However, with so many cats needing new homes, many new owners tend to focus on our younger cats and kittens, and sometimes our lovely senior residents can be overlooked. While this is understandable, we have lots of older cats staying with us who would make fantastic companions — and they might in fact be more suitable for you than a kitten! Here’s why:
While kittens are cute, they need a lot of time and attention. In fact, cat experts recommend that kittens receive at least two hours a day of human attention to ensure they’re properly socialised. Younger cats are also naturally more curious and can get into all sorts of trouble!
Older cats tend to be lower maintenance, and have lower energy levels, meaning that they’re often perfectly happy chilling out while you go about your day. Another bonus is that older cats may already be house-trained, meaning that you get to skip that stage entirely!
Kittens learn by engaging with their environment, and can cause some serious mess if not supervised — as many cat owners have learned the hard way! Although adult cats still need exercise and playtime, they should already have some established boundaries and so tend to do so in a much calmer way — meaning they’re less likely to leave a trail of destruction in their wake.
Senior cats also tend to be less accident-prone, as they’ve left their curtain-climbing days behind them. You should still expect the odd accident, but your older cat is more inclined to bask in the sunshine than spend their time creating chaos.
Just like humans, a cat’s personality forms as they grow — so when you adopt a kitten, you never quite know what kind of adult cat they’ll be. You can skip this uncertainty by choosing an older cat whose personality is already fully formed.
Our team will be able to tell you all about the personality of our senior residents, and you can select a cat whose adorable character quirks and behaviours suit you.
Animal shelters have limited resources, so by adopting an older cat you’ll free up space for us to help another deserving animal. As you can see, older cats can be the right choice for a lot of different types of family — so when looking for your next pet, make sure you’re not unfairly discounting a senior cat because of their age.
And it’s also not just older cats who can struggle to find their forever home. Naturally shy cats are often overlooked yet may better suit a quieter home, and research has found that black cats take around 13% longer to be adopted than other cats, despite being just as loveable as any other kitties. So when you’re looking for your next feline friend, why not consider one of these?
Always supervise children with pets.
Discourage them from any behaviour which might irritate your cat.
To report cruelty or an animal in distress call 0300 1234 999
RSPCA Cotswolds, Gloucester & District Branch
