Allow companions for our older citizens like this man and his cat

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Cat

Cat, originally uploaded by dawnkua.

There was an article in today's Straits Times about building more studio flats for the elderly. It's good that more attention is being paid to our aging population. There is however one area where more could be done, with very little time/effort invested.

I went with the ex-adoption volunteer to visit this cat and the gentleman the cat lives with yesterday. The man is blind and has diabetes, and Chinky was kind enough to ask for some help to supply the man with some cat food and necessities.

The man lives alone in a small flat - his whole world is basically contained in one room. The cat is his only companion and he looks after it very well. Apparently, as was reported in the papers a while ago, the cat does the same - when the man fell, the cat ran to get help.

At a time when we our population is aging, doesn't it make sense to allow companions for our older citizens like this man and his cat?