Reasons To Adopt An Adult Cat

January 21, 2008April 12, 2011

Reasons To Adopt An Adult Cat

You know what your getting—hair length, personality, temperament, disabilities, if they like dogs, etc.

Adult cats tend to have excellent litter box manners where kittens may not be as good.

Adult cats are fastidious groomers—kittens, not so much.

A kitten’s health can be more fragile—immune systems may not be well developed and that means more trips to the veterinarian.

Kittens get into a lot of trouble and need lots of supervision—they will often eat anything, they knock things over, they fall, they find nooks and crannies to explore and get stuck in, etc.

Kittens bite and chew—they bite fingers, noses, earlobes, toes, arms, chins, electrical cords, blinds cords, shoelaces, plants, etc.

Kittens are needy—cats are social animals and kittens are used to being with their litter mates. It can be a frightening to be separated from their litter and then left alone all day long while you’re at work. An adult cat will still miss you, but won’t be as needy.

Do you already have an adult cat that needs a companion? Another adult cat is probably a less stressful addition than a frenetic, crazy kitten.

Adult cats are usually already spayed or neutered and have had all their vaccines.

Adult cats have stable digestive tracts—kittens are much more likely to get diarrhea.

Kittens are more easily hurt by small children—an adult cat should still be treated with care and children should be supervised with any animals, but an adult cat is better able to take care of itself.

Kittens are young for only a short time.

Adult cats are still very playful—kittens, on the other hand, have a ton of energy, need to play a lot and their timing may not be so convenient when you’re trying to sleep.

Adult cats are available for adoption year round—in areas where winters are cold and the days are short, kittens are born during “kitten season” and are mainly available from June through October.

Cats easily live into their late Teens now—an adult cat still has many years of happy life left. In fact, many “adult” cats at shelters are just last year’s kittens.

Adult cats are rarely at the shelter because there’s anything wrong with them—their human companion has died or moved to a nursing home, someone in the house developed an allergy, their owners got tired of them, they got lost and weren’t claimed.

Adult cats are much less likely to be adopted, while kittens are almost always quickly adopted.

In the past, we’ve always adopted kittens or young cats, but I really hope to be able to adopt an adult cat the next time we add to our family. Kittens are fun, but taking care of them well is a lot of work and every kitten we’ve adopted has had at least one health scare. I’d love to adopt a sturdy, adult cat with a known personality.

Please keep those sweet adult cats in mind next time you adopt!

December 5, 2007

Unacceptable—No Shelter For Pets Affected By Flooding

Man in paddle boat rescues dogs.

The Pacific Northwest has had some terrible flooding and wind storm damage in the last few days. (We’re grateful that we didn’t have any damage.) Many people’s homes are uninhabitable, requiring them to find shelter elsewhere. Unfortunately, not one of the Red Cross shelters is open to people with pets. According to the Red Cross site it’s due to medical reasons. And that’s a valid reason, but there should be at least one shelter for people with pets. I just don’t understand this after what Hurricane Katrina taught us. Many people will choose to stay with their pets over their own safety.

The area hit hardest by the flooding has a lot of farms and dairies, so a lot of the animals affected are livestock. However, the Lewis County Animal Shelter is full and is moving animals to Oregon. Fortunately, Pasado’s Safe Haven, a Western Washington animal welfare organization, is coming to help rescue and care fo livestock and companion animals. You can make a donation here.

You can see video of the flood’s affect on animals.

December 3, 2007June 5, 2013

Video On How To Brush Your Cat’s Teeth

Oral health is as important to cats as it is to humans and brushing your cat’s teeth is the safest & cheapest way to make sure their teeth are clean and their gums are healthy. Having your cat’s teeth cleaned by a veterinarian requires anesthetic and is much more expensive.

Even so, I don’t think most people brush their cat’s teeth. We certainly aren’t good about it with our cats. Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine has an excellent set of instructional videos that could change that. You can watch the complete video. Or watch Part One, Two, Three, and Four.

The videos instruct you on what to use–only use toothpaste especially made for cats, on how to brush, and on how to introduce brushing over four weeks by associating it with a high value reward like baby food, treats, etc.

November 22, 2007

We Like: Brains! Update

I wrote about Prairiebird’s wonderful brains cat toy a while back. Well, she’s now offering a set of Little Dead Things cat toys. I just love her macabre sense of humor.

As one of the humans in our house, I’d much rather find a pretend dead thing thoughtfully tucked in my shoe than a real dead thing. Our feline crew is hoping Santa brings them some wonderful Little Dead Things if they’re really good.

November 22, 2007November 22, 2007

We Like: Watercolors By Rachelle Smith

I found these wonderful prints on Etsy. Rachelle’s watercolor pet portraits aren’t like a lot of the portraits I’ve seen. For one, they’re not acrylics or oil, so she captures some different nuances than I’ve usually seen. Like those puddles of lips on the Pointer above.

She captures the softness of a Lab’s gaze, the focused stare of an orange tomcat—you just know there’s a bird he’s caught sight of, and that otherworldliness of Weimeraners.