CALGARY -- Two-year-old Lily, a foster cat from the Calgary Humane Society, arrived at Silvera's Valleyview senior's community two weeks ago and quickly made herself at home.
The feline has become a friend to residents and staff, something much-needed during a pandemic that brought with it sickness, death and isolation.
"She's a treasure," resident Bernadette Boudens said of Lily. "I so much enjoy coming down here and playing with her and petting her.
"Seeing the love that she can express — I get rid of my stress, I get relaxed, I get joyful.”
Valleyview residents had been wanting a cat for years, said community manager Taylor Stewart, and the time seemed right to start the program after a year with limited social interaction and COVID-19 restrictions.
"Especially after the isolation, it's that companionship, that human-animal bond," Stewart said.
"It's therapeutic, it provides immense benefits for mental health, anxiety, it lowers blood pressure. It is huge."
The partnership between Valleyview and the Calgary Humane Society sees a foster cat brought into the community for four weeks before the animal is brought back to be adopted and another cat takes its place in the cat room.
Some residents will watch Lily through the glass of her cat room, others come in daily to play, cuddle with and watch the cat hop up its ladder on the wall. It's Lily's friendship Boudens enjoys the most.
"We give her companionship and we get companionship," she said.
