November 18, 2021
Five Reasons to Adopt a Senior Pet
- Know what you are getting. Puppies and kittens change as they grow up. They get bigger and their personalities can become completely different. With an older pet, you know they aren’t growing and you will already have a good idea of what their personality is like. Adopting a senior takes away the guesswork, and helps ensure a good adoption match.
- Senior cats and dogs are typically less destructive. By the time a cat or a dog reaches their senior years, they have usually outgrown the urge to chew up your new pair of shoes or climb your curtains for fun.
- Older pets can make great companions for older people. Older adults often find the calm presence of a senior pet comforting, and many older people enjoy the mature company of a senior pet.
- Already trained, but still trainable. Yes, you can teach old dogs (and cats) new tricks! Often, they will learn these more readily than a younger pet due to their longer attention span and ability to focus.
- Kindness. A senior pet in a shelter knows what it’s like to live in a home, and will be relieved to find a new home. Senior pets are the most difficult to find homes for, and seniors, like any animal, deserve a chance to live out their years in a loving home environment. Many owners form a tight bond with their newly adopted senior pet because of the attention and devotion their new pet shows them.
What should you expect from a veterinary perspective?
Veterinarians usually recommend a wellness exam twice annually for senior cats and dogs, as well as routine blood and urine screening tests. To some, this may seem like senior cats and dogs require more costly veterinary care, but the truth is that all pets will incur veterinary costs throughout their lives. You never know what veterinary care that puppy or kitten will need later in life, whereas with a senior pet, you might have a better idea of what they will need.
November is Adopt a Senior Pet Month. Please consider adopting a sweet, loving senior cat or dog into your home.
Dr. Shelley Hutchings
Chief Veterinarian
Adopt a senior from the OHS:
