I adopted a senior cat

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I don’t live in a 100% perfect environment for a cat. I already have two, one stand-offish female who I love to bits and pieces and no other cat can be as perfect as her, and a rambuncious kitten who won’t leave my perfect cat alone because all he wants to do is play all day.

Yesterday, I stopped by the animal shelter with some food, towels and toys for the animals, because apparently the shelter gets very few donations after Christmas. Some days, visiting the shelter isn’t as painful as other days. Sometimes, I’ll get there during naptime and all the cats are hiding in their little box, napping away. Other days, I get there when all the cats want to come out and play and it’s hard to give them all attention when I don’t have too much time to linger around.

Yesterday, I visited with the intention of dropping off the donations, saying hello to the kitties and doggies, and then taking off to have a small party with some friends.

After I dropped off the donations at the front counter, I went into the cat room and saw the biggest, cutest, fattest, cuddly cat ever. He was in a small cage with another fat cat, a female I called his sister because they were around the same age, and they were in the same cage together. It seemed like they came in together. I watched his sister swat him a couple of times for getting in her face (it was hard not to, the cage was so small!) and then I let him out to get a little breather and played with him a little bit. He turned instantly into a purring machine and rubbed himself all over me, begging me to pet him and play with him.

In the midst of playing with him, a shelter volunteer came in and told me a bit about him. He was twelve years old, came in with another cat (the sister in the same cage) and had been there for about a week. His family was expecting a new baby, and instead of waiting until the baby arrived and see how the cats and the newborn got a long, they decided to give these two senior cats up three days before Christmas.

This was NOT a no kill shelter, and although they keep insisting they don’t put any cats down unless they are really sick and show no signs of improvement, I know otherwise. I had recently seen a senior cat I had taken a liking to a couple of months before, and when I convinced a friend to look into adopting him, went to the shelter so she can take a look at him, we found out they had already put him down.

I didn’t want the same to happen with this cat, so I called my friend to ask if she’s still interested in adopting an older cat. It turns out she had already picked up a cat from a different shelter across town just before Christmas and she couldn’t deal with another cat at the moment.

So, I sat there contemplating the fate of the big guy. I knew I had two other cats at home who won’t be too thrilled at a new guy horning in on their already limited territory, but at the same time, the kitten could use a friendlier cat to play with instead of my grumpy female. The grumpy female could be happy if a bit of the kitten’s attention towards her is deflected towards a new playmate. So, a quick call to my landlord and permission from her decided that I was going to take this lucky guy home.

I felt bad about separating him from his sister, but she was a grumpy little one, and four cats in an apartment is too many. Even if it wasn’t too many, my female at home is already borderline grumpy and another grumpy female could push her over the edge. So, I had to settle with just rescuing one senior. What was the most surprising in the process of getting him was the fact that he was “half price” because he’s a senior. The adoption fee is normally $100, but because he’s a senior and they were very happy to see him go to a good home, they gave him to me for $50.

He’s settled in now, and is very content. The other cats are a little cautious and he and the kitten got into a bit of a hissing match, and he walked a little too close to the female while she was cleaning herself, so there was a little display of swiping, but no actual contact. All in all, I predict they’ll get along fine in a couple of weeks.

Getting him yesterday also meant staying at home and drinking wine with my cats. Talk about being a crazy cat lady!

Anyway, the name I’ve given him now is Logan . He previous name was “Max” but I don’t really like that name. It doesn’t seem like he responds to “Max” either, so I think it doesn’t matter what name I give him. I was about to be cruel and call him “Maxi Pad” because of the white stripey part down his belly, but settled for “Logan” for now. I’m not sure if that should be his permanant name or not, so if anyone has any suggestions, I’d be glad to consider it!

2

Aw, good on you! Logan/Max is a great looking cat. How people can get rid of cats they have had for years on the flimsiest of excuses is beyond me. I hope all 3 settle in well. You may be right about a playmate for your kitten. We had a kitten who wanted to play and was bugging our older cat. We then rescued a kitten and now things are actually calmer with 4 cats than 3 since the two who want to play, play and the two who want to sleep, sleep.

3

I’ve become a cat person in my old age. I love what you did, and your new friend looks lovely and healthy.

We had three, but it’s a fairly big house. Jane (a male, long story…) died recently of old age (14 or 15), and we still have Great Whore Jezebel (Jezzie). She’s a fairly young (3-4 years old) loner, staying mainly on the third floor in the two bedrooms and bath there. She shows up once in a while to eat and shit, but hides completely when company comes. And then there’s Pretty Black Girl. She came with the house when we bought it. Our neighbor, who owned her mother, tells us she’s 14. She does seem a bit arthritic, and although she’s an outside cat (with all claws), we let her stay inside during bad weather. (She doesn’t like rain, wind, hot, or cold.) So she inhabits the basement floor, where there’s a sewing room, a library, and a heated/cooled garage. She comes and goes as she pleases.

I say all that to give you some perspective. I really do love cats. But…

My daughter recently had a baby. My first non-step grandchild. She did not hesitate to rid herself of her cat, and I support her decision a hundred percent. The infant child is way at the top of the pyramid, and everything else — everything — including the mother herself is somewhere below. Any risk, even a miniscule risk, of anything going wrong, and harm coming to the child is simply completely unacceptable. She did other things, too, to prepare her home. Neither she nor her husband smoke inside anymore.

She loved her cat, and she did solicit all her friends and family, and even advertised on the Net to get the creature a home. But nothing panned out, and she had no choice but to take the cat to a shelter. I just hope you won’t be too hard on the family that didn’t wait to see whether the cat and their baby got along. The infant child is so utterly helpless, you just wouldn’t believe. And we already lost one grandchild (my wife’s) to brain cancer. I’m glad my daughter made the decision she made.

4

I think your Logan is the reincarnation of our dear departed Rocky, who was The Best Cat in the World, ever. The timing is right, the look is exactly right, the personality is right. I bet he has sleek, silky fur. Good for you. Next time you pet him, tell him we miss him and still love him.

5

They won’t quit smoking for the new baby but they give a cat to a shelter without even giving it a chance? My parents had a cat when I was a baby, I love them deeply to this day. Giving away a pet on the faraway, tiny chance the cat would hurt the baby is silly. I hope she never takes a chance and take the baby for a car ride - many more babies are killed in car crashes than are killed by the family cat…but any chance the baby might be hurt must not be taken.

There are ways to keep cats & babies separate, if one so chooses.

Congrats to you S&D for giving him a good home.

6

Logan is just gorgeous! Good for you, Sad (you sound neither Deranged nor Sad here). I’m probably lucky my husband is allergic to cats, because that limits us to two. If we could have more, I don’t know how many foundlings I’d have in the house.

At the risk of junior-modding, maybe we should take the discussion of people who dump their pets when they have kids to a different thread. I have a few things I’d like to say about that, too.

7

Congrats on the new cat, and thanks for adopting a senior! He’s a beauty.

When someone has a second child, do they give away the first one? After all, the older one might hurt the baby!

8

I do hope this doesn’t turn ugly in regards to giving up cats for the sake of a newborn. I personally don’t intend on having children, so the fuzzies are the closest I will get in terms of doting and mothering. I’m not very motherly as it is, so it is hard to imagine placing a child before my pets. I completely understand a mother’s instinct to protect her child first, before anything. However, I also believe that as soon as you find out you’re pregnant and then trying to dump a cat onto someone else is very irresponsible.

I know how it feels to be judged by people to give up a cat. A while ago, I had adopted another older cat (not quite a senior yet, but getting there) and he just did not get along with my perfect little female. She wanted nothing to do with him, and the vets and a lot of cat experts were semi-baffled. They got into really nasty rumbles, and by the end of it, I had exhausted all my options on trying to get them to at least tolerate each other. I had to let the other one go back to the shelter because it just wasn’t safe for my little female anymore. The people at the shelter wasn’t happy with the situation, and neither was I, but I had tried everything and that was it. That cat, luckily, had a happy ending. A friend of a friend heard about him, decided that even though this cat needed A LOT of attention and would do best in a one cat home, adopted him and last I heard, was living happily, center of attention of all the family members. He wasn’t the right cat for me, and I certainly didn’t enjoy the scathing remarks people made about not giving the cat a chance. I knew I tried every method I could for them to get along, and they just wouldn’t. I only gave him up as a last resort.

I guess my experience just makes me upset that although I tried everything I could think of, I was still lumped as an “irresponsible pet owner” by some people simply because I had to surrender a cat. Some people, no matter what reason you give them, just won’t accept that a cat is not a good fit in all homes.

9

As a member of the mod staff, I agree that you need to start a separate thread in the Pit about people who dump pets, if people want to discuss that issue…

As a cat lover, I’m delighted that Sad and Deranged has found a good fit for her family. It sounds like everyone will be happy, once Logan has truly settled in. Sometimes, cats just decide to adopt people, and there’s not much that people can do about it.

10

Many many years ago, when I was born, my parents had a Siamese. That kitty was anything but aggressive, in fact, she felt very despondent at the arrival of the fat pink humankitten that took all mama and daddy’s attention. She began hiding under hot radiators and refusing to eat. A few months of that and kitty was in such a state she had to be put to sleep. :frowning:

11

I adopted the older cat(10 to 11 years) of a friend. My friend gave it up out of concern for it’s welfare, because there was a possibility they might shortly be imprisoned. (Long story) I told the friend that if I adopted the cat, but it turned out they didn’t have to “go away” I would still keep the cat. It was an open adoption though, and my friend, their spouse, and kids are still welcome to visit.

New cat got on well with Old cat, who is just a little younger. It can be rewarding to adopt a senior. They are generally more sedate in temperament. My only regret is that I love ** New cat** as much as I do Old cat, and I just won’t have him as long.

I once saw two cats, litter sisters, up for adoption at a PetsMart, which gives space for shelter animals. They were ten years old, and lovely. I wish I could have taken them in too.

12

I wish I could take in all the senior cats I see in the pet stores. That’s no life for an elder kitty who probably hasn’t done anything to deserve their incarceration. They always look so sad and patient.

13

Be sure to get the geriatric cats a comprehensive examination, including a diabetes mellitus test, and things like renal function tests. Also consider pet health plans.

14

Wrong on both counts.

15

Damn. I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that. Nearly everyone goes for the cutesy little kittens and passes over the older, “problem” cats. Good on you for taking one of the older guys. You’ve made my day. Hell, you’ve made my year, and it’s barely started. Given my recent loss of an older cat, I get all misty at any happy kitty story, let alone one like this. I guarantee that Bob is smiling down from kitty heaven. I know my I’m grinning from ear to ear.

16

This is so true! That’s how all my cats throughout the years have come to us.

When Hallgirl moved out on her own, she found it very lonely (having come from a household full of pets–cats, rabbits, etc.) and decided to get a cat, so we trudged down to our local Humane Society shelter. She was in the “getting aquainted room” with a cat she’d found (it was a timid, little thing that just wasn’t for her), and I was cruising the other rooms, when all of the sudden, a beautiful orange paw reached from a cage and waved at me. I stood there for a minute or two and Toby (the owner of the orange paw) grinned and blinked and waved at me. I went back to Hallgirl. “Come here,” I told her, “There’s someone I want you to meet.” We took Toby home that day, and a couple of years later he’s still just as happy to see me when I visit as he was the day in the shelter when he first waved to me and grinned inside his cage. (And, just for the record, if Hallgirl hadn’t fell in love with him as a fast as I had, he would have gone home with me.)

Congrats, San and Deranged, on your adoption!

17

Um, that’s what your post said. They gave up the cat for no reason (on a chance the baby MIGHT be hurt by the cat) and they smoke outside now. - that’s not quitting Sorry if I’m wrong, just going by what you said.

Please explain how I was wrong.

18

Good job, S&D! I don’t think that first picture of Logan is really an action shot, but it’s fun to look at it that way anyway.

Kittens are wonderful, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the grown kitties, especially when you think how much more they need you than the itty bitties. One of the best cats we ever had was a shelter cat which my Mom chose because he was old and had an ugly skin condition. (It cleared up.)

19

Eleven years ago now, we went to a Humane Society pet adoption day to look for a grownup dog (no puppy adoptions for us), and while everyone else was looking at the cute puppies and kittens, someone handed me a grownup cat. Who promptly informed me that she was going to be my cat. She was only about a year old, but she was the only adult cat there that day and nobody else was even looking at her. She has had a very happy life with us. I would have taken her home that day no matter how old she was, too – when it’s right, it’s right. And when the cat chooses you as Lynn said, it’s not like you have any choice!

Logan looks like a great guy, and I do believe that for him that “action” shot is his preferred action! :smiley:

20

Oh, I forgot the obligatory photo of Emily.