Out of the Cage! (February 2010)

Adopt a Senior Pet — So Much Love!

by Joan Antelman, Senior Pets: All They Need Is Love

As most anyone who has ever adopted a senior animal will tell you, it's one of the most rewarding acts of love imaginable. Just gaze into the eyes of an older dog or cat and you'll see a special kind of love that exists nowhere else. Joan Antelman, editor of Senior Pets: All They Need is Love, a newsletter that promotes seniors for adoption, shares her own personal adoption tale with Out of the Cage!

My Adopted Senior Dog, Molly

I saw Molly at Animal Care & Control, sitting in the back of her cage looking very scared. I just had this feeling she was my dog. It's difficult to explain, but I could not stop thinking about her. Her paperwork said she was seven years young, but she looked older, and I wanted to adopt a senior. I called my friend Linda Vetrano of Posh Pets Rescue and asked if she would take Molly out for me under her rescue. So she did, and I fostered Molly for two days.

But after two days, my feelings were so strong for Molly that I completed the paperwork to adopt her. She was very timid and shy, and may have been neglected. It was clear that she had had a lot of puppies. Even when I walk her now, people ask me if she just had puppies. She was spayed in May.

I think Molly had a hard life before, but now she is the queen! She is well-behaved in the home (except for a few little incidents), but outdoors, she loves to play with other dogs at the dog park, and she likes to chase tennis balls. She has cataracts and hypothyroidism, but those do not really matter to me. She loves kids and other dogs, and gets along quite well with my cats, who are a pretty feisty bunch. I have already sent her photos to a dog talent agent and I have used her photo in ads to help other senior dogs.

People keep telling me how lucky Molly is to have me. But I'm the lucky one! She is mellow and sweet and laid-back, and that is exactly the kind of dog I wanted. She is undeniably a beagle, and she has to sniff everything. But I'm getting used to it! She is just a great dog, and I feel very lucky to have her in my life.

My Adopted Senior Cats, Winston, Sadie, Boogie & Scooter

I adopted my first senior cat, Winston, from Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition (BARC) in Brooklyn almost five years ago. Winston had only one tooth. I was looking at a younger cat who hissed at me, but Winston was meowing for me to come over. Later, I adopted his sister, Sadie. Both are gone now. The last two cats I adopted, Boogie, 16, and Scooter, 13, were also adopted as seniors. Senior cats are great. They always act like much younger cats and no one would know their age at all! Scooter, especially, is quite active, and will run and play and race around. I have always had cats, but I have had such a positive experience that when Winston passed away, I started Senior Pets: All They Need is Love to encourage people to adopt older pets.

If you are looking to adopt, consider a senior. They come with lots of benefits. They are almost always housetrained because they came from homes. They generally are laid-back and can be very quiet and mellow. Who wouldn't want that? I was afraid Molly would bark and howl. Well, I have had her for many months and she has only howled one time, and has never barked indoors!

And seniors are so grateful to have a home. So many of them sit in shelters while they await an uncertain fate. Seniors generally do not do well in a shelter setting.

So the next time you want to adopt a new friend, please don't walk past the seniors, who will sit quietly in their cages, not barking or whining like the puppies do. Even though your senior probably won't be with you for as long as a youngster might be, it's the quality of life you share, not the quantity, that counts!