We have been to cat rescue place this mornning and we have seen a gorgeous, enormous tom cat. He seems gentle and placid. However he is 9 or 10 years old and used to live with an elederly man who has since died.
The rescue place seemed happy that he would get on with my young family. We have him on reserve whilst we think about it. DH is worried about vet bills, as he is an older cat. My view is that you get those whatever the age of the cat, but I can see his point.
Anyone adopted an older cat and lived to regret it?
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Would I be foolish to adopt a 10 year old cat?
40 replies
cece · 01/09/2012 13:54
OP posts:
cozietoesie ·
01/09/2012 15:53
Slightly skewed perspective here cece because I got my lovely current boy when he was 13. (He's now nearly 18.) He's had a whale of a last 5 years - as have I - and he really hasn't cost me anything more in vets bills than a younger cat would have. Had to have some dental work done (but so did a young cat who was with me at the time) and in the last few months has developed a bit of arthritis which needs some meds - but nothing more; apart from normal check ups, flea and worm treatments etc which a cat would need at any age.
It's really luck of the draw. If you see the various threads on this page, you'll see that plenty of people have younger cats who need the vet just as much if not more than older ones.
I'd go for it. You'll make an elderly chap very happy because many people won't take on older cats. He'll likely be a bit more inclined to doze in the sun than a very young cat but that's no bad thing in my book, especially when you have a young family underfoot.
), smoke or eat chocolate, ice-cream or fries. Cat year for human year, they're often in better shape than their owners!
TirednessKills ·
02/09/2012 13:50
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
cozietoesie ·
03/09/2012 08:05
Sorry you had to use your disposable income 
- but I think what I was talking about earlier was luck of the draw.
I had a boy years ago who developed kidney disease at 12 and died at 13 - but I happen to know that his grandfather died at 3.
A more recent boy keeled over dead one morning at 8.
My current senior boy - who we all thought was a right namby pamby when he lived with my Mum - is still going strong at close on 18 which is good going in anyone's book.
Sure there are some things which are more age related - arthritis (which my current boy has but isn't expensive to control) and tooth trouble (which my vet says is the fastest growing cause of difficulties she sees at her surgery, particularly among younger cats.) Even there, though, I had a young lodger with me last year (2 years old) who required a dental procedure, at broadly the same time as my old boy, to correct tooth malformation which would eventually have led to serious problems.
If you read the threads on these pages, you'll see plenty of people who have young cats which have required expensive procedures and meds, plenty of people with elderly cats who are robust and healthy and everything in between.
My instinct tells me that if a cat has made it to, say, 9 or 10 in good health they've likely got a robust constitution and a bit of nouse and are good for a decent bit longer. Maybe that's wishful thinking, I don't know. I certainly like the attitude and panache of older cats and would never block out a cat on age related grounds alone.
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