Thinking about Adopting a Kitten? Think Twice!

Kittens are absolutely wonderful, chaotic creatures. They are also intense, expensive, destructive, and will bring excitmentto your home all hours of the day or night. Adopting kittens is something you should never do on impulse, but only after careful consideration. They also don’t stay cute and small for very long–within a few months of adoption, they will look more like an adult cat. They will bond with you, and love you–for 20+ years, so if you can’t commit to the same in return, a kitten is not for you.

Shelters are always over run with animals, and often they are looking for people willing to help foster cats and kittens until they can be placed in their forever home. This is an excellent opportunity to “try before you buy.” It’s quite common for first time foster families to fall in love with the cat they are fostering, and end up adopting.

Consider an adult or senior cat.

Imagine being a part of a family for 15 years, and then one day the family decides to surrender you to a shelter because you are old (and they want a young cat), because they develop allergies, or because a cat “no longer fits their lifestyle.” These cats may find themselves without a family for months, or even a year if they’re fortunate enough to be surrendered to a no-kill shelter. Otherwise, they may end up being euthanized because they are hard to adopt out, and there simply isn’t enough room in the shelter. These are cats may seem shy, scared, or stand-offish because they’re confused and heartbroken that they went from a loving, quiet home to a small enclosure in a noisy shelter. They are great cats, already litter trained, vaccinated, spayed/neutered, and ready to go home. They just need someone to take a chance on them before the clock runs out and they are euthanized. You can literally save a life by adopting an older cat!