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Currently, few retirement residences allow people to bring their beloved pets with them, and those that do often set limitations as to the number, kind, weight, and even stipulate that when that pet dies, resident cannot acquire another.

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Many older people whose health/abilities could be better in a retirement community, refuse to make the move "until my canine, feline, or avian family member dies, because I cannot bear the thought of leaving it behind to an uncertain fate or euthanasia just because of my weakness."

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Often these animals, faithful companions for many years, are the only family members left, and the bond is as strong, as loving, and as interdependent, as with human relatives.

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There is also the constant worry about "What will happen to my beloved pet if it outlives me? Can I trust anyone to care for it as I do for its natural lifespan? These worries themselves become focused health debilitators for the caring person even as he/she becomes fixated on the perils of declining years.