Be Kind to Animals Week
Elder Care in Lowell MI
May 1 through 7 is Be Kind to Animals Week. This is the perfect time for you to make connecting with the environment and showing compassion to the living creatures around you part of your 
regular elder care routine with your loved ones. Not only is this good for the environment, but it can also help you to pursue some of your care goals with your aging loved one.
Feeding birds is a wonderful way to stimulate your parent’s mind and elevate her mental and emotional health. Simply watching the birds enjoying the treats that they make for them, can reduce feelings of depression, anxiety, disconnection, and isolation that are common among elderly adults. Watching the same birds return day after day also gives your parent the opportunity to strengthen her memory skills and offers daily learning opportunities. All of these combine to create stronger cognitive functioning, critical thinking, and memory skills.
The first step in making being kind to the animals around your parent’s home a routine part of your elder care is knowing what types of birds are common in the area. You can then pick out the ingredients that will appeal most to those particular birds. Encourage your parent to do some research with your help or the help of their elderly health care services provider to find out what types of birds are most prevalent in the area. They can then find recipes that combine ingredients those birds will love.
Use these ideas to get started on filling your parent’s yard with beautiful feathered friends:
Peanut butter cake suet (for woodpeckers, chickadees, warblers, titmice, wrens, creepers, finches, juncos, mockingbirds, nuthatches and grosbeaks)
What You Will Need
- 1 cup of suet
- 6 cups of cornmeal
- 1 cup of peanut butter (chunky is best)
- 1 muffin tin
- Paper liners
- A pot
- A stirring spoon
What to Do
- Place the pot on medium high heat
- Add the suet to the pot
- When the suet gets warm, add the peanut butter
- Stir continually until the peanut butter is melted and is well mixed in
- Add the cornmeal to the pot
- Mix the cornmeal in well
- Line the muffin tins with the paper liners
- Spoon the mix into muffin tins
- Allow the tins to cool at room temperature completely
- Place the tins inside the refrigerator
- When cold, remove them from the refrigerator
- Take them out of the muffin tins and unwrap the paper before placing outside
Shish Kabob Suet (for mockingbirds, thrashers, wrens, cardinals, orioles, finches, grosbeaks and tanagers)
What You Will Need
- Apples
- Oranges
- Pears
- Dried fruit
- Berries
- A sharp knife
- A 3 to 4 foot piece of twine
What to Do
- Slice the apples, oranges and pears into quarters at least so they are more manageable
- Use the sharp knife to poke a hole through each item
- Run the twine through each piece carefully
- When all of the pieces are run through with twine, tie a knot on both ends
- Hang the twine by one of the knots from a tree branch or somewhere easily accessible to the birds
Hummingbird Feeder (for Hummingbirds)
What You Will Need
- Sugar
- Water
- A pot
- A bird feeder
What to Do
- Place the pot on high heat with the water inside
- Allow water to get to a boil
- Using 1 part sugar for every 4 parts water, add the sugar slowly
- Allow it to boil for 5 minutes
- Turn the heat off and remove the pot from it to cool
- Allow to cool completely
- Fill the birdfeeder halfway and store the rest of the nectar in the refrigerator
If you or someone you know needs help with elder care in Lowell, MI, contact Gauthier Family Home Care. We provide quality and affordable home care services in our community. Call us at (616) 258-2300 for more information.
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