Mum's cats are keeping her going

Dear I think it’s great that your mum has the cats to give her some structure to her day. Cats are very intuitive and seem to have an innate sense when someone is ill. I hope your mum and dad have made connections with local services who will be able to help your mum. Also I would draw your attention to the cinnamon trust who help people with life limiting illnesses if they need help with their pets due to hospital stays etc.

Many thanks Johnty, I'd forgotten all about the Cinnamon Trust - that's a good call. I think the Blue Cross can provide a list of care homes taking pets too, if mum needs to go into a home.

I'm having trouble convincing her to get help from carers and social services - she's so fiercely independent! But I will keep at it. She is doing everything for my dad now, who is hardly mobile. Unfortunately, I live 80 miles away and work full time so it's difficult. I know lots of people have these problems though and we all just have to do what we can :-)

Dea, it’s a familiar story to me that some of the older generation are quite steadfast in their opposition to help in the home, so your not alone. However as your dads leukemia progresses this will be a position that may become untenable. I would recommend hospice at home services, a good friend of mine used them recently and they were very good. You can access this by the general practitioner. Also you can get good advice on all matters caring from carers uk.

Thanks Johnty that's really helpful