A local nonprofit organization has donated more than 80 dogs and cats – which don’t eat, don’t need to be walked, and don’t leave messes to be cleaned up – to local senior care facilities.

The lifelike animals are FurReal Pets – high-tech robotic companions. 

Studies have shown these robotic pets – covered in fur and with built-in sensors that respond to petting and hugging by barking, purring, wagging their tails – improve the wellbeing of people with dementia.  You can even place your hand on the chests of the pets and feel a heartbeat.

“It’s amazing. It will bring tears to your eyes when you see memory care patients suddenly perk up when they encounter them,” said Ted Pankiewicz, executive director of For the Love of Paws, a Vero Beach nonprofit that serves seniors.

“The overall goal in working with those with dementia is to produce positive emotions,” said Peggy Cunningham, executive director of the Alzheimer and Parkinson Association of Indian River County. “As cognitive impairment progresses, the brain relies more and more on the emotional input it receives.”

Cunningham said the effects of animatronic pets “align with the benefits of real pet therapy, which reduces stress, offers comfort and lessens feelings of social isolation. The sensations of purring or the touch of soft fur can bring out those long-term memories and instincts that pet therapy relies on.”

Solid science backs up Cunningham’s claims.

A 2021 study from Florida Atlantic University found that dementia patients who interacted with robotic cats “showed improved moods, and more than 50 percent showed slight to moderate improvement in areas such as attention and language.

“Mechanical animals can also help residents engage in reminiscence therapy by evoking recollections of their childhood pets.”

The study found that when residents with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia interacted with the animatronic pets, they showed decreased neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as delusions, depression, anxiety, apathy and disruptiveness.

Most of the FurReal pets used in Vero are donated to For the Love of Paws by individuals or other organizations. But Paws will buy them, paying about $150 per pet, if demand exceeds supply. “There is no shortage of facilities or individuals that can use them,” Pankiewicz said.

Solaris Vero Beach, Heron Cove, Certus Premier Memory Care Living, Sonata and The Promenade are a few of the care centers that have received pets.