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I remember having to use the vacuum cleaner for something that spilled in my mother's house. It wasn't working very well and when I turned it over, I saw the belt was broken. I asked my mom why she didn't say anything to me about this and how long had it been this way. Her answer was, "Oh... about a year." I couldn't believe mom hadn't vacuumed her home in over a year! That was one of the first signs she had Alzheimer's. Another was she fell down a lot - she loved to take walks around the neighborhood but would fall and hurt herself, and sit there and cry and not know where she was so who ever found her would of course call 911. She refused to wear her medical i.d. bracelet I got for her so I hid id info in her shoes. About this time, I noticed she was having trouble doing the math for her checking account. My mom was a banker for 55 years so I knew something was brewing. I had to assume responsibility for all of her finances and establish myself as POA for both Financial and Health matters. Her Driver's Lic renewal came up on her birthday and she couldn't pass the test so at least I didn't have to take away her keys. It was a sort of rapid but gradual slide into the subsequent stages of Alzheimer's. You may want to find out more about this disease. You'll have to keep an eye on MIL and if she starts asking questions over and over, chances are she has Alzheimer's and more and more supervised care until it's 'round the clock care. Try to prepare yourselves for some difficult times ahead and a lot of hard choices to be made. Hugs and love to you.
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cancankant, with mobility being a problem with your Mom, she would need to hire someone to help her out with her own care, do some house cleaning for her, and help with the care of the cats [mainly litter boxes].

You will need tough love with her, either she hires help or the cats will need to be re-homed with new families. It's not fair to the animals. With 5 cats, experts tell us that she would need to have 6 litter boxes.
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Thanks for the info. We have been in contact with the Aging Resource Dept. who sent a social worker to work with my MIL. We also have a caseworker at the hospital. Once she is home, she will likely need somebody to help her, as it's obvious she is truly struggling.

As far as an animal limit, the city where she lives sets a limit on how many animals you can legally have. It's (3) cats or (3) dogs or a combination of the two. I don't think it's generally enforced, but if they come in to look at code violations, they may catch on and decide force her to remove some or all of the cats. You can actually buy a special license called "Animal Fancier" that allows you to keep up to (5) animals, but it's one that needs to be approved. She may be able to apply for this, provided we get the property up to code.

That being said, with the problems that are happening with animal care (cats were going to the bathroom outside of their boxes because they weren't being cleaned at all), the city might not give her the permit.
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Gosh your Mom-in-law is so very young to be going through hip replacement and falling.

Contact your county agency on aging for programs, such as Case Management, Meals on Wheels, Adult Day Care, housing, care referrals, etc,... go to the website link below.... click on your State.... now click on the city/county. https://www.agingcare.com/local/Area-Agency-on-Aging

I am curious about the "legal limit" on the cats? Never heard of that. Or is your Mom-in-law living in public housing where the lease limits the number of pets to 3?
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