Adoption with pets - especially older ones

[OnOurWay]

Hi there :)

First post as we are in very early stages of looking into adoption (going to our firs information evening today!).

I know there have been posts about adopting with pets before, but I had a couple of new questions.

we have 3 dogs and a cat, all tiny and so I assume would be thought of as pretty safe for a child. Plus we live next to my parents so can schedule a slow intro plan for any children.

One thing I am not sure how it may be received is that one one of my dogs is already 10 years old. At the end of the process she could very well be 12 and obviously nobody lives forever :’(

Has anyone adopted while having older pets? I wonder if their age might be a concern for the SW as anything happening in the early days could be hard for a newly adopted child to deal with?

Thanks,

x

Hi, we have two dogs (medium and large breed) and two cats. We wrote a profile sheet for each of our dogs with photos to be included in our application. The older, larger dog isn't classed as old but is for her breed considering she's had medical problems since 2yrs old. It has crossed our minds many times 'what happens if she passes during the process?'. We've been approved and are waiting to be matched and we don't think she will last for another 2 years. It was never raised as an issue although I imagine it would be incredibly traumatic for children. I suppose the thing with pets is even the healthiest ones can get a sudden illness so you never know when they are going to go. I did see a post on here the other day from someone with an older Staffie that passed away after they were approved and before they matched. They never mentioned any problems.

My two elderly cats were nearly 18 at placement. Nobody raised it as an issue. Cats were included in our intros and books for the children as a part of our family. Luckily the cats held on for 18 months into placement.

We lost one of the cats in November last year, I was devastated. Children dealt with it quite well, we said she was tired and had left her old body to go to heaven, they knew that she was quite ill. We talk about her a lot, planted a tree for her and they still mention her when they list our family members (which they like to do).

Thank you both! Totally agree something can happen at any time even if they are healthy and young!

I definitely think it can be a good learning experience for children to develop healthy coping mechanisms but would be concerned early on!

We also have horses so quite a list of animals to be considered!

Thank you for your help x

"Has anyone adopted while having older pets? I wonder if their age might be a concern for the SW as anything happening in the early days could be hard for a newly adopted child to deal with?2

Our cat was run over less than a year after our son joined us. It wasn't really an issue for him. We did get another cat. I know dogs can live for years and so I wouldn't worry about the age of the older dog.

Good luck.

thank you @Italiangreyhound

Our dogs were 12 and 9 when we adopted our son (he was 6 months old).

One then passed away 5 months after he came home, and the other 6 months after that.
But nothing about their ages was ever mentioned.
Also, our son was too young to remember them so wasn't effected.

Our dog was 14 when we started. She died whilst we were waiting for a match. Her age was never brought up, but she was definitively a barrier for some SW.

@newyearsresolution2010 thank you!

@FairyBatman what do you mean was a barrier for some SW?

@OnOurWay on paper we are good candidates and should have got a match quickly. With Ddog we waited 18 months with very little interest.

After she passed we had lots of interest and match within 4 months.

@FairyBatman

That makes sense. We are lucky that we can move our dogs into my parents and introduce them slowly, so I hope that will put us in a favourable position for any children who may be afraid or not used to animals xx

@onourway I suggested that same thing to social work at our first meeting and they immediately thought there was something wrong with the dogs and i thought they might be an issue with children. To me it seemed sensible to have the dogs at my mum and dad's and do steady introductions but after that reaction I didn't mention it again.

@runner31

Really?! I told the social worker at our info evening and she thought it was a great idea! My parents are only next door though so maybe it makes a difference that they would still be with the children every day... Thank you! Will definitely be cautious in how we discuss with future SW x

I am new to considering adoption (i would like to but not sure if i would be accepted due to having epilepsy)

We have an old dog, he is currently 11 (staffie) and i would absolutely never consider rehoming him, he has already been through that heartbreak at least once!

Would it be reasonable to look into/begin the process while he is still with us, knowing that matching could take years anyway, or best to wait a few years and then begin knowing that matching could still take years anyway?

We are both 31, no biological children