# Adopting a cat



## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)




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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

*YEAH!!! I second this!!* I love the old babies - they can be a challenge to win over, but when you do they totally BOND!! :smiles

*Seniors rule!!!*


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

I'm with ya too Marcia! Most of my kitties were just that, older cats. I love them! I can tell you when I get ready to rescue again, it WILL be an older kitty. My kitten days have been played out with these last two! lol Adorable, don't get me wrong, I love em to bits, but, whew!
And like you say, some can be a challenge to win over, but mostly that is NOT the case. They are as loving as can be! Their only draw back is they do NOT like screen licking squirrels. Outside of that tiny drawback, they are a dream


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## Kneazles (Nov 18, 2013)

My daughter picked out our second cat from the shelter and at the time I really thought she would pick a kitten but she was instantly drawn to this adult cat. We nicknamed him "Clearance Kitty" because he was only $5. Sadly, his time was up that week - he had been there for a half a year. Every employee came out and cheered when we adopted him!

I was so leery because he had been an owner surrender and I wondered why he had been passed up so many times. (He is black and an adult - double whammy.) I envisioned him tearing up the house, never using the litter box, etc. After all, there had to be _something _wrong with him, right? But my daughter instantly fell in love so we took him home.

Right from the start it was as if he had lived with us his whole life. He has never made a mess, never had an accident, never had a problem with our other cat. He is easy and mellow. Snuggly to the end and an absolute sweetheart. Sometimes I just want to say "neener neener" to the people who passed him up because they missed out on an awesome cat.


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## cat-guy (May 31, 2013)

I've adopted 1 kitten, 1 stray, and 1 shelter cat. The hardest cat for me was the kitten. The adult cats instantly trusted me - probably because they already trusted humans in general. The kitten took weeks.

So besides the supply and demand issue, adopting an adult is much easier.


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## Heather72754 (Nov 1, 2013)

I have only ever adopted adults. I have adopted six adult cats from shelters to date, and they have all been awesome cats in one way or another - sometimes all ways! Well, our newest one has only been with us less than a week so we can't be totally sure, but he sure seems like a mellow sweetie so far. 

When I was young we always had cats, and it seemed we always had female cats. That was quite a number of years ago and it was a time when people didn't seem to spay or neuter their cats like they do today. At any rate, my family didn't, and we had tons of kittens! We always seemed to find homes for them, but still it was irresponsible. I know how adorable kittens are, and also how high maintenance they are, and since I also know adult cats stand much less chance of being adopted I have always gone that route.


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## Nocturnal-Felines (Dec 13, 2013)

I just adopted Nixie at the beginning of December. She was 6 months, and been at the shelter since she was weaned. No one liked her because she was sooo shy. Me and my mom had already made the decision no more pets, but when I saw her all alone in one of the petsmart rescue cages... I knew I didn't want to spend her first Christmas homeless. She is very fearful, we work on trust everyday. Then at night (even though I can't touch her much yet) she will climb up in bed and snuggle with me under the covers  The sweet moments are always worth it.


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

Kneazles said:


> My daughter picked out our second cat from the shelter and at the time I really thought she would pick a kitten but she was instantly drawn to this adult cat. We nicknamed him "Clearance Kitty" because he was only $5. Sadly, his time was up that week - he had been there for a half a year. Every employee came out and cheered when we adopted him!
> 
> I was so leery because he had been an owner surrender and I wondered why he had been passed up so many times. (He is black and an adult - double whammy.) I envisioned him tearing up the house, never using the litter box, etc. After all, there had to be _something _wrong with him, right? But my daughter instantly fell in love so we took him home.
> 
> Right from the start it was as if he had lived with us his whole life. He has never made a mess, never had an accident, never had a problem with our other cat. He is easy and mellow. Snuggly to the end and an absolute sweetheart. Sometimes I just want to say "neener neener" to the people who passed him up because they missed out on an awesome cat.


we love the older kitties, too! we adopted Angel from the shelter and we didn't know until we were filling out the paperwork that she happened to be their longest time resident at the time at 2 1/2 years! i was flabbergasted because it was mutual love at first sight/love bite (ha ha!). so much so that when i went out to find someone to start the paperwork for us, i ordered my husband to stay in the room with angel so NO ONE else would see her and try to "steal" her out from under us. oh my goodness. i can't imagine her being passed over time and again for 2 1/2 years while all the kittens around her were going home with families!!! my sweet angel! she was 10 1/2 when we adopted her. 

our 2nd was 15 when we brought her home and our 3rd is 8 years old. he just happens to be so "young" because the place we adopted him from told us he was bonded to our 15 year old already so we couldn't leave him behind.

the 3 of them are a handful but we are so dedicated to our adults and seniors!


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

Simon was 4, Nala 5, and Penny 7 at their respective adoptions. I really follow my own advice of picking a cat who chooses me. Age, fur length, color, health conditions are all somewhat subsequent factors. Rightly or wrongly, I don't rescue unwanted cats as much as I find suitable companions. That said, my favorite cats at the shelter right now are two FIV boys, an FeLV girl, an all black cat with aggression issues, and a 14 yo diva.


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## artiesmom (Jul 4, 2012)

I went to the rescue group wanting an adult cat, about 5 yrs old, was even considering a black cat. The foster mom talked me into seeing Artie. He was supposed to be 7 yrs old. I hesitated, then I heard his background and my heart broke. When I saw him, (he is orange), it was as if I had a sign from above. He is orange. My last cat was orange!. When I signed the adoption papers, I discovered he was 8 yrs old~much older than what I wanted. 
I was hesitant to go ahead with the adoption, but something told me to sign.
I took him home at 3:00pm; showed him where his food, water and litter box was; let him roam around the apartment. I went out for supper at 4:00pm. Of course he was hiding and checking everything out.
By 8:00pm, when I was lying down on the coach, covered with a comforter, Artie came over jumped on top of me, started kneading, and to my complete surprise began purring! I was so happy, I almost started crying. 
All Artie wanted was someone to love..and it was me!
He is now almost 10 years old and he continues to be my constant companion! 
Artie is my cuddle bug! 
That was almost 2 years ago, and I absolutely love him! He has become so vocal, that we talk to each other!
Yes, we had a lot of issue the first year--medical, but he has settled in really well.
I agree---adult cats all the way!


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

All your stories bring tears to my eyes!


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

cat face said:


> I'm with ya too Marcia! Most of my kitties were just that, older cats. I love them! I can tell you when I get ready to rescue again, it WILL be an older kitty. My kitten days have been played out with these last two! lol Adorable, don't get me wrong, I love em to bits, but, whew!
> And like you say, some can be a challenge to win over, but mostly that is NOT the case. They are as loving as can be! Their only draw back is *they do NOT like screen licking squirrels.* Outside of that tiny drawback, they are a dream


 HA!! I think mine are just so overloaded with squirrels (I have no shortage of them here), they are just bored with them!!


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

When I first saw Missy on Petfinder.com the ad said she was 6 years old. Perfect. When I actually got to the person's house she said they'd HAD her for 6 years and the vet guessed she was 5 or 6 when they found her eating out of a dumpster. 12 YEARS OLD??!! I hesitated for about one nanosecond but I was hooked. I'd fallen hard in just a few minutes. Missy has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. She is my free cat that has cost us about $5K in eye surgeries but I would do it over and over again!


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## Heather72754 (Nov 1, 2013)

Missy is so gorgeous! Hate to think of her eating out of a dumpster. Why were the people giving her up after 6 yrs???? No matter the reason though, she landed in 'cat heaven' with you lol.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Heather72754 said:


> Missy is so gorgeous! Hate to think of her eating out of a dumpster. Why were the people giving her up after 6 yrs???? No matter the reason though, she landed in 'cat heaven' with you lol.


Cat "heaven" is an understatement. They had her for 6 years and they were "more dog people than cat people" (their words). They also had 2 very young kids that would not leave her alone. They kept her in a laundry room most of the time. To this day she runs and hides when she hears a baby crying on TV. :| Yes, she was meant to be ours!

Here's her adoption photo from the Petfinder website. See why I fell in love??!!

View attachment 39866


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## Bill the Cat Guy (Dec 25, 2013)

Our two cats were both kittens. If we get more cats they'll be adults because our cats are adults now. Inky was about 12 weeks when we got him. He was the friendliest cat we saw. The shelter guy put him down at one end of a long room. In 5 seconds he had jumped into my lap and he was purring. He was by far our first choice. 

Last summer we went to the shelter to look at a rag doll. There was a black cat there that jumped up on the desk and pressed his head into my stomach. I petted him and he purred. I picked him up and he liked being held. I wanted to adopt him but our condo community has a limit of two pets. He's since been adopted.


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## Heather72754 (Nov 1, 2013)

Marcia said:


> Here's her adoption photo from the Petfinder website. See why I fell in love??!!


Absolutely! :luv 

I really don't think most cats are cut out for toddlers - they are just too rough, too noisy, move too fast and are generally stressful to cats. I know there are exceptions but I'm thinking in general a child should be a bit older before the family gets a cat. I had my first cat when I was around 5 - she was a sweet thing who loved to sleep in my doll carriage and let me dress her in doll clothes lol. But my mother says I was always gentle with her and she always slept in my bed and on my lap.


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## DeafDogs&Cat (Mar 27, 2013)

The reason I got Munch was he was too rough with their 1 year old. He uses his claws too much when playing and the poor kid was afraid of him. But the dogs quickly taught him that claws are unacceptable lol. I was actually looking for an adult cat. Munch was younger than I wanted, at 8 months old, but how could I pass up a deaf cat? LOL. I prefer adult dogs too. .. they have brains in their heads! Hahahaha

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## katrina89 (Jul 30, 2013)

Heather I agree but in my case my cats will be seniors when I have kids so my cats will have to deal with babies.. that being said I will make sure my babies leave the cats alone

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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

What great stories.

I've had four cats. Two kittens and two cats, all rescued from the outdoors. 

The first kitten was very young, and found all alone by my father at his work place. A little black kitty that could fit in a tea cup. He was a sweetheart, loved licking hands and faces. Unfortunately his time with us was short at 3 years, and I don't remember him well as I was quite young.

My other kitten was a feral kitten that had been trapped by a woman doing TNR by some dumpsters, but she thought he could be rehomed. He was a fearful little guy for many months, living curled up on the couch and afraid of the hallway since it had strange noises out there (eventually the closet directly beside the door to the hall became his favorite place to sleep when he couldn't sleep on our laps). He was always terrified of plastic bags, garage trucks and strangers, but he was a great lapcat to those he trusted and such a talker. He loved to play hide and seek!

We started accidentally feeding a black cat (Blacky) our leftovers as my father used to place them outdoors for wildlife instead of throwing them away. We didn't realise a cat was eating them for a long time, but we started seeing her hang around the area more and more... and a year later she trusted me enough to pet her. From then on I kept working on taming and gaining her trust. She flipped out the first time I brought her inside... but slowly she adjusted with the help of a dog door letting her decided when to come inside. She has become a fantastic cat, my little girl as I call her. Very independent but she loves following us on walks and sleeping on my lap - only mine. She has warmed up to the family, but I'll always be her special person. She is 100% indifferent to strangers. Not afraid at all, just doesn't give them the time of day. Even some people she's known for years and years she does not care for or even acknowledge. We thought she was suuuuper old when we started feeding her outdoors, but it's been over 10 years now.

Jasper I tamed last winter when he accidentally was shut in the garage, we had to get him neutered and have his leg stitched up since it had bite punctures on it. I couldn't have done it without the help of oven mitts, and I still have scars when he bit right through them. I would have a lot more if he'd managed to actually bite me half the time; the oven mitts were oversized and usually he'd just bite the tip of them and my hands weren't even there. Today you wouldn't be able to guess he used to be wild. Separate vets have guessed his age at 6-7 and 9! He acts like a much younger cat, fetching, wrestling with the dog, zooming up and down the stairs, howling with his toys in his mouth or dropping them in little groups for me to find and laugh about ... he's such a character.

For the adults I'll always wonder about their history but never their future, that's with me. And it feels like I've always had them, I couldn't imagine the house without them. You'll love them as much, if not more, than if you adopt a kitten.

I may not always adopt adults, but I'll try to adopt those in need. It's worth it. You really bond so well with them that way.


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## Heather72754 (Nov 1, 2013)

Katrina 89, yes if the cats are there _before_ the kids of course everyone has to adjust lol. As long as you plan and keep the welfare of the cats in mind too, it can certainly work. I think the problem comes in when the parents think of the cat only as a 'toy' for the baby/toddler and don't properly supervise. Also, the cats have to have places they can go where they cannot be bothered.

It kills me when people come into my office and talk about the things their kids do, like pushing their cat into the tub, etc. and how hilarious everyone thinks it is. I would never allow a child to treat a cat that way, nor would I think it was funny. That being said, I can remember being quite young and my mother opened the bathroom door to check on me when I was in the tub, and one of our kittens ran right in and jumped into the tub! Obviously he didn't know there was water in there - what a scramble lol. I did get scratched in the whole scene but I still remember how funny the look of surprise on that cat's face was. But that was something he did himself, he wasn't pushed in.


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## katrina89 (Jul 30, 2013)

I completely agree... my animals are never my child's toy...lol they're my babies... and children need to be taught how to treat animals

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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

DeafDogs&Cat said:


> The reason I got Munch was he was too rough with their 1 year old. He uses his claws too much when playing and the poor kid was afraid of him. But the dogs quickly taught him that claws are unacceptable lol. I was actually looking for an adult cat. Munch was younger than I wanted, at 8 months old, but how could I pass up a deaf cat? LOL. I prefer adult dogs too. .. *they have brains in their heads*! Hahahaha
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


 Verses the other body parts. There was an adolescent dog across the lake from us that we nick named Humper. I'll let ya'll figure out why. NO ONE was immune from Humper.


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## DeafDogs&Cat (Mar 27, 2013)

Hahahaha Marcia! That's hilarious! Unfortunate, but hilarious, nonetheless lol

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## katrina89 (Jul 30, 2013)

Marcia I was so happy when our dog was neutered... he used to tackle me and hump me .. after he was snipped he stopped...thank god!

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