The residents and Care Team have had a ‘purr-fect’ day celebrating this year’s International Cat Day.
“The residents love all animals,” said Mary Bradley, the Activities Coordinator at Orford House. “Especially cats and dogs. We have our own resident care home cat, Teddy, who, after a previous Manager adopted him, made Orford House his forever home.
“Teddy loves to be outside and do his daily patrols of the care home’s grounds,” continued Mary. “He’s very respectful of the residents and never ventures into their bedrooms; instead he’ll be found sleeping on his favourite window sill but is always ready to accept a tasty treat or quick stroke and fuss.”
To mark this year’s International Cat Day, Mary ensured the residents had a ‘paw-some’ arts and crafts session focused on feline friends. “To get into the Feline Festivities, the residents all made cat masks, complete with whiskers, cute noses and fluffy ears,” added Mary. “We then got ‘claw-rative’ and used face paints to transform everyone into a ‘Cat-chy’ clowder of cats.”
The residents were in for another surprise, as Mary brought her own cat, Romeo, a beautiful White Persian with piercing blue eyes, into the care home spend the day with them.
“I’ve had Romeo since he was a kitten and only eight weeks old. He’s now eight-years-old, so 48-years-old in cat years. He’s a definite House Cat and loves nothing more than to sit on the sofa or lay by the window.
“The residents love seeing Romeo, so I make sure I bring him in on special occasions. He’ll make sure he visits the residents and gives them all the opportunity to give him a fuss – and to give him a treat if he’s good. He enjoys playing with his toy mice, butterfly catcher and fish toys and definitely loves the attention he gets from the residents.”
“International Cat Day is a ‘purr-fect’ day for the residents to have a special visit from Romeo and it’s a lovely way to mark the annual celebration which was created in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare,” added Michelle Kennett, the Registered Manager at Orford House.
“Cats are always a ‘Claw-ver’ topic at our regular reminiscing sessions – as the residents don’t ‘kitten-around’, they certainly know a Tabby from a Siamese. One resident told me recently that in an effort to control pests in granaries, the Ancient Egyptians began to allow wild cats inside to keep the mice at bay. Another resident told me that Abraham Lincoln loved cats, so much so, he had four cats that lived in the White House with him.”
“When it comes to talking cats, the residents really are fonts of all feline knowledge. I’ll be bringing Romeo in at Christmas to see everyone again, so the residents will be able to have a ‘paw-fect Cat-mas’,” concluded Mary.
Find out more about Orford House care home by calling 020 8660 2875 or emailing enquiries@fote.org.uk.