Don't forget the "unadoptables"

I know. I took a chance on Ghost --- and he is soooooooo sweeeeettt!! OMG - purring and kneading and loves to sit in my lap and preaches and rubs all over me.... He is still tremendously timid and only ventures out of his bathroom lair briefly. I think if there were only one or two other cats... he would be out and about more.

ETA: It also pains me to look at CL and see so many people trying to rehome cats that are 8,9,10, 14 years old. If they take those cats to the pound they have a snowball's chance of making it out alive. I know that you know.

Natalie, you have a heart of gold. Always reminding people to do the right thing. You are truly an advocate for the kitties of the world. You get heartbroken so many times, but you keep on going. I wish there were more Natalie's in the world

Two of mine were unadoptable... Lucky - she was shy... She was going to be PTS because of that, and today she is my heart kitty, my biggest love...
Hope is also shy, but getting better by the day... I might be keeping her, I am pretty sure this is the route I am going to take. I am not sure when I am going to be able to make this commitment, as I can't afford added vet bills if she needs it... So now she is a foster - but as soon as I get a job... I will adopt her.

Aww! I would take one of those kitties ANY day!

Poor baby What is the matter with him? And is he in a shelter? Foster home?

Bless you- the world needs more people that take a chance like this. I've adopted 2 cats in my lifetime that were considered "unadoptable". Trixie was the first, she was 10 when I adopted her. She was a gorgeous snowshoe siamese, extremely petite, and literally knocking on death's door the entire short time I owned her. I rescued her from almost certain death, she was going to be inhumanely gassed. Even though I had to put her to sleep like 6 months after adopting her, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything in the world.
And then a year ago I adopted a 12 year-old tux, Taylor. She's a CH kitty (cerebral hypoplasia) and she definitely is the humor in my house. She was sitting in a room at the humane society for months, with no one ever showing any interest in her. I adopted her right after I had to put Trixie down, so I kinda knew that she was meant to come home with me.
(come to think of it, all of my cats were considered unadoptable and/or unwanted)

In my eyes, the "unadoptables" are the best

Ella was basically "unadoptable" because of her nose, and had we not agreed to foster her, she was going to be put to sleep to free up a cage. She had essentially been in shelters and cages since Katrina, over 3 years.

Her nose is still a problem, but she isn't; she gets more loving every day.

My current two, although not from a shelter, would be considered "unadoptable"--at ~8 weeks, they were semi-feral and covered in ringworm (there was a patch almost the size of the palm of my hand on Panther; I think I would have been reported by the vet if I hadn't mentioned that I just got them), and they're still highly skitty around everyone but me and Squirrel is moderately skitty even with me.

My cousin has taken in some "unadoptables" too, currently including a one-eyed cat (technically, he still had the other eye when she got him as a kitten, it was just so infected as to be a total loss) and a tailless cat with trouble controlling her peeing and pooing that someone stuck in a box and threw away on the side of a road out of a moving vehicle at something like 6 weeks. Her family also, several years ago now, took in a one-eyed dog that med students or something had been experimenting on.

For the "unadoptables" that get along well with other cats, the shelters could get them off the shelves by offering them as a free bonus when a cat that also gets along with other cats is adopted. Something like, "adopt a kitten, get a free old-cat parent for it!" I know a shelter that does twofers during kitten season so this wouldn't be totally unprecedented.

Everyone who adopts these babies are such good people. I know there are several on here who have including those above, Natalie, Katie and Ms. Freya and more, its such a beautiful things to give these babies a chance of love

If, God forbid anything happens to 3 of my 4, I will certainly adopt a senior. I rescued a very elderly male awhile back, and although he was with me for just a short time, he was a dear old fellow, and I have no regrets about giving him a loving home with plenty of food, comfort and love for his final days.
Thank you, white cat lover, for reminding us of these wonderful creatures, and how rewarding it can be to have one in your life, even for a short time.

Thank you, Pami. I can say with complete certainty that these cats more than give that love back tenfold.

To anyone looking to adopt 'unadoptables' - they really do end up as some of the most loving cats you'll ever meet. I can't even imagine my life without my sweetie and my big buddy. I've had plenty of people tell me my cats aren't normal, I just tell them that cats redefine normal to suit themselves.

Thank you, Nat, for advocating for these cats. It eases my heart a little to know they're not forgotten.

I've very often said that since my cats have a shortened lifespan they have to cram all the love of a lifetime into whatever time they have It breaks my heart to see "imperfect" cats rejected, they deserve love just as much as any cute kitten- cute kittens grow up and develop issues too. If I ever stop taking in FeLV cats, I'll probably take on another special needs group

I adopted Sweetie two months ago. He was a rescue one and a half years ago, when he was discovered very thin and cold, and was taken in by a family. Unfortunately, due to a very serious illness, these people could no longer keep him. Sweetie had been living at local vet clinic for 4 months when I adopted him. This clinic takes in rescues and other needy animals.

Some things that made him less adoptable are that he is older (approx 3 years), a black cat and he has special needs. In the past he has had some problems with crystals in his urine, but he thrives on a special diet of Royal Canin, and hasn't had any more crystals for many months. I fully intend to keep him on his special diet, and I'm hoping for at least 14 long and healthy years with him.

BTW, Sweetie is the second older black cat I adopted from a shelter type of setting. The first was my RB cat Midnight who had been living in a shelter for 6 months and was 8 months old when I adopted her. I think some people are still afraid of black cats, which makes them less adoptable.

I should have posted this picture of Ella:



We have a crowd at the house right now, and she's hiding, but she'll get over it.

all my 9 furbabies are former strays. i don't care how old they are or their looks. i never got to pick out any of them, they always seem to somehow find me.

I am one who adopted an older kitty, she was a wonderful cat. Named Slimey (grrr) by her human who didn't mistreat her outright, just left her outside all the time in all manner of weather, and it did get to the point of being cruel, during an ice storm someone in the building let her in, and he said put her back out, that is where of course I stepped in. For an outdoor cat she was just the most friendly thing I ever met, just loved and loved on everyone. Slept under the covers with me. If I took a nap I would ask her, "You want to come nappies with me?" and she would follow like a puppy and snooze on my head, lol.
She was half blind and had no teeth, had been hit by cars and tormented by children throwing stuff at her. Her fur (semi long hair) was a bit ratty, had to constantly keep the matts off her since she had no teeth to groom them herself. She would have been put down at a shelter, no one would have taken her. But, the best most loving cat ever. I, well we (still with the ex at this time) only had her with us for 4 years before she passed at we guess 19 yrs old, but they were the best 4 years.

Thank you for bringing attention to the "unadoptable" kitties. I try to spread the word about adopting these poor babies, but nobody listens to me. Everyone wants a cute, tiny kitten. I try to remind them that a kitten isn't a tiny kitten forever! Anyway, I've fostered several litters of kittens with a local rescue group. I just want to remind everyone that it isn't just the large or old black cats that don't get adopted. Even black kittens have a really hard time being adopted. I've had a black kitten in every litter I've fostered and it always gets the least amount of interest. They are always the last to be adopted. I actually still have the black cat from a litter I fostered back in January. She's my baby now, of course.

Awww, the last pic melts my heart!

All of my cats found me as either ferals or strays. All of them have 'issues' of varying degrees. Cody & Bear get crystals at a blink of an eye, Chicken looooves to pee in my bed, right smack dab in the middle of it, LOL. Bella is painfully shy (former feral), I have to literally beg her if I want her to come to me for scritches, and even then she might not come. She had a broke back when I got her, so she doesn't land on her feet if she jumps from somthing 4ft+ off of the ground. And her back nails 'click' on the floor because of the weird way her vertibrea grew back.

Wouldn't trade the word for them.

And when I get my dog in the near future, I am either going to get it from my local no kill or the animal control, not sure if I have the heart to go to animal control though...

Because I have a pet sitting business I often get calls from people wanting help rehoming cats and dogs. I've started telling them the brutal truth. I don't care if they ever use my service or not. I'm sick to death of people who are inconvenienced thinking they can pawn their problems off to someone else.

I am starting to get very short tempered with the people who want to surrender cats that have no chance of getting adopted. The most recent one is oh well we got a kitten on the weekend and he hissed at it and made the kitten poop outside the box (the one box between 4 cats)

There was this person on CL trying to rehome a 14 year old cat. I wrote to him/her and said ... please don't do this... and please don't take the cat to the pound or a shelter b/c it will be put down. They never wrote back.

Ickle, I love your sig.

I have 2 kitties, Sweetie is now approx. 4 yrs and at 1yr. was left in a box with her kitten. I fostered both and adopted Sweetie, the mom, because I felt the kitten had a better chance of being adopted. I then got a 3mo. old feral kitten, Juno, who has now been with me 3 yrs. My daughter finally got Juno's mom, who was the neighborhood slut, 3 litters a year but uncatchable, caught and neutered. Mama decided she liked being an indoor cat and now lives with my daughter. Mad eye Moody, a long haired black kittie with one bad eye was a neighbood stray also now lives with my daughter, and Max who was a kitten from Mama kitty's last litter. Chester is a tux. cat who was found in the back of a truck when he was approx. 3 wks. old. My daughter's family had to hand feed him. She also fostered all of Mama kitty's kittens, after rescuing them from bad outdoor conditions, such as snow, living under a porch etc. hand feeding those who needed it until the local shelter placed them. All of my daughter's cats with the exception of Mama are strictly indoor cats. Since Mama spent all of her years outside even living in the sewer in the winter, she insists on outside priviledges, at least she won't get pregnant again. The way my daughter caught her was to use Max, her kitten, as bait. She had caught him a few days prior and he was now living inside. Mama would stand outside the door crying for Max to come to her,she wasn't nursing anymore but just wanted her 3mo old baby. Finally she went in the house for him and decided to stay indoors with him. I think she liked a steady supply of food. Even though Max is now 1yr. old when Mama comes in the house Max greets her, rubbing against her. I think the mom and baby bond still exists. I am thinking of another cat, definately a shelter cat, one who is older and settled. However, 3 in a small 4 room apt. is quite much. But my heart goes out to all the homeless and neglected cats. I don't like to see them in cages at Petsmart and Petco. I support my local shelter as much as possible and also another one who accepts kitties who have special needs and keeps them until they cross the bridge. This shelter also does not cage the cats. They have free run of a house designed for them. So my message to anyone thinking of a cat is like everyone elses. Adopt don't buy.

THANK YOU for this! I love ALL cats and consider all cats eminently desirable. Coming from generations (on both sides of the family) of cat lovers, it's natural for me to have loved, rescued, adopted, and advocated for cats right from the start. All of the cats in my life have always been rescues, in one way or another; and when I adopted my first sheltered cat, I deliberately asked to be directed to those with the least possible chance of adoption. I adopted a gorgeous beauty who became extremely special in my life. She is forever in my heart.

What a great thread. Btw, my cat Kitty's black, old, sheds a lot, it has an "ugly" coat because it's black mixed with about thirty randomly placed but noticeable hair. But I love her. Besides, I still have five plus years with her-and even if I only had a week left with her, I'd still adore Kitty. And Fatty-has an "angry" face even when she's purring and happy (except in some pictures), is shy and has bitten me a few times, sheds like crazy, meows constantly, and is old. Guess what? I love her more than most people. lol. Thanks for your lovely thread.

I have always wanted to adopt a "special" kitty. Whether they be old or require some sort of special care.

Someday, when I have the resources and the room I will allow more cats into my home, and they wont all be kittens.