Because staying home often means staying together.
For many older adults, a dog or cat is family, routine, comfort, and companionship. When bending, lifting, walking, or household tasks become difficult, SILK may include simple pet-related assistance within a broader non-medical care plan.
Small pet-care tasks can become large barriers to independence.
A heavy bag of food, a low water bowl, a litter box, or an excited dog at the door can create pain, fatigue, or fall risk. Families may begin worrying that a loved one cannot safely keep the companion who means so much to them.
SILK is not a veterinary clinic, boarding service, groomer, or professional pet sitter. But when appropriate and safe, a caregiver may help with ordinary pet routines during a client’s scheduled home-care visit.
- Support remains centered on the person receiving care
- Tasks must be included in the agreed care plan
- The animal’s behavior, size, health, and home environment must be safe
- Availability depends on caregiver comfort, training, schedule, and payment rules
Practical help—when the task and animal are a safe fit.
Pet tasks are considered individually and are never automatically included in every visit or program authorization.
Keeping the routine consistent
Filling ordinary food and water bowls according to clear directions supplied by the client or family.
Reducing lifting and bending
Bringing reachable supplies to the client, helping organize everyday items, and reporting when essentials appear low.
Managing ordinary messes
Routine litter-box assistance or minor pet-related cleanup when conditions are sanitary and the task is safe.
A safer transition outside
Helping with a calm, familiar pet’s ordinary door or secured-yard routine when the environment and care plan allow.
Keeping the bond present
Helping position a pet bed or familiar item nearby and supporting safe interaction between the client and companion animal.
Noticing when more help is needed
Alerting the agreed family contact when supplies, behavior, cleanliness, or the animal’s apparent condition raises a concern.
Some pet needs require a different professional.
SILK caregivers may decline any task or animal interaction that appears unsafe, outside the care plan, or beyond non-medical home care.
Potentially appropriate
- Simple feeding and fresh water using clear directions
- Routine litter-box help in sanitary conditions
- Minor cleanup using ordinary household supplies
- Helping with calm, familiar, safely controlled animals
- Communicating concerns to the client or designated family contact
Outside SILK’s pet-support role
- Veterinary assessment, treatment, medications, or medical decisions
- Aggressive, unpredictable, unrestrained, or unsafe animals
- Professional dog walking, training, grooming, boarding, or pet sitting
- Heavy animal lifting, large cages, extensive waste, infestations, or biohazards
- Transporting an animal unless specifically approved and safely arranged
Tell us about the person, the pet, and the exact routine.
We will ask what help the client needs, what type of animal lives in the home, its size and behavior, the proposed tasks, and whether those tasks are compatible with the care arrangement.
For Medicaid/PASSPORT care, services and tasks must follow the authorized plan and program rules. Pet assistance may not be a separately covered service. Private-pay arrangements may offer more flexibility, but all tasks remain subject to SILK’s scope and safety review.
Pet assistance works best inside a complete support plan.
Homemaking Services
Light household support for laundry, dishes, linens, tidying, and daily routines.
Explore homemaking →Companion Care
Conversation, reassurance, shared activities, errands, and a dependable presence.
Explore companionship →Home Safety Assessments
A practical review of falls, pathways, pets, mobility, and household risks.
Explore home safety →Personal Care
Respectful assistance with bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, and daily routines.
Explore personal care →Respite Care
Dependable relief for family caregivers who need time to rest or manage responsibilities.
Explore respite →Senior Care Guide
Plain-English guidance for Southern Ohio families making care decisions.
Visit the guide →Pet assistance questions, answered clearly.
Does SILK offer pet care as a standalone service?
Generally, no. Simple pet-related tasks may be considered as part of a scheduled non-medical care plan for a person receiving SILK services. SILK is not a pet-sitting, boarding, walking, grooming, training, or veterinary business.
Can a caregiver feed my loved one’s pet?
Potentially. Feeding and fresh water may be appropriate when instructions are clear, the animal and environment are safe, the task is included in the care plan, and the caregiver can complete it safely.
Will caregivers walk dogs?
SILK does not promise professional dog-walking services. Any limited outdoor pet routine would require individual approval based on the animal’s size and behavior, leash control, property conditions, caregiver safety, care-plan priorities, and available time.
Can SILK give medications to a pet?
No. Veterinary medications, treatment, and medical decisions belong with the pet’s owner, family, and veterinarian.
What if the animal is aggressive or unpredictable?
The animal must be safely secured away from the caregiver. SILK may decline or suspend service when an animal or home condition creates a safety risk.
Does Medicaid/PASSPORT pay for pet care?
Pet care should not be assumed to be a separately covered Medicaid/PASSPORT service. Authorized services and tasks are determined through the administering agency and care plan. Ask the case manager what is permitted; SILK cannot expand an authorization independently.
How do we ask SILK about a pet in the home?
Call 740-245-1051 or use the contact page. Describe the client’s care needs, the animal’s type, size, temperament, routine, and the exact assistance requested. SILK will explain what may be considered safely and responsibly.
A little practical help may protect a deeply important bond.
Tell Susan or Ehren about your loved one, the pet, and the daily routine that has become difficult. We will give you a clear, realistic answer about where SILK may fit.
Founded and 100% owned by Susan Lowers, BSW · Locally operated in Southern Ohio