{"id":17769,"date":"2026-06-25T16:02:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769"},"modified":"2026-06-25T16:02:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:02:36","slug":"a-cancer-patients-cats-inspired-a-push-for-pets-in-hospice-wards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769","title":{"rendered":"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By VANESSA GERA<\/strong><\/p>\n

WARSAW, Poland (AP) \u2014 When Ewa Lutka-Krawczyk was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer, her first thought was for Gaja, a shelter dog she took in three years ago. She asked her doctor to assure her she would live a few more years so the deeply attached Gaja \u201cwouldn\u2019t be left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more As LeBron James mulls whether to return, leave or retire, what can the Lakers do?<\/a><\/p>\n

But the prognosis was grim, and this month the 70-year-old was admitted to the palliative ward of a Warsaw hospital. Left at home with Lutka-Krawczyk\u2019s husband, Gaja was barely eating.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is waiting for me,\u201d Lutka-Krawczyk said from her bed, where she rested with a draining tube attached to her abdomen.<\/p>\n

Under proposed new legislation in Poland, patients like Lutka-Krawczyk soon would have the right to be visited in hospices and palliative care wards by their pets. Visits are already allowed in many clinics, but there is no universal right under the law.<\/p>\n

One expert reports an \u2018epidemic of loneliness\u2019<\/h4>\n

Dr. Tomasz Dzier\u017canowski, director of the Palliative Medicine Clinic at the Medical University of Warsaw, where Lutka-Krawczyk is being treated, has led the proposal, which was introduced to parliament by a member of Prime Minister Donald Tusk\u2019s centrist party.<\/p>\n

Dzier\u017canowski said the presence of a beloved pet can ease the physical and spiritual pain of terminally ill patients at a time when society is experiencing \u201can epidemic of loneliness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make sure that no patient dies alone,\u201d Dzier\u017canowski said in an interview with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen someone is suffering, it is important that someone is there for them. Ideally, that should be another human being,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes, however, there is no one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dzier\u017canowski said he often sees older patients isolated because they have outlived their friends, as well as young patients feeling alone in palliative care clinics because in today\u2019s world of screens and virtual friends, they have not built the kind of friendships that earlier generations often had.<\/p>\n

Dzier\u017canowski said the catalyst for his mission was a seriously ill cancer patient named Waldemar who was not afraid for himself but for his two cats. Dzier\u017canowski arranged for the cats to be brought into the ward.<\/p>\n

The man\u2019s tears of happiness and the cats\u2019 emotional reaction \u2014 as well as that of other patients and hospital staff who witnessed the reunion \u2014 \u201cmade me realize that this issue finally needed to be addressed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more Angels not surprised by Walbert Ure\u00f1a\u2019s quick success in the majors<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Dzier\u017canowski allows pets to visit patients in his clinic when conditions allow, which means that Lukta-Krawczyk can look forward to a visit from Gaja. That pleased her when she learned of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn reality, animals in hospitals are already there anyway,\u201d said Katarzyna Piekarska, the lawmaker who introduced the legislation, which is now in parliament\u2019s health committee. \u201cThat\u2019s why it needs to be regulated in the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Therapy dogs are also allowed<\/h4>\n

Dzier\u017canowski also allows visits by therapy dogs. When the AP visited, Kluska, an Australian shepherd, was making the rounds with her owner, Ma\u0142gorzata Brzozowska.<\/p>\n

Kluska \u2014 whose name means \u201cdumpling\u201d \u2014 brought some distraction to Lutka-Krawczyk, who held the dog\u2019s paw and smiled.<\/p>\n

Another patient, Wojciech Zelik, a 58-year-old admitted with a tumor, propped himself up to admire the dog as Brzozowska got Kluska to perform tricks.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has such lovely fur to pet, so fluffy,\u201d he said, reaching over and rubbing her head.<\/p>\n

Brzozowska said therapy dog visits also help relieve the stress of nurses, cooks and other staff who tend to the terminally ill patients. Several made a fuss over Kluska, crouching down to pet her in the hallway \u2014 with the cook giving her slices of ham.<\/p>\n

Brzozowska, a medical student, said the benefits are even greater when the patients are visited by their own pets. It calms them, their loved ones \u2014 and the animals, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dog isn\u2019t as stressed,\u201d she said. \u201cWe interpret this as meaning that he simply knows what\u2019s happening, that he knows where the owner, who was always there before, has disappeared to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more EU releases $3.4 billion loan package for Ukraine\u2019s recovery as part of 2-year commitment<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Poland, new legislation could give patients in hospices and palliative care wards the right to have visits from their pets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"yoast_head":"\nA cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards - Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Poland, new legislation could give patients in hospices and palliative care wards the right to have visits from their pets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-25T16:02:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"headline\":\"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T16:02:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769\"},\"wordCount\":727,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dcdefd37abd1452d28c75b2e33459fa0.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"World News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769\",\"name\":\"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards - Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dcdefd37abd1452d28c75b2e33459fa0.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T16:02:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dcdefd37abd1452d28c75b2e33459fa0.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dcdefd37abd1452d28c75b2e33459fa0.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17769#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards - Silicon Valley Moving Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards - Silicon Valley Moving Post","og_description":"In Poland, new legislation could give patients in hospices and palliative care wards the right to have visits from their pets.","og_url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769","og_site_name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","article_published_time":"2026-06-25T16:02:36+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"headline":"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards","datePublished":"2026-06-25T16:02:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769"},"wordCount":727,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dcdefd37abd1452d28c75b2e33459fa0.webp","articleSection":["World News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769","name":"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards - Silicon Valley Moving Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dcdefd37abd1452d28c75b2e33459fa0.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-25T16:02:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dcdefd37abd1452d28c75b2e33459fa0.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dcdefd37abd1452d28c75b2e33459fa0.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17769#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A cancer patient\u2019s cats inspired a push for pets in hospice wards"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/","name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}