The Litter Box Ep. 3 - Seniors

"Time spent with a cat is never wasted."

- Colette

Adopt a Senior Pet month is past us (that’s November, by the way,) but that doesn’t mean that senior cats go away once the month is over. I guess that people want to have as long as possible with a pet they adopt. Unfortunately, this means that senior cats are adopted far less than younger cats. This is sad – old kitties need love too, and there’s a lot of advantages to adopting a senior pet compared to getting a kitten or even a younger cat.

 The biggest one in my opinion is that, as a rule, you know what sort of personality type you’re getting when you adopt a senior. There’s always a little bit of variance, since when you meet a cat in a shelter they’re going to be a bit more stressed than usual, but they’ve also had more time for their personality to solidify. That little bundle of soft and purr sitting in the cage that takes to you immediately is going to keep being a bundle of soft and purr when you get her home, and isn’t going to “grow out of it” like a younger cat might.

 Older cats tend to have lower energy levels. This doesn’t mean they won’t play, or suddenly start tearing around the house and trying to climb up the walls – because this totally happens – but they’re usually going to be more calm overall. With the plague happening and a lot of people working from home, this can be a really good thing – the last thing you need is to be on a conference call and reflexively start yelling profanities at the little gremlin because she’s trying to eat the power cord to your laptop. AGAIN. This is part of why I chose to adopt a senior cat myself – I just don’t have the time (or energy) to keep up with the attention and stimulation needs of a kitten.

 This carries over to general maintenance of senior cats, too. Older cats have figured out how life with humans works. They know what the litter box is, they (mostly) understand that humans need their sleep at night, and the various shock noodles and fresh salads (that’s power cords and houseplants, respectively) hold a lot less interest to them than they did when they were younger. They’re usually capable of entertaining themselves in non-destructive ways, which is a good thing when you just don’t have the time to entirely cat-proof your home.

 Senior cats are usually going to be lap cats, too. The lower energy levels mean that they’ll spend more time resting, and they’ll often pick their human to rest on. Lap cats are good for humans, too – purrs are therapeutic, and a soft kitty can be a great stress reliever during a rough work day.

 Finally, that age and experience means that they’re just going to settle in faster. Your mileage may vary, but typical guidelines say that you should give a new cat about two weeks to settle into a new home. For my senior cat, it took about two hours. She walked in, explored all the corners of the apartment, figured out where her food, water, and litter box was, and promptly decided she owned the place and settled in for the long run.

 When you’re in the shelter looking at cats, don’t pass one up just because of their age. They’re deserving of our love too, just as much as the younger cats. Perhaps more so, since a senior cat in a shelter is usually there either because their human had to give them up, or their human passed on – they’ve had a rough time at it, and would welcome a second chance.

What are some other advantages of senior cats that I’ve missed? Tell me at thelitterbox@chicagolandanimalrescue.org!