5 Benefits of Adopting an Older Cat

Meows from Mudpie!

Are you looking to adopt a new cat? As tempting as adorable little kittens are, Mommy and I are huge advocates of bringing home adult kitties. Truffles and I were young adults of 2 when we were adopted, but before us, Sashi was 9, Tara was 7, and Sebastian was 12! They were all amazing pets that Mommy was blessed to have many years of happiness with.

Today we're happy to share a guest post featuring five benefits of adopting a senior cat over a kitten.

Guest post by Adam Snape on behalf of animalfriends.co.uk

As much as you may love the excitement of a kitten, you may not have realized the advantages that adopting an older cat can bring to your home.

Pet owners can experience a variety of benefits when adopting an older cat. Often, they’re more well-suited to senior owners or relaxed, family homes who have less time to wait hand and foot on a kitten. In this guide, we’ve shared five benefits of adopting a senior pet, along with how you can help them settle into your home:

1. They require less training.

The most obvious benefit of adopting an older cat is that they require less training than they would at a younger age. Chances are, they’re already house-trained and know how to do basic things such as use a litter tray.

Because they don’t need as much training, your senior cat will be much easier to handle than a younger one.

2. Their exercise requirements aren’t as demanding.

If you’ve got a kitten, you’re probably smitten with your little bundle of joy. But while they are cute balls of energy, bear in mind that you might have to spend a lot of time tending to their heightened activity levels.

Senior cats have a great attention span, so there’s no need to panic about teaching an old cat new tricks. It’s still possible to house-train a senior cat if they haven’t had any form of training before.

3. They’re great companions.

Another benefit of adopting an older cat is that they make perfect companions. Compared to their kitten stages, senior cats are less energetic and require less attention. They also tend to have a calmer temperament.

Because they don’t have a demanding exercise regime and would love to curl up on your lap, they’re true feline friends – particularly for elderly people.

4. Older cats are less destructive.

Unlike kittens, older cats don’t require as much attention and are usually content with lounging around the home. This means that they’re much less likely to cause damage to your home!

However, if you spot that your senior cat is causing problems and destroying your home, it might be a life-long behavior issue. In this event, extra time and patience will be required to train them to be less destructive.

5. You know what you’re getting!

Every home has specific requirements for a new pet, especially when it comes to the amount of space that they have. For this reason, adopting a senior cat may be more beneficial as you know what you’re getting – especially with regards to their final size!

By adopting a kitten, you can’t really predict how big the cat will grow, the temperament that they’ll have or how they will react to other day-to-day routines.

Adopting an older cat will combat these issues, especially if you visit the cat in their previous habitat before making the decision to bring them home.

As you can see, adopting a senior cat offers incredible benefits but of course there’s the obvious disadvantage of older pets being more prone to serious illness. For that reason, you should always have the best pet insurance policy for your older cat to ensure that they’re happy, healthy and content.

Have you ever adopted a senior kitty? 

Why did you choose them over a kitten?

FTC Disclosure: We are being compensated to feature this content, but regardless of payment received you will only see topics on this blog that we believe are of interest to our readers.

Photos:
flickr creative commons/Nate Steiner
flickr creative commons/Stephen Rahn
flickr creative commons/Kim Siever