Adopt a Senior Cat in November
November is the month we set aside in the U.S. to give thanks for our blessings. Most of my readers count their cats among their blessings, and in many cases, senior cats. While there is something very special about raising and caring for a young cat through its senior years, it takes a really special person to intentionally seek out and adopt a senior cat and give him or her a loving, caring home for the remainder of its life. These cats sometimes come with medical conditions requiring regular extra care and expensive medications. They are often not as playful or cute as younger cats and kittens. However, they simply can't be matched for devotion, unconditional love, and warm companionship.
Senior cats are perfect companions for older people who find it difficult to keep up with the antics of kittens. Older cats as housemates help fill in the void of loneliness and provide measurable benefits in lowering blood pressure and stress relief. Some shelters wisely acknowledge this fact with special programs matching senior pets to senior people. KittyKind, a Participating Organization of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, is holding a Seniors for Seniors special adoption event the weekend of November 14th, 2009, in its adoption center at Petco, located at 17th Street and Broadway, Union Square, NYC.
For many years, the ASPCA and Petfinder.com have worked together to sponsor November is the Adopt a Senior Pet Month. Although I can find nothing on either site for this program in 2009, it is early yet.
It's not too early to open up your home and heart to a senior cat, though. If you are looking for the kinds of benefits only a senior cat can offer, head toward your local shelter in the near future, and by Thanksgiving, both you and your new "old" cat will both have cause to rejoice. Pictured here is Jezabel, who spent over 20 years bringing love and companionship to Kay.
Photo © ktdiehard (Kay)
Comments
My Vet’s office had sent out their newsletter with the “September is Senior Healthy Pet Month” notice. Then they decided it was so important, they made it both September and October. I’m hoping they gave discounts for care to people with senior pets, like they do for dental care in February.
And I always love seeing the Empress’s photo!
Franny, wonderful article…and I couldn’t agree with you more. Senior pets rule!
We adopted a 9 year old shelter cat this year to go with our 7 and 12 year olds. We couldn’t be more pleased with her. Senior pets are wonderfully confident and friendly. They know what they want out of life and are always appreciative of humans who make it possible.
We adopted our former cat, Reynard, when he was 11 years of age from a breed rescue organization. He was a gorgeous ruddy Somali. He lived until he was 19 and gave us many years of pleasure. He was a wonderful outgoing, friendly cat who loved people in spite of having been confined to a laundry room for a number of years by his former owners. Reynard’s foster mom told us he had to live in a one-cat family. He didn’t work and play well with others. He was of the philosophy, “everything here is mine.” I would definitely recommend considering adopting a senior cat.
We recently added a senior cat to our household. Our client had passed away leaving behind her precious pets. All were quickly taken except for her 15 1/2 year old Ragdoll cat. We had lost our beloved older kitty a while back, so when her family contacted me I agreed to take the Ragdoll. He is a sweet, loving boy, and we are blessed to have him in our home.