I bought Mum her first 'animatronic' cat several years ago. I ordered it from US. It purrs and miaouws in a very lifelike way, rolls over, and its eyes and ears move. Mum had wanted a cat of her own, but I pointed out to her that it was not possible as she could not get out to take it to the vets if it was poorly, and couldn't bend down to feed it etc (The reality was that Mum couldn't look after herself that well, let alone an animal!) When I bought it, I was worried Mum would think I was mad, or find it an insult, but I explained my reasoning to her and Mum loved the cat desperately. I still have the video clip of when I gave it to her. The cat was a real companion in the time she was still living in Retirement Housing and a lifeline in terms of helping with Mum's anxiety and depression. Mum became distraught every time the batteries ran out, as she thought the cat was poorly, but that toy was worth it's weight in gold.
As Mum's dementia worsened, she was not so careful with the cat and one day it was obvious that it had been manhandled a bit too much and had lost it's miaouw, and it looked at me with half shut eyes in a very sinister way. Thankfully I had already bought a replacement .... just in case! I knew that Mum was still aware enough to realise that a new cat would not look like the much-loved, much-stroked, slightly grubby original. What followed was a very elaborate 'love lie'. I told her that my husband had made the cat better and that I had given the cat a bit of a beauty treatment at the same time. The truth was that I had been 'roughing' up the new toy, to make it look a little less pristine. Mum bought my story, hook, line and sinker. The cat and Mum were inseparable and eventually moved into the CH together. The cat is so lifelike it caused quite a stir and everyone got to know Mum and the cat, as the sensors made it miaouw when anyone entered the room and Mum would put it in the basket of her zimmer and push the cat about.
Now Mum has forgotten all about the cat - and most other things too. It sits on the windowsill in her room and I have stopped putting batteries in it. The original broken cat is in my loft, along with a 3rd identical one I had bought in case it was needed. It won't be needed now.
I owe so much to 'Queenie' the cat.
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