her closest friends, a visit of the Captain of her beloved cats football team and some other things. One thing she really missed while stuck in the ward was seeing my cat. We had pictures of course on her wall but it's not the same thing as a warm furry body there is it? We felt it was impossible to bring a cat into this environment and didn't seriously consider it.

Until by chance one afternoon when catching the elevator up to my mother's ward my sister and I saw a guy come in with a little dog. We asked him if he was taking the dog to a ward, and he said yes - it was the family pet and he was taking it visiting to someone sick in the ward. We asked offchance which ward it was, and it turns out it was the same ward my mother was in?!! We couldn't believe it!

So we asked one of mum's nurses about it and she said "Of course! What a great idea! Briing her in!"

So I asked mym if she would like to see Celeste (my cat) and she smiled and she said yes please... so I arranged to bring her that evening.

Now this is the beautiful part.

I imagined that, while Celeste is pretty easy going and takes most things without too much trouble, a hospital room with tubes and funny smells and beeping machines and stuff would freak her out. However we carried her up in her carrier and set her down just on the end of the bed. She came out of her carrier gently and immediately, as if she sensed this was what she was supposed to do, walked up the bed and settled down within arm's reach of my mother. And she sat there for a good 30 minutes or so allowing mum to gently pat her and hold her. The pleasure and smile on my mother's face was so wonderful to see in these days of trial and sadness. It is as if Celeste knew this was an important time and mum needed her to be quiet and just snuggle there... to repay all that chicken and ham.

Even my uncle, a doctor himself, who happened to be there at the time and was very sceptical of the value of Pets in this kind of thing admitted it was obviously helpful for her to have Celeste there and cheered her up no end.

I was so proud of my little one!

And on a final personal note.. I believe that having her living with me for the past nearly 3 years has helped my own health. Lowering my stress levels and blood pressure, and having someone to come home to after a crappy dialysis session who is happy to sit there and quietly snuggle and not complain or anything is wonderful.

While I don't think pets in a dialysis unit would be a good idea, I am all for pet therapy!