82-year-old Bruno with his Robo Cat Sweetie Pie. Photo Credit: Candace Boyne

By Shane Clausing

Lifting a spirit

Robotic cat helping senior with dementia thrive

Sep 23, 2020 | 1:18 PM

Sometimes you just need a friend to help keep you company and lift your spirits.

So far, that has been the case for 82-year-old Grande Prairie native Bruno Sagmeister, who recently had a pet “cat” adopted for him by his daughter, Suzanne Sagmeister.

Suzanne made a Facebook post earlier this week that went viral throughout Grande Prairie, where she told her father’s story on how the newly purchased cat is helping him.

As a career, Bruno was a former police officer and first responder and was a very active member of the community. However, over recent years, Bruno has suffered and battled with dementia. His wife also passed away just over a year ago.

Suzanne Sagmeister holds a photo of her father, Bruno, as an Enoch Police Officer in 1975 (Photo: Candace Boyne / EverythingGP)

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Suzanne says in her Facebook post that on a recent visit to see her father, she arrived to hear Bruno tell her, “I have never felt so low in my life.”

With that, Suzanne wanted to help her dad get back to normal and find a level of happiness. So, she decided to buy him a robotic cat. She decided to make the purchase after she read a news article on the impact that robotic cats have had on seniors with dementia, which showed that they had a positive impact on their mental health.

In the days that followed after getting her father the cat, Sagmeister says her dad has gotten back to feeling and acting something similar to his old self.

“First of all, you know as I’m giving him this cat that this is a robotic pet. And so, I know it’s not real and at first when you watch the video, he knows its not real. I never lied to him or told him any other story. It was him through the progression of his mind and being with this cat, that he’s the one who decided (it) was real.”

Sagmeister’s Facebook post went on to say, “His memory is suddenly sharper, the twinkle is back in his eye, his mood is lifted, these are real benefits, his quality of life is improved.

“Today, he remarked on how he lives in luxury and lacks for nothing.”

With Bruno feeling much happier and in a much more positive and productive mood, Suzanne says she is grateful they were able to find something to help get Bruno back to being himself.

“It makes my head spin when I think about the joy that he has right now in his purpose. These robo pets are not meant to replace human interaction. They give them purpose, they have something to interact with.”

“People see the cat and so he’s getting these bonus interactions that he wouldn’t have otherwise had.”

Bruno has named his new pal ‘Sweetie Pie’. Bruno’s reasoning for the name was quite simple.

“Because she’s a sweetie pie and she’s very cuddly,” he said.

Bruno also added that he loves the colour of the cat.

He also noted that he has had pet cats for all of his life, but adds that Sweetie Pie is a “special cat”.

Learning of the positive impacts the Sagmeister’s have experienced with the robotic cat, a new program has been launched by the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation, aptly called the “Bruno the Cat’s Pet Program”. The program will see the foundation accept donations of such pets, which can be distributed to other individuals that could benefit.

“The benefit for everybody who is going to be able to embrace these pets is astronomical. I just think that the quality of life is going to be so dramatically improved,” said Suzanne.

Donations and inquires about the program can be made at the Hospital Foundation’s website.