{"id":18284,"date":"2021-02-06T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/?p=18284"},"modified":"2026-03-25T20:48:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T03:48:04","slug":"why-senior-cats-make-amazing-pets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/why-senior-cats-make-amazing-pets\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Senior Cats Make Amazing Pets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Senior Cats Make Amazing Pets<\/b><\/h1>\n

Written by Reanne Rodrigues<\/span><\/h3>\n

Looking for a lazy nap companion? A playful, toy-loving hunter? Or a pet that loves children and<\/span> other animals? An adult cat can be all this and more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"I met a lovely seven-pound, a ten-year-old senior cat named Toots last week. Toots was adopted<\/span> by my friend Jane <\/span>after many months of being overlooked by other adopters due to her<\/span> age. Jane, however, just couldn\u2019t resist Toots\u2019 delightful purring and endearing sneer (due to an<\/span> extracted tooth). It was the best decision Jane ever made. Toots is super friendly, very easy to<\/span> care for, and even endures the dog\u2019s kisses. But most of all, she makes Jane incredibly happy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Toots\u2019 adoption story isn\u2019t uncommon. Many people who visit shelters usually gravitate towards<\/span> playful kittens due to common misconceptions that senior cats are less healthy, less friendly, or<\/span> harder to train. <\/span>But <\/span>a<\/span>ge is not a determining factor in a cat\u2019s affection or ability to develop new relationships. Because adopting older cats is so crucial to saving their lives, here are four benefits you need to know and share:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Predictable personalities: Adult cat personalities are more established than kittens. This makes them more predictable and easily adaptive, which means they may settle more quickly into your home. The staff at the shelter will also be able to determine how well the cat will fit into your family and routine.<\/span> Typically, you can expect to find an older cat that\u2019ll<\/span> understand people and environments better, is more tolerant of young children and<\/span> other animals, and is often independent enough not to need constant interaction or<\/span> entertainment.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Low-maintenance: Mature felines might be as low-maintenance as your house plant.<\/span> Okay, that may be a stretch. But compared to the adorable little disasters that have yet<\/span> to learn basic household etiquette, senior cats are a lot quieter, have made their truce<\/span> with toes and fingers, and are more interested in cuddling or basking in the sunshine<\/span> than clambering in the curtain rail. Bonus: They also make great nap buddies!<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Litter and scratch post trained: Older cats are already litter trained so you won\u2019t have to<\/span> scoop up unpleasant surprises around the house. They also groom themselves better<\/span> than kittens and are more accustomed to using a scratching post vs your couch or worse, your<\/span> hands.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. You\u2019re not just rescuing a cat. You\u2019re restarting a life: Adopting an older cat who may not<\/span> get another chance at finding a home is a truly rewarding experience. They still have<\/span> years of love to give, and you\u2019ll find that they\u2019re just as loving, loyal, and charming as<\/span> kittens.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"So the next time you\u2019re at a cat shelter, ask yourself if your needs could be best met by an older<\/span> cat. And if so, how<\/span> wonderful it is that you were both in the same shelter at the same time, just<\/span> waiting to become friends forever.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Reanne Rodrigues is owned by her cat, loved by all dogs, writes about both, and still longs for a<\/span><\/i> p<\/span><\/i>arrot.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Edited by Alexis Meehan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Why Senior Cats Make Amazing Pets Written by Reanne Rodrigues Looking for a lazy nap companion? A playful, toy-loving hunter? Or a pet that loves children and other animals? An adult cat can be all this and more.\u00a0 I met a lovely seven-pound, a ten-year-old senior cat named Toots last week. Toots was adopted by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":18169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[214,215,258,263,251,237,58,25,211,52,284,216,280,302,46,218,253,254,266],"class_list":["post-18284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-blog-articles","tag-adopt","tag-adoption","tag-adoption-stories","tag-car-travel-with-cats","tag-cat-care","tag-cat-health","tag-cat-news","tag-cat-rescue","tag-kittens","tag-non-profit-organizations","tag-pet-sitting","tag-shelter","tag-success","tag-summer","tag-town-cats-events","tag-town-cats-of-morgan-hill","tag-vet-care","tag-vet-tips","tag-volunteer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18284"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18284"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18288,"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18284\/revisions\/18288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/towncats.org\/sandbox202604\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}