Staff and residents at Barchester’s Kernow House care home in Launceston were treated to a visit from some beautiful therapy pets.

Animals have a wonderful calming effect and the residents love to stroke them, talk to them and play with them and as it was Dementia Action Week, the home wanted to do something special.

The home was visited by Creature Feature who caused a great deal of excitement. All of the residents enjoyed the visit, they petted the animals who seemed to appreciate meeting their new friends. There was Marbles the rabbit, George the guinea pig, Donny the tortoise, Woody the grass snake and Bumblebee the Shongololo, which is an African giant millipede.

Nicola from Creature Feature said: “The animals have had a wonderful afternoon! It was lovely to see the residents getting so much pleasure from the visit, I think it is fair to say the animals have a new fan club!”

Occupational therapist, Jackie, who went around with the animals said: “Many of our residents are fascinated by animals so we were delighted that Creature Feature were able to visit. It was brilliant to be able to ask Nicola and Stephan questions about working with the animals and what it is like to look after them. We loved hearing all about their different personalities. Engaging with the animals is therapeutic for our residents, promoting social interaction and reminiscing about our own pets initiated conversation with others”