Benefits/Drawbacks to Adopting Adolescent Cats?

[FineAlready]

We are considering adopting two nine month old cats from a shelter. They are siblings, and it sounds like they were surrendered by someone who had “too many pets.” It sounds like they were indoor/outdoor cats…they would be indoor only with us.

Please give me input on the benefits/drawbacks of adopting cats this age.

I have always adopted kittens. I adopted my cat that recently passed away as a 4 month old, which was the oldest cat I’ve ever adopted. He was an absolutely wonderful cat for us for nearly 12 years until he passed due to cancer.

I’m just a little out of my element here. I’m totally aware of/fine with the crazy/naughty adolescent stage in cats - just wondering about adopting them when they are already at that stage and spent most of their formative years elsewhere.

Thanks!

[Paks]

I didn’t adopt this one but when I was a teenager I bought an 8 month old Burmese who had been in a cattery until then. She bonded with me and was an extremely polite cat. Go for it

[french_fry]

No drawbacks, this is a great age to adopt.

I mean, yeah, they’re totally naughty at this stage but it’s nothing you wouldn’t deal with in a couple of months if you adopted a kitten.

[FineAlready]

Thanks for this input, guys! I agree that all kittens will end up in the naughty pain in the butt stage eventually. I just wasn’t sure if there was some unforeseen risk in adopting when they are already at that point. I’d think they would still have some formative years ahead of them, so they would still be able to adapt to their new lives with us, right?

Thinking about this makes me laugh and remember my dear sweet Leon when he was a teenager. Although he grew up to be the most affectionate and kind lap cat in the world, he was the biggest jerk when he was a teen. He would hide under tables, run out and wrap his legs around my calf and just bite and bite and bite. LOL. Little punk!

[mvp]

Yeah, get the pair. I think that will make your life easier, as they can use up one another’s energy rather than expecting you to do it. And expect some blowback from a team of cats used to the chaos of too many pets and access to the outside.

[dungrulla]

None.

We adopted an older cat and he’s the best cat I’ve ever had. He was older than they told us (about 10 as opposed to five) but he’s a big squishy love and we love him.

They tend to be more skittish at first, but they settle down with time.

[Larksmom]

I got one as about a yearling in December. He was a nightmare for a little while, but is settling in. He had NO manners, none whatsoever. If he wasn’t fed Immediately, and he wasn’t, he would brazenly knock over random trash cans. He used recliners as a scratching post. WOULD NOT CUDDLE.
He is still quite thin, but I realized just today that he wasn’t clawing up my furniture any more. He still is insistent on being fed whenever he desires, but I have learned to ignore him. Dickens, named after the late great ‘little’ Jimmy Dickens, did actually cuddle with me this morning but it is rare.
The best thing I can say about him is that he is great with Gatsby. No idea how old the Gatster is, but he acts like an oldie. Dickens, with all his claws, plays gently with him.
The one bad thing at the moment, is that he has discovered the great outdoors. I have a fence, but he goes right over it. He wants to go out all. the. time. I will not allow him to go out when the dogs are out.

[FineAlready]

[QUOTE=mvp;8110301]
Yeah, get the pair. I think that will make your life easier, as they can use up one another’s energy rather than expecting you to do it. And expect some blowback from a team of cats used to the chaos of too many pets and access to the outside.[/QUOTE]

The “trying to get outside” thing is my main concern, along with possible litter box issues. However, I think we can deal with this. It’s just two adults in the house, so we don’t have to worry about kids letting them out, etc. The female has a note in her file that she can’t be around kids under 5, which is fine with me because it will give me an excuse not to let kids under 5 in my house. Ha!

We are going to go see them later today (have not even met them yet, so maybe we won’t like them…ha, yeah…I’ve literally never met a cat I didn’t like, including one feral cat that now follows me like she is on a leash when I’m in the barn).

[JumpQH]

I don’t know of any drawbacks, either, and agree with getting the pair. I have only inside cats. Most never have even tried to get outside. The couple that have found a leg or foot in their way, and never tried since.

[FineAlready]

For sure the plan is to get two whenever we do get cats again, so the sibling aspect of these two is a big part of what appeals to me.

[clint]

I do a lot of fostering, and a few months ago took in to foster a nine month old adolescent. As I type, she is curled up asleep by my computer. When she came to the rescue, she had been raised in a homeless encampment, was well socialized, had been indoor/outdoor, and who knew about litter training? She has perfect litter box manners, made the transition to a complete indoor cat without missing a beat, and because of some changes in the rescue, I kept her. She is a very nice addition. Some of the best cats I have taken in to foster and subsequently rehomed were adolescents. I think it is easier to tell what they will be like as adults at that age, and I can’t think of any I didn’t enjoy. Definitely go for it!

[FineAlready]

Update: When we got to the shelter today, these two were already leaving for their new home. However! We selected another awesome 9 month old guy that has been there since December despite being one of the best socialized kitties I’ve ever met. When we go back to pick him up, we are going to try to select the perfect buddy for him. We tested out a few, and he was fine with all of them. But we still were not totally sold on any others but him. Wish us luck!

[clint]

Good luck, and I’m so glad you adopted an adolescent. Pictures please.

[Beaver_Breeze]

It’s a great age. You will be trained in no time. I wouldn’t have any concerns at all.

[tallyho392]

Well, congrats on your new youngster! The only other age I like better for adoption purposes is a senior. Kittens are wonderful,joyful,adorable bundles of love, but take lots more work,in my opinion. They are always falling asleep in some unknown location, and one has to panic for an hour,searching…one time one of the human kids inadvertently shut the new kitten in between the front door and the storm door when closing the house to go out for the day!..That sort of stuff, plus the spider running/crawling all over furniture and drapes…yikes! The skinny,gawky,all-legs adolescent stage is so much fu because you really CAN see a glimmer of the adult they will become, and they are very open to training at this age as well. Good luck, and enjoy!..Any pics??

[FineAlready]

No pics yet, but I will try to post some when they are home. We do have an approximately year old fellow tentatively picked out as well…I’m told they did a “meet and greet” with the two kitties this weekend and it went well. So, hopefully we will agree that this other kitty is a good match for us and the kitty we picked out on Friday. We are supposed to be picking them up tomorrow. I’m super excited, but also worried somehow that things will fall through or something. I’ll feel much better once we’ve got them home. Afraid to get my hopes up, but I am always like that!

[FineAlready]

We have spent most of our day buying cat things. It’s pretty fun going shopping for cats as an adult with a job. When I got Leon, I was a student with no money. So he missed out on the really fun cat condos and such. By the time I had enough money to buy things like that for him, he was already having hind end problems and would not have been able to make much use of stuff like that.

[Chall]

I like older cats. They usually have dealt with humans before, so have the communication thing going, are more sensible about dangers and have figured out the good life and how to achieve it (cooperation, or giving the appearance of cooperation).
I adopted a two yr old and her year old daughter. Both were wonderful additions to the house. Miss them.

[FineAlready]

They are home! I’m exhausted and can’t post pics from my phone, but I will try to get some on here tomorrow. They are both so awesome, friendly, and fun. I suspect Larry is a little older than they aged him at the shelter, but still quite young and playful. Maybe more like 2 than 1. I think they were right about Earl’s age - right around 9-10 months.

[fivesocks]

[QUOTE=FineAlready;8115084]
They are home! I’m exhausted and can’t post pics from my phone, but I will try to get some on here tomorrow. They are both so awesome, friendly, and fun. I suspect Larry is a little older than they aged him at the shelter, but still quite young and playful. Maybe more like 2 than 1. I think they were right about Earl’s age - right around 9-10 months.[/QUOTE]

Is Larry a short haired white cat like the Larry in Modern Family?