By Billy Bucher/Guest Columnist for Loretta Humble
You may have seen the videos a few weeks ago of two llamas frolicking madly near a nursing home in Arizona from where they had escaped while visiting to entertain the residents. Watching the police and civilians trying to catch up with the escapees brought many a laugh to viewers of TV and Internet, and reminded some people of the antics of the Keystone Cops from years ago. Finally the pair were gotten under control and, luckily, all ended well.
This got me to thinking about the pleasure animals bring nursing home residents, be they based in the Banfields Aged Care locations or elsewhere. Particularly, I was thinking about Fella, head canine at Cedar Lake Nursing Home in Malakoff where I hang out a lot.
Fella previously lived with his former owner in another nursing home. She had named him Fala after President Franklin Roosevelt’s famous Scottie. When she could no longer care for him her doctor called administrator Sonny Douglas Humble to beg Cedar Lake take him. Sonny and Director of Nurses Jo Sparks agreed it would be a wonderful idea
So Fella had a new home. And he got a slightly different name. Cedar Lake folks just didn’t get the hang of Fala, so he became Fella, as in “for he’s a jolly good …..” He is a small black Terrier who doesn’t take up much space. He is very agile and can hop atop a chair in a moment’s notice. He hardly ever barks which is pretty unusual for a small dog.
Fella fit in quickly to the comings and goings of the home. He made himself right at home, roamed the place, found himself to be welcome everywhere. Everybody loves him.
At first, while he was getting his bearings, he spent a lot of time at the nurse’s station, although it is a pretty hectic place to be. He still maintains a bed there. After that, he was often spotted going across the ramp to the second building where the Rehab Department is located, to help Becky Tyler with the Nursing Records. Of late, though, Fella seems to have found a new home in the office of Kristina Haning, head of Social Services. Maybe it is because Fella seems to be quite a social breed.
When I spoke with her, Kristina said she enjoyed the honor.
“I think,” she said, “that Fella likes the quietness in my office and he has a bed in there so he can just go in there and rest. And, yes, of course, he has plenty of treats in there as well.”
“But then,” she added with a laugh, “he seems to have plenty of treats in all of the other offices which he visits. He is certainly well fed. That is certainly why he has seemed to have gotten heavier lately.”
“Fella just seems to love everyone around here and when I come in in the morning, he’ll just be sitting by the front door to greet me. And, if he isn’t there, and he hears my voice, he’ll come truckin’ down the hall to greet me. And sometimes he gets to coming so fast that he’s actually slid into me.”
“The only time which I have seen Fella at all upset is if he is left out of Morning Meeting. That’s where all the home’s department managers get together to discuss the day’s work. If he is left out of
that one he will cause a ruckus by scratching on the door until someone lets him in.”
But Fella is not the only contender for attention at Cedar Lake. Maintenance Supervisor David McCann’s cute little dog named Peyton comes to work with him daily and can steal the show at times. It’s fun to watch David take a little ball with him and toss it ahead of them and see Peyton roars off in a fury after it. One other trick that Peyton does is to stiffen his body, then David will lay him down on his opened hand and carries him along, usually stroking his belly as he moves. It is quite a sight to see.
Cedar Lake Nursing Home also has a resident cat. Tiger is easily as big as Fella and Peyton put together He spends a lot of time in the library with the two small doves whom I imagine that Tiger has had more than one dream over. Tiger looks more like a lion to me. He rooms with Bill Weldon. Bill looks after him, and will let him sit on his lap as he play computer games in the library.
Tiger came to Cedar Lake years ago when friends of the Humble family had a tragedy and could no longer keep him. He is getting pretty old. The nursing home would like to find another fat lazy cat for Tiger to be training as a replacement when he goes to cat heaven.
Cedar Lake also has a big aquarium in the front room with several big fish in it. But fish just swim around, and hardly ever do tricks. So there is not a lot to tell you about them. If I catch them doing anything clever, I can probably make a whole column out of that.