What You Need to Know Before Adopting a Senior Cat
Cats are easy, right? Right!?!
Recently, the Ottawa Humane Society removed adoption fees for senior cats. I have mixed feelings about this decision, but I’ve convinced myself they have a thorough adoption process, which weens out homes that are either not ready for a pet or cannot afford a pet.
Though I adopted two senior cats in April, the bonded pair came from a “private” rescue.
Here’s the first thing you need to know – rescues lie! I was under the impression that I adopted two seven year old cats that had recently been to a vet. No health issues were identified. One cat was more vocal and energetic, and the other was more quiet and “sleepy.”
It took the rescue a week to release the vet records to me. The cats were clearly nine years old and had not been to the vet in a year.
Within two weeks, I was worried health conditions had been overlooked by both the rescue and the fosters. “Sleepy” might seem like a perfectly normal cat behaviour, but sleepiness is also lethargy and that is not normal. Vocalness can also be a common behaviour, but there’s a significant difference between meowing and whining or crying.
I called the vet after three weeks. Both cats were behaving abnormally, something I could easily…
