Kittens Poppy and Primrose join the family at Home Meadow

Sisters Poppy and Primrose are the latest residents to be settling in at Home Meadow Care Home in Toft, Cambridgeshire.

Somewhat younger than all of the other residents at home these nine-week-old kittens are already entertaining the staff team and finding their place within the family.

Named after two of the units at Home Meadow Poppy and Primrose were part of a litter belonging to a member of staff and joined the family after a residents’ meeting voted to adopt them.

Home Manager Leena Oni explained, “Home Meadow is registered with The Cinnamon Trust as a pet friendly home so many residents were keen that we should have our own pets. They have their own care plans the same as all of our residents to be sure we are doing all we can for them and are settling in very well.

“There will always be someone to make a fuss of them or play with them. We’re very excited to have Poppy and Primrose here, they are a lovely addition to our family.”

Leena added that the Christmas decorations are currently going up at the home so this would be an ’interesting’ time with two playful kittens likely to be keen to help.

According to the Cinnamon Trust – The National Charity for the elderly, the terminally ill and their pets – the benefits of an older person having pets with them are many:

• It is someone to love, talk to and fuss over – someone who needs them
• Pets help to lessen any feeling of loneliness
• Pets often provide links with the past
• Pets are a form of reassurance and alleviate stress
• Pets are a conversational topic and can stimulate discussion and reminiscence, particularly for those residents who may be living with dementia
• Memories of past pets can be recalled when a pet arrives to live within the home.
• Many carers say they see characteristics of the resident that have not been apparent before when they interact with animals.

Home Meadow provides residential and dementia care to people living within Cambridgeshire. The location of the home is stunning and rural with meadows directly behind the home and lovely views from the windows.

The home is part of the Healthcare Homes family of 48 care homes and 11 homecare branches across the South and East of the UK. The home is rated Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and has 9.5 out of 10 score on independent review site carehome.co.uk

To find about more about the residential and dementia care offered at Home Meadow, call 01223 632655 or visit healthcarehomes.co.uk

Pip Rich