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Two 16 year old cats

post #1 of 50
1/22/11 at 4:05pm
Thread Starter 
A local shelter is waiving their adoption fees to someone who will adopt two 16 year old cats together.

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/18416700?rvp=1

My question is, is it easy to do that with having two cats, who are both a year and a half? I would like to help out these two girls out. Mine however are both clawed, and get along very well. Is it crazy to try and get my two young girls to get along or even tolerate with these two seniors? I don't have any experience in senior cats, so I don't have any idea as to whether or not it could even work.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
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post #2 of 50
1/22/11 at 4:35pm
I don't have any experience with senior cats, either. But I would think that if you take the introductions slowly it could work. Especially since the two seniors are bonded. You may find that you have two pairs of cats who basically ignore each other, or they may all get along just fine. There's really no way to tell with cats until you try it.

Do you have enough room that you can keep the new girls completely separated from your current cats while you're going through the integration process?
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post #3 of 50
1/22/11 at 5:21pm
It is really, really wonderful of you to consider taking these very elderly cats.

I agree that keeping them separate from the young ones for a while is the way to go - as it is with integrating any cats.

If you decide to do it, please keep us informed. I have had a number of cats who lived this long, or longer. Usually, other than sleeping more than younger ones, they are fine, until their health declines precipitously, which can happen fast. At their age, they don't have a lot of time, maybe 2 years, or more, or less. I wouldn't think that they would be a huge expense, as far as vet costs, because, at their age, I don't think any extreme measures should be taken, or would be worthwhile, should their health decline.

Really, this is so generous of you. Without you, or someone like you, their lives are probably over. That they could finish out their natural lifespans in the comfort of a home, well, it is a wonderful thing.


Robin
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post #4 of 50
1/22/11 at 6:08pm
Aww they are cute. I had an older cat when I was younger and my sister got a kitten and they were ok together.

If I had more room and less animals, I would consider them too. I don't live too far from Guelph. I have 2 dogs and 2 cats already and it would make it too much in my little 3 bedroom townhouse with 2 dogs and 4 cats.
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post #5 of 50
1/22/11 at 6:18pm
Squishy was 13ish - 15ish when I brought him home, it wasn't any harder to introduce him than it was younger kitties, IMO. If done properly, I would think an intro would go OK.

I'd just be sure to have a room where you can set them up for awhile, as it may take them longer to adjust to their new surroundings.
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post #6 of 50
1/22/11 at 7:45pm
I have deep respect for you at this moment. You would be doing such an incredible, loving and generous thing for these poor cats. You are a saint. If not for you, these cats would spend their last days in this shelter. I am getting tears!!

I do believe this could work, the older pair would just need to be separate from the younger pair as others have said too. I think the separate pairs would actually ignore eachother after the quarantine stage is over. The younger ones would know that the older ones are no threat and too old to put up a fight. Mostly because the older pair would be so grateful just to have a warm, quiet and safe place to sleep all day, which is mostly what they will be doing. Although, I am sure you could get the old girls to play with wand toys for a few minutes each day. OH MY, please keep us informed on your decision. And thank you for considering to take these girls out of the shelter environment and live out what is left of their lives in peace.
p.s. They are gorgeous cats, BTW
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post #7 of 50
1/23/11 at 11:09am
I echo having tons of respect for you, and anyone else who comes to the aid of an animal in need.

These girls are beautiful and seem so deserving of their home. Kudos to the rescue as well for wanting so badly for these girls to live a happy life that they've waived the adoption fee.

I hope this works out for you, your cats, and these lovely girls.
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post #8 of 50
1/23/11 at 11:47am
Oh do, do take them, if you can. One of your main considerations has to be financial. Senior cats can get expensive. Can you afford a lot of vet visits, lab work, medicines?

In another forum I frequent, someone with two young cats, about the same age as yours, just rescued two senior cats. I think they are 14 or thereabouts. She fell in love with the one, but the shelter said they had to be adopted together. (bless that shelter)

Her two young cats are the first cats she's ever had, but she took the plunge and has not regretted it for a moment.

Just make sure, very very sure. I don't want to know their story, I'm sure it would break my heart, but it would be devastating for them to be returned to the shelter again, after being in another home.

Do you have enough room to keep the two oldies separate and comfortable for a few weeks and do slow introductions?

You'll get plenty of help and support here, never fear.
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post #9 of 50
1/23/11 at 12:52pm
While like others I commend you, your going to need alot of room for space. Its like putting your 90 year old grandparents in with your toddlers 24/7, the seniors will need long break periods from young-lings. Completely different worlds and at best they likely have two more years left in them. Just the move alone will max out there stress and if younger ones dont get it, some very nasty attacks can occur.
Sadly I believe when I took in aki a stray kitten with an ungodly slow process of a month in bathroom and another month in spare bedroom with slow introduction instructions it stilled upset my 13 year old cat enough to speed up her death, just the smell of another cat in her domain rattled her so.
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post #10 of 50
1/23/11 at 12:59pm
These two 16 yr. olds would be perfect for me. I am in my middle 60's and can no longer even think about adopting young cats. I don't want them to outlive me. Autumn is 4 years old and even at that age she may outlive me. When I do adopt another kitty, he/she will be an older cat and it will be from a shelter as I have always done.

I hope you do adopt these precious seniors, they really need a home.
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post #11 of 50
1/23/11 at 1:19pm
Oh, Please go for it!!! It's easier with older cats I think. My mom had a large blak cat named Amelia when I was very young. She turned 18 two years ago and loved the kitten my mom brought home. They lived quite happily together till last summer when Amelia went over the bridge. (she was 20!) IT can be a very beautiful relationship. My moms vet thought that the kitten helped extend amelia's life because she made her feel young again.
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post #12 of 50
1/23/11 at 1:42pm
I just remembered that once I had an only cat, Max, a really exceptionally beautiful orange and white tabby. When he was about 14, I adopted a young, black, female kitten. She really perked him up. Before I got her, he was in a slump and just sleeping away his life. With her he played again, and though she aggravated him sometimes, he let her cuddle with him. She adored him. He lived to be about 18.5 years old.

Also, I want to say again that at the age these cat ladies you are considering have reached, they may not have 2 years more left, or they could have more. For cats at age 16, I don't believe in prolonging their lives with a lot of procedures, medicines, etc. So, if you take the view that you are going to care for them, make them comfortable, and give them vet care, but not try to extend their lives beyond their expected life span (which they have already reached) by extreme measures, should they develop terminal conditions, I don't think they will be a big extra expense - any more than younger cats. Worrying about the vet expense keeps a lot of people from adopting older cats - and I mean cats as young as 8.

Please let us know how it goes if you take them. They may need their own room for an extended period of time.

Robin
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post #13 of 50
1/23/11 at 2:19pm
I think that it would work, but you'll have to take the intros very, very slowly. I would start off with the mind-set that they'll need to be in a separate room for about a month. If they can be integrated before then, great! Otherwise, you're still good. Then start working on integrating them. You can probably use baby gates in the doorway to separate the kitties so that they can still smell each other and get used to each other. Give the older ones LOTS of hiding/safe places for them to escape the annoying young ones when they've had enough.
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post #14 of 50
1/23/11 at 7:08pm
They are beautiful cats. I wouldn't even know what to tell you. Those 2 at 16 might have worked with Lynxx here at 9. All he did was sleep. But I know my 2 kittens 8, and 5 months (especially Midnight) would drive these 2 older cats to break out of the house, build an igloo out of the snow drifts in the yard, and hide there.

Seriously though it would depend on how calm your cats are, and if you could keep your cats seperated from them.
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post #15 of 50
1/23/11 at 7:34pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks everyone for the advice

I have an unfinished basement that has worked for introductions in the past but due to it being cold outside and them being older I was thinking about letting them having my bedroom. My basement is going to be finished in about 6 weeks. But my two girls like to sleep with me so I was going to sleep on the couch and letting the older girls sleep in my room where its not as big and they won't be in any human's or feline's way.

It's alot to think about, but I would still like to do it


Edited to say:

My two girls already sleep on the couch, and only go up to my room when I do at night. With senior cats, would they need something on the floor to sleep on like a cat bed? And is there any special food they need?
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post #16 of 50
1/23/11 at 8:25pm
You are going to be such a blessing to these two "older ladies". You can put a cat bed on the floor, but you may find that they sleep on your bed anyway. I have cat beds all over my house but they rarely have cats in them.

Ask the shelter what food they've been eating. You should keep them on the same thing initially. If you decide to change them to a better food, or one more suited to their age, you need to make it gradual change over at least a week or two.

Keep us updated.
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post #17 of 50
1/23/11 at 8:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldyCat View Post
You are going to be such a blessing to these two "older ladies". You can put a cat bed on the floor, but you may find that they sleep on your bed anyway. I have cat beds all over my house but they rarely have cats in them.

Ask the shelter what food they've been eating. You should keep them on the same thing initially. If you decide to change them to a better food, or one more suited to their age, you need to make it gradual change over at least a week or two.

Keep us updated.


If you think they might have trouble jumping up to the bed rig a sturdy box of some sort to cut the jump in half. Two jumps instead of one.

When I integrated Jennie I gave her the bedroom (I installed a screen door in the bedroom doorway so she could be with us while separated) while resident cats sleep with me in the living room.

As an aside, my cats have lots of beds, since I make cat beds, and they use them all. Three of the cat beds are actually ON the bed, though.
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post #18 of 50
1/23/11 at 8:46pm
With their age, you might want to invest in some heated beds or pet heating pads. You can use old blankets or comforters as well as official pet beds for them on the floor. Also, you might want to get a box, cut the flaps off, cut a hole in one end and turn it upside down for a "shelter" if one likes to sleep in small dark places. (Callie used to love to sleep in the closet or dark spots.) If they have arthritis, they may like to have steps (made from boxes or even chairs) to get up onto higher places.

You're going to do great with them!
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post #19 of 50
1/23/11 at 9:24pm
I did this once. My resident cats were older than yours (about 10), but the adoptees were older than them (16-17). It honestly wasn't the getting along that mattered so much in the end (Sissy never took to other cats and she hissed and went on the whole time...they just stayed on different floors of the house by choice) - it was that both cats were in renal failure when I got them. Kasper was peeing literally all over my house - and on my bed. We took him to the vet and he was in such advanced renal failure that the vet suggested we put him down. We waited until he showed no signs of turning around and did just that. His brother, Coco, was also in renal failure, but he had spent his entire life terrified of people. We didn't know this when we adopted them. In the year and a half that I owned Coco (before the renal failure took him too), he didn't come out of hiding for anything other than food and to use the litter box.

It was a very miserable situation. I just tell you this so you will definitely think of the health issues that come along with older cats and be prepared for whatever may come. I wasn't prepared and it was a really tragic situation for me. I am sure you have thought of this already and I pray the girls are in good health and that you have several happy years with them.
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post #20 of 50
1/23/11 at 9:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sassylemon View Post
Edited to say:

My two girls already sleep on the couch, and only go up to my room when I do at night. With senior cats, would they need something on the floor to sleep on like a cat bed? And is there any special food they need?
My 14 year old male cat still does all the jumping he wants so it really depends on the overall health of the cats. Blue is a siamese, so he prefers to be up high. A bed on the floor would never be used by him. Rex (who is still a kitten) loves to stretch out on the floor.

I feed Blue an indoor senior food. You just want to make sure that you feed them according to their specific health needs. For instance, if they have renal failure, you want to feed them a food made for that, etc. If they have no health issues to speak of, then just a good senior food should be okay.
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post #21 of 50
1/24/11 at 5:27am
I can't add anything to what's been posted here; you have a lot of great advice for these two girls. I just wanted to say Thank You.
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post #22 of 50
1/24/11 at 8:23am
Yes, thank you.....and thank God for you.
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post #23 of 50
1/24/11 at 11:00am
Thread Starter 
I called the humane's society today and now I think its time to go and visit these girls. According to them, they both have no health problems and are only there because their owner had to go into Long Term Care. They have been together all of their lives and that is why they wanting them together.


Will update when I get home
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post #24 of 50
1/24/11 at 11:23am
I hope it all works out well for both you and the ladies.
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post #25 of 50
1/24/11 at 3:52pm
Thread Starter 
The visit went well, the girls were definately tired but they told me they had alot of school/community groups in today. I spent about 15-20 minutes with them, petting them but they weren't into letting me pick them up. I figure it would only be a matter of time. I even got a kiss.

When I left they kind of both looked at me like Where are you going? All of the others were sleeping.

I filed out an application an now have to talk with the adoption co-ordinator tomorrow (if I get off work in time) or Wednesday.

for these two kitties
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post #26 of 50
1/24/11 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sassylemon View Post
I called the humane's society today and now I think its time to go and visit these girls. According to them, they both have no health problems and are only there because their owner had to go into Long Term Care. They have been together all of their lives and that is why they wanting them together.


Will update when I get home
If you adopt them, would it be possible for you to contact the owner or the owner's family to let them know how the kitties are?
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post #27 of 50
1/24/11 at 5:00pm
Sending positive energy!
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post #28 of 50
1/24/11 at 7:18pm
Oh, I do so hope it all works out. I'm thinking about these two old ladies, and you.

And I think the idea of letting their family or owner know that they are now cared for, if you do take them, is just a BRILLIANT idea! If I was in that situation (in long term care) I would be so fretting about these two. I think all of us here would feel that way.

Bless you for doing this!


Robin
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post #29 of 50
1/25/11 at 2:47am
You are a hero to these two gals. You deserve an award.
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post #30 of 50
1/25/11 at 8:39am
Keeping the coming.
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