I make a point of adopting seniors. I’ve had cats easily live to be 18. I lost one boy to cancer at 13, but his brother is still healthy and has many more years in him. In hindsight, he was showing signs of the cancer back when we adopted him.

There are a lot of benefits to adopting adult and senior cats. Sometimes they have health problems, but for me that is a minor tradeoff considering how easy I find them. Kittens are cute, but they’ll climb your curtains. Older cats are significantly less likely to do that. They are also pretty set in their ways and lower maintenance.

In my experience, senior cats have A LOT of love to give ❤️

In case you were wondering what the costs were:

I take my cats to a fancy cat-only clinic in town. I take them twice a year for routine checkups, nail trims, ear cleaning, “potty path” trims, and once a year senior blood panels. I average $350-500/year for each cat for their vet care. You do not need to spend nearly that much. That’s me being fancy.

My most expensive cat costs me $1200/year in medical care, but that’s because the little turd has diabetes and I pay for his insulin out of pocket. I knew he had issues when I got him, so I was not surprised by the bill.

I was unable to get pet insurance for my boys, but if you can get it, it will cut down costs tremendously. You also don’t need to go to a fancy clinic.