Fayetteville Animal Shelter
and Animal Services
Older pets can make more stable housemates. Older cats, especially, will adapt well to a single human dwelling. Cats as a species are less needy than dogs (let's face it - you have a dog, but a cat has you!), and so are more likely to be content when left alone for long periods of time, such as when you are at work. They are less likely to get into mischief since they sleep on average about 20 hours a day. The likelihood you come home to find your prized African violets smashed on the kitchen floor is remote. If you have a new kitten, some destruction is not only likely, but certain!
Older cats are really the best way to go if you don't have any other animals. Cats can live as long as twenty or more years if they are well-cared for, so choosing a four year old adult still gives you many years to be together. There are even good reasons for choosing a geriatric cat (one over 15 years). You will undoubtedly save a life, and you will each have a good companion for a few years. Older Americans often choose older cats as companions, and one reason given is that they worry that if they take a kitten, it will out-live them and they don't know what would happen to it once the human has died.
There are certain instances when choosing an older cat is not the best idea. If you have other animals in the house, an older cat will not adapt (or be accepted) as well as a kitten would. Kittens, like small children, can get away with things adults would never be able to do. Older animals are more tolerant of an infant newcomer, whether it is a puppy, a kitten, or a new human.
--Terry Early
Terry Early adopted an older cat, Maurice, who was her beloved companion for ten more years, moving halfway across the country with her. Maurice died at the age of 19, no doubt surviving so long because of the good care he received both from his original human and from his later pal.