Senior people adopting kitten

[Novus888]

I know the rescue I volunteered with, did not allow seniors to adopt kittens. If they insisted on adopting, then a younger family member, had to come forward, stating that they would take care of the kitten/young cat, if anything happened to the adopter. They stronger pushed for seniors to adopt an adult cat. ....

I just know in here, that seniors, especially those how have walkers, and motorized scooters are not safe with a kitten. I was surprised how many of them want kittens. Yes, they are cute, but just think of the calamities which can occur.

And let's face it. Cats do require care.. litter box cleaning, etc..

I am now in that 'Senior" category. I do not know if I could handle a kitten or even handle adopting again... wanting, but being practical..

When I adopted Lil Buddy, the SPCA told me that an 8-9 years old cat was "just like" the senior cat I had planned for. Rubbish! There are days when he is like a young cat...zoomies, demanding DaBird again and again until I have a cramp in my arm, jumping on me from the cat tree when I'm slow to wake up, yowling for brushing/massage, etc. This so-called senior is a handful, and I'm so glad I didn't settle for an even younger cat. Seniors should have a senior cat. Period. Not only for their sake but for the cats sake too.

 

[Novus888]

Friends of mine lost their 2 senior cats and are ready to adopt. They are seniors themselves and want a bonded kitten pair. They have been denied because of their ages. On rescue suggested they shouldn't have kittens underfoot and should adopt an older cat. This couple have done all kinds of rescues in their life so have adopted all ages in the past but have their hearts set on kittens.

They have a plan in place if they pass before their animals or need physical assistance with care in their own home at some point. They are both healthy and agile and expect to be for years to come.

I'm not sure what kind of advise I'm looking for to help them.

Tell them to think of the cat before themselves. A senior cat is unlikely to make it out of a shelter alive, while a kitten will have many adopters vying for it. They have zero chance to outlive a kitten, so they are basically getting it for someone else. The kittens life will be upended once when they bring it home, then again when they die, then again if whoever takes it decides to drop it off at a shelter, them maybe again if someone else ever adopts it. Who does that to a cat?

 

[FeebysOwner]

N Novus888 - Each case is going to be different, just as yours was. The same thing that applies to a kitten being upended can also happen to a senior being upended if anything goes wrong with the caretakers. And things can go wrong with younger caretakers as well. There are so many possible scenarios, that no one blanket, generic rule should ever be used as the determinant of who gets to adopt what cat/kitten.

As I said, and strongly believe, each situation should be assessed individually and not be based on some over-reaching rule that 'seniors should have senior cats' or that a person's age is the sole reason to preclude them from adopting whatever cat/kitten they want.

 

[Novus888]

N Novus888 - Each case is going to be different, just as yours was. The same thing that applies to a kitten being upended can also happen to a senior being upended if anything goes wrong with the caretakers. And things can go wrong with younger caretakers as well. There are so many possible scenarios, that no one blanket, generic rule should ever be used as the determinant of who gets to adopt what cat/kitten.

As I said, and strongly believe, each situation should be assessed individually and not be based on some over-reaching rule that 'seniors should have senior cats' or that a person's age is the sole reason to preclude them from adopting whatever cat/kitten they want.

In today's world, spin doctoring always seems to trump commonsense, no ones ever at fault (or needs accept any responsibility), and fee-fees are more important than...well, absolutely anything. Guess I'm of the old guard, which makes me a dissident of Clownworld.

Yes, a senior cat adopted by a senior guardian can be upended. That said, we both know a senior guardian has at least a 50-50 chance of outliving a senior cat, and very little to no chance of outliving a kitten, so this is a deadend debate. The odds speak for themselves, and unless one is pyschic, the odds and commonsense are all we have to work with. Speaking of odds, we both know a senior cat is way more likely to be killed in a shelter than a kitten, since few want a senior cat, but there is usually a waiting list of eager adopters for kittens. It therefore takes no great leap of faith to assume every time someone adopts a kitten, they at least increase the odds a senior cat will not make it out of that shelter alive.

If this couple are as experienced as is claimed, they should well know this. They should well know that while they have a good chance of giving a senior cat a 'forever home' (not to mention a stay of execution), they got next to no chance of giving a kitten a 'forever home', and next to zero chance of saving its life, since it will be in demand. While on the subject, I find it curious that 'forever home' is a concept tossed about and praised so often...until it becomes inconvenient. Let's be honest. This has very little to do with helping a cat, and everything to do with fulfilling a personal fantasy....a kitten to spice up old folks lives, and make them feel young again vicariously. I find this little more acceptable than someone getting a cat as a decoration for their apartment, or toy for their feral kiddies.

 

[Hellenww]

My fiends have adopted a beautiful pair of bonded brothers one of which has special needs. They are already very loved and with someone who has the knowledge and commitment to care for the special needs. I also have the commitment to care for them if their guardians pass.

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you for letting us know! They are lucky cats and the special needs one will receive great care from your friends. Your commitment to them and the cats is wonderful.

 

[maggie101]

Hellenww I would love to see pics as I'm sure everyone does! Congrats on your new kittens!

 

[FeebysOwner]

N Novus888 - Nothing of what you said justifies a one-size-fits-all approach. And, when an age limitation is the sole reason for denying adoption, that is purely, undeniably one-size-fits-all. You want to talk about odds? Odds are because of the endless production of kittens, they are adopted out without much regard to who is taking them, with the exception of this age limitation, which is being deemed as 'noble' on the shelters' part. But it is very telling about the intent with regard to senior human adoptees as noted in what just happened to these folks in this thread who wanted to adopt cats. It is very interesting that senior humans are deemed "OK" to take care of special needs cats. Guess that is because as has been mentioned before, senior cats - and apparently special needs cats too - just need more opportunities to get adopted than kittens, and how better to do that than by denying seniors from adopting kittens!

My friends have adopted a beautiful pair of bonded brothers one of which has special needs. They are already very loved and with someone who has the knowledge and commitment to care for the special needs. I also have the commitment to care for them if their guardians pass.

Good news! Congratulations to them, and to you!!

 

[Nebaug]

Tell them to think of the cat before themselves. A senior cat is unlikely to make it out of a shelter alive, while a kitten will have many adopters vying for it. They have zero chance to outlive a kitten, so they are basically getting it for someone else. The kittens life will be upended once when they bring it home, then again when they die, then again if whoever takes it decides to drop it off at a shelter, them maybe again if someone else ever adopts it. Who does that to a cat?

Friends of mine got two kittens. They were 78 and 80. Now,…… they are 94 and 96 and the cats are still with them. Every Sunday they drive 40 min (Yonkers to NYC) mostly city drive to attend Sunday mass, every Sunday. Those cats are their life and their engines . They don’t look like they will be dropping dead any time soon. Life is unpredictable and fragile for each one of us……
The way you are putting it (the way I see it ) as an older person you become less valuable and less desirable and not worthy of something you desire, no? Abundance of knowledge, patience, love and most of all time means nothing? Since when an older person is not capable of making their own decisions and shouldn’t they be allowed courtesy of drawing their own lines? Majority of them are more then capable of bowing gracefully out of the game when ready so, the question is… who does that to a person? Why?
An young active family with children it is as likely if not even more to return and or abandon (gasp) those same kittens. All the school activities , sports, travel, friends over , screaming, running …Simple busy and active household is better environment for a young kitty, hmmmm? Let’s talk about how many of those get returned because of various “shortcomings “ and how many more get ” let out” The lucky ones linger forgotten in the house eating dry food because it’s more convenient . (I’ve seen this more then once) Should we limit them to ? Between those two groups I would look more closely at the second but I’m pretty sure Im minority.
Now, quality over quantity . My local pet store that is also adapting out , has mom and 3 kittens (in the store in the cage) kittens are 4 months old and the mom gave birth to them in the store. ????? The other day I was in I asked why are they still there. This is what the “animal lover “ told me; well , the application were filled a week after the birth and are still being processed. Me ;Why so long? Her; well, we have no time to process it , to busy . Me; what would take it to be processed, her ; oh I would have to stay late. So, the beautiful babies are waisting away in a store cage while she plays on her phone between the costumes. Wouldn’t an older person be much better option? Even for a while … They will never be someones happy babies doing zummis through the house , sleeping on a sofa , breaking things, whatever . Just having quality of life being somebody’s beloved Even if it means being uprooted down the line because life happens. And life happens to all of us, we plan and prepare as best as we can but it still happens! What happened to crossing the bridge when we get to it ? Personally, I would rather have few good years lived well then lifetime of …… surviving.

 

[mani]

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Mod Note:
Some posts have been removed from this thread as the discussion was becoming very heated and not useful.
If you have a very negative reaction to any posts on TCS, please just walk away and only post only when you can do so in a polite way.
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[iPappy]

Kittens are returned by younger people also. We see comments like that on this site all the time. Again, cannot assign an arbitrary age requirement - it unto itself does not really mean much. Case-by-case - and no one can assume that a younger person is any more equipped to handle a kitten than an older person.

No offense to anyone that may be reading, but I've seen more instances of college aged kids adopting a cute kitten as a pet for their semester and then dumping the now half grown kitten on the side of the road when the semester is over than I have seen a senior citizen as "unfit" for adopting a kitten . I totally agree on case-by-case. (Another example: I've seen rescues with a high energy dog refuse to adopt to anyone that doesn't have a fenced in yard. Sounds great in theory, but the reality is that I've never seen any dog develop their own exercise routine when put in a back yard for a few hours. The lack of a fenced in yard can be a good thing with the right adopter, because that dog will get real exercise and exposure to the real world and will be much better off. The temptation to not do anything with the dog and just stick them in the backyard so they can dig and bark and annoy the neighbors is just too great.)

 

[mani]

Because there has been a good outcome for Hellenww and because this thread has created some heated debate, we will lock this one now. If you wish to continue the conversation (please play nicely) and you have the requisite membership, please go over to the In My Opinion thread I've started:

https://thecatsite.com/threads/seniors-adopting-kittens-disallowed-by-many-rescues.447721/