You may have heard of people who have left their home to their cats upon their death, along with hiring a part or full-time companion for their cats. I'm not that wealthy! Neither am I penniless, and if there was some way to encourage someone to take an older cat by providing for a certain amount of vet bills or something, I might be able to put that in my will. But just today I received an email from my sister who said that someone she knew had died of cancer at age 46, and the family was having her two dogs and four of her five cats euthanized.
I certainly wouldn't want that to happen should I happen to check out of this world before my two furbabies do.
Here is my problem. My cats are already about eight years old, and most people want kittens. Though my cats are extremely loving, wanting to sit on my lap or be petted for an hour at a time, they are terrified of strangers. They growl at my next-door neighbor when he is in his yard - and he has lived there for three years and loves cats! I'm pretty much a loner and rarely have anyone over, so strangers to them are those horrible roofers or other construction workers who make terrible noises. They run and hide if they even hear a car driving in the driveway and never come out when anyone is here. So needless to say, they would never make a good impression on someone if shown at some shelter's public showing. They would hunker in a corner. My only relative who lives closer than 400 miles is my step-daughter, who is allergic to cats and wouldn't have one. My other relatives wouldn't be interested.
I'm only 62 and in reasonably good health, so in all probability I'll outlive these two. But just in case, I'd like to have some kind of plan developed and in writing to provide direction to my survivors should I check out sooner than anticipated. What suggestions do you have to help me formulate a plan for my furbabies?
Here is my problem. My cats are already about eight years old, and most people want kittens. Though my cats are extremely loving, wanting to sit on my lap or be petted for an hour at a time, they are terrified of strangers. They growl at my next-door neighbor when he is in his yard - and he has lived there for three years and loves cats! I'm pretty much a loner and rarely have anyone over, so strangers to them are those horrible roofers or other construction workers who make terrible noises. They run and hide if they even hear a car driving in the driveway and never come out when anyone is here. So needless to say, they would never make a good impression on someone if shown at some shelter's public showing. They would hunker in a corner. My only relative who lives closer than 400 miles is my step-daughter, who is allergic to cats and wouldn't have one. My other relatives wouldn't be interested.
I'm only 62 and in reasonably good health, so in all probability I'll outlive these two. But just in case, I'd like to have some kind of plan developed and in writing to provide direction to my survivors should I check out sooner than anticipated. What suggestions do you have to help me formulate a plan for my furbabies?