Adopting Cats vs. Adopting Kittens

My family plans on adopting 2 cats soon. I am wanting to know eveyones oppion on adopting cats vs. kittens.

Here is the household situation:Right now there are 4 adults in the house, but soon my grandma, who is in the late stages of Alzheirmers, will be joining the household. We have 2 cockatiels. We had 2 cats for 19 years (they died 2 years ago). We have 2 young nieces (ages 4 and 6) who visit offten.

We are thinking about adopting older cats (about 1-5 years old) because they are the ones that need homes the most. They are also more likley to be house trained. You also know more of their personality.

But kittens might be easier to train.

Any ideas, suggestions, and points of view will be greatly appreciated.

Well in most cases, the advantage of adopting an older cat is that they have already been house trained. You may only need to show them a few times where the tray is located and food etc instead of the extra time you spend telling kittens off for pooing and weeing on your floor and scratching your furniture (oh id do it again! lol)

I got the two cats I have now as kittens but if I were doing it again I would probably look for a pair of adult cats that were already bonded. I love kittens but most people are looking for kittens and I would want to give the adults that get overlooked a home. With the extra care that your grandma is going to need the adults may be a better choice. She may also adjust better to cats that are past the kitten stage especially if at least one of them is a laid back lap cat.

Originally Posted by Denice

I got the two cats I have now as kittens but if I were doing it again I would probably look for a pair of adult cats that were already bonded. I love kittens but most people are looking for kittens and I would want to give the adults that get overlooked a home. With the extra care that your grandma is going to need the adults may be a better choice. She may also adjust better to cats that are past the kitten stage especially if at least one of them is a laid back lap cat.

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I agree.

I have only had 2 kittens the rest have been adult cats. The first kitten I had was Kira and she was about 8 weeks old when I got her. Abby was 4 months old when she came to live with me.

Chynna was about a year old when she adopted me.

Both of my kitties are now 9 years and 15 1/2 years and both have the sweetest disposition. I would like to think that if anything happened to me and none of my family or friends could take them in, that if they did end up in a shelter that they would be able to find homes. But alas, not many people want an "older" kitty, even though they are sweet and loving.

I'd say go with an adult cat, even an older one of 6 years or more. Age shouldn't be a factor in deciding whether a cat gets a forever home

For all of the reasons you have stated and the others here, I'd go with adult cats. Particularly because they're always the ones that many people overlook when adopting, but I also think with your situation adult cats is a much better idea. Bless you for adopting.

My next cat will be an adult that I adopt...I figure Trout was a kitten, and so next I will give an adult a home first. Kittens will always get homes, but adults maybe not.

Then I will just go back and forth every cat after that..that way I can still have some kitten action every 10 years or so

Yes I will become a crazy cat lady with like 7 cats one day

Adult cats are great. We adopted two adult cats because they have to be home alone for 4-5 hours while we're both at work and I didn't want to worry about a kitten climbing the curtains and chewing on the electrical cords. I do everything I can to make sure they have enough territory and clean litter boxes for everyone.

We got two unrelated adult cats that are now living harmoniously. They are both loving and well behaved. We have been able to get them used to nail clipping, ear cleaning and tooth brushing in about 6 months time. I look at them now and I care about them so much it hurts me to think they were homeless.

Please consider giving a home to adult kitties! It's been great for us.

When I adopted my newest cat Linus back in March, he was just a bit over 2 years old. His previous owner had gotten him as a kitten then decided that once he got bigger he was to much trouble and took him to the local shelter. One of the reason I choose him was because he had been in the shelter for almost a year and unfortunately his time was almost up. Older cats don't have as good of chance of being adopted as a kitten. Linus is a super cat, happy, playful, and a joy to have around the house, and the reality of it is if I hadn't of adopted him he would have been put to sleep by now. I know kittens are adorable but they have a much better chance at a good life then a adult cat who has already been abandon once.

I think in your situation adult cats sounds like a much better idea as well. with young kids visiting, and an elderly grandma, you don't want these little kittens terrorising the household.

Kittens are cute but they really are a lot of energy and a lot of hard work. And you'll train 2 adult cats a lot faster than you'll train 2 kittens!!

Good on you for considering older cats, I think it is a much better choice!

my guys were all adults when i adopted them. and i don't actually remember any kittens from childhood--mom adopted adults when we were growing up.

my cats were adopted at about 1.5 yrs old. stimpy was closer to 2 yrs old. i've had no troubles, they all get along pretty well. the nice thing about adopting adults is you know what their personality is like, where kittens' personalities are still developing.

my MIL adopted a stray from the shelter, who was around 2-3yrs old a couple years ago. he does great with my 5 yr old nephew and 6 month old niece who live with them.

I would adopt older cats, just because kittens have a better chance getting adopted than them. IF you want to adopt kittens, make sure you have the time for them because just like puppies they are a lot of work, but I think puppies are much more work than kittens. good luck on your decision and let us know what you choose! it's your choice and thanks so much for choosing to adopt!

I help people select the right cat for adoption at the local Humane Society. I suggest you look into the care of cats vs. kittens.

Kittens, in no way, can you predict their purr-sonalities when they grow up. Adults, you can have a fairly good idea of what they'll act like. Adults are harder to place. The adults, well some anyways, are already declawed, so if you would like declawed cats, go that way. If you want a pair, there are often adults who need to go as pairs that are hard to place.

I do strongly encourage people to adopt adult cats.

Originally Posted by sarahp

I think in your situation adult cats sounds like a much better idea as well. with young kids visiting, and an elderly grandma, you don't want these little kittens terrorising the household.

Kittens are cute but they really are a lot of energy and a lot of hard work. And you'll train 2 adult cats a lot faster than you'll train 2 kittens!!

Good on you for considering older cats, I think it is a much better choice!

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I occasionally foster kittens for the Humane Society (granted, I foster kittens who are much too young to be adopted), and kittens are just a lot of work! Cute, cuddly work, but still ... Kittens can be very exhausting!

Adopting older cats is a wonderful idea, especially if you look for a pair who need to be homed together -- it can be really hard for shelters to find older cats homes (because most folks want cute, cuddly kittens), and even harder when two (or more) cats need to go together.

We adopted Spike and Oz when they were kitten-ish (four months and six months, respectively), and even that was a lot of work. (Granted, Spike is now close to four years old and he's still an awful lot of work, but he's a special needs kitty.) I think I'd go with older cats, the next time we're looking for fur-babies.