Adopting a 9 year old

[grimupnorthLondon]

Hi everyone - I am a long time admirer and follower of the most excellent cats and would like to ask for their owners' advice. We have had a NotMyCat visiting us since lockdown - small square of houses whose gardens all back onto each other with no way out to the roads so she roams freely including through back doors. We all know each other so owners are fully aware of where she goes and we have fed her in our house a few times when they were on holiday. She is sweet (although huge and very judgmental!) and we love having her around. A couple of years ago owners got a dog and the cat started spending much more time with us, sleeping over and just going back home for meals - again everyone ok with the arrangement.

Owners are now moving abroad and worry that the cat (very independent) would not like it and asked if we would like to adopt her. We are happy to do so and think it would be better for her to stay in a familiar setting. We are going to re-register with her vet and move her chipped cat flap into our back door.

However, my main question is about insurance - her current owners have never had it but now that she is getting older I want to make sure she will be covered. Also she has had fleas a couple of times and I would like to set her up properly with whatever she needs to avoid that in future. Does anyone have advice on the best providers for a middle-aged cat? I have never owned a cat before and want to be responsible!

Thank you in advance

That's lovely of you to consider adopting her :) I've opted out of insurance for my older cats now, instead I put some money away every month into a vet fund for emergencies. I realised that a lot of the age related illness weren't covered by our insurance so I would look into what they do cover precisely if you plan to take some out. Also look at the excess just as you would car insurance. For flea and worming I pay £15 per cat for their year check ups, vaccine boosters and monthly flea and worming with Pets at Home vets. It'll be worth taking a look at any deals your local vets do.

Thank you. Sounds like talking to her vet might be the best place to start. Also I forgot to pay the cat tax but here she is

She's a beaut! She looks right at home :)

She is. She walked in on the first day of home-working during lockdown like she owned the place and has never looked back. She has just been shouting for me to put "her programme" (birds for cats) on the TV.

We had to have our lovely ten year old girl PTS earlier this year and I am SO glad we had insurance. The cost of reaching a diagnosis for her was so expensive, and we didn’t even claim for the visits leading up to pushing for that. (we’d had her in for puking a few times but the vets were never concerned as she was otherwise absolutely fine. Further investigations costing thousands revealed cancer in her stomach.)

We were with John Lewis (but had been since she was wee if that makes a difference) and they were very good. If we hadn’t been insured we might just have plodded on with being told it was hairballs, eating too fast etc. We now have a wee boy who will be two in January and had him insured before he even moved in - he’s with Admiral. Both JL and Admiral have a 24/7 phone line where you can talk to a vet nurse for advice. I used it a couple of times with our girl (unrelated to her final diagnosis) over the years and found it very very useful as a “sense check”. When we were looking for a new policy that was a non negotiable for me.

Nothing helpful to add but she’s a lovely girl.

Thanks Judy- that's really helpful. I'm a bit of a worrier and like the idea of a helpline to check in

Mine was 10/11 at adoption and I didn’t bother with insurance. She is a lovely looking girl.

Thanks Formerly. Looking at the premiums and co-pay for a cat her age I can see it might be worth taking a chance on just saving a bit per month. Decisions decisions. Meanwhile she is bothering DH for the comfy end of the sofa

She's a very lucky puss. I'd also be putting away a bit each month for her at this age.

If it's not too stressful for her perhaps the original owner would make a vet appointment for her to just get a check up so you know about any potential issues?

She's adopted you really :)

Haha Ellmau she really has. I always thought I was a dog person and have never been interested in cats before (realise this may not be the best place to confess that!) but she has completely won me over with her funny bossy ways.

And yes, am thinking of taking her for a vet checkup. Thanks again everyone

You just hadn’t met the right cat. Mines such a little diva.

She's adorable!

She is lovely! I don't think 9 is too old for a cat these days. My friend's actually adopted a 9 year old a few years ago and managed to get insurance with Pet Plan. She's still going strong!

Thank you guys. We bought her a catnip banana as a moving in present and she has spent two days happily trying to disembowel it. I’m taking that as a sign she feels settled

Sweet!