Dear Senior Cat – a Poem by Deborah Barnes
November is Adopt a Senior Pet month, and with five of our seven cats officially seniors, it’s hard not to dwell on their age. International Cat Care states, “Feline ages and life stages have been redefined. Cats are elderly once they reach 11 years, with senior cats defined as those aged between 11 and 14 and geriatric cats 15 years and upwards.”
That means my Zoey, who was just a tiny kitten a mere fraction of a minute ago in my mind, is now geriatric at 15 years of age. It’s tough to wrap my head around the notion, as she looks and acts as young as ever. Age is but a number to her. Her most recent checkup came back with great results, and she’s as spry, alert, and overly vocal as ever. The only thing the vet recommended was some B-12 to help support her metabolic processes, and thankfully, she happily eats her Cobalequin chewable tablets with no fuss. Her eyes remain bright and clear, and her fur is as soft as silk, too, with no grooming issues.
Zoey
Mia, Rolz, and Peanut, her “kittens,” are seniors at 14 years of age, again, something that boggles my mind. They nap much more than their younger days but still get into lots of mischief and are young at heart. Kizmet also hits the senior mark, as he turned 11 this year. To me, he’s barely changed at all. He is still sweet and loving, other than occasionally being annoyed with the others about sharing his napping space. Jazmine is still a youngster at ten, but it’s hard to believe our beautiful girl will be considered a senior next year. The only one several years away from senior status is Shadow, who is currently four and still a baby.
Peanut, Rolz, and Mia
Kizmet, Jazmine, and Shadow
All of this brings me down a bittersweet and nostalgic road. When I look at them now, it’s with more of a conscious knowledge that my time with them is borrowed. I’ve always loved them, and our connections have always been strong. But now the moments are cherished a bit more. A precious scrapbook of time shared etched deeply into my heart.
It’s a slow process; often, age can creep up on us without warning. And I’m getting older too, which significantly changes one’s perspective on time. But the other day, I saw Rolz sunning in the window, and it hit me. He’s getting old. He just had that look in his eyes that I’ve seen with so many other cats that have graced my life. I instinctively grabbed my phone to snap a picture of him, which inspired a poem about my love for him and his beautiful senior ways.
The poem also inspired more profound thoughts for senior cats in general. For most of my life, any cat that has been part of my household came to me as a kitten, eventually growing into a senior cat. But that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize the beauty and strength of a senior cat. I do, and I love them deeply. I’m glad the ASPCA and petfinder.com founded a month dedicated to educating people on why senior pet adoptions can be so gratifying for both the pet and the person adopting him or her. When the time is right in my life for another cat, I would love to provide a home to an older shelter cat who deserves a new lease on life.
Thank you for letting me share a bit of my senior cat life with you. If you’re contemplating senior cat adoption, please consider reading Six Great Reasons to Adopt a Senior Cat and Ten Tips to Keep Them Happy and Healthy.
If you already have a senior cat and want information on how to help ease him or her into their golden years, please read my post Stairs, Safety, and Senior Cats – 10 Tips to Help Ease Your Cat Into His Golden Years which was the recipient of the Cat Writer’s Association 2018 Senior Well-Being Cat Award.
They are all beautiful. A cat is like a fine wine – they can only improve as the years roll by.
Beautifully said, thank you … I, too, am older now, but so appreciate the love that I’ve received from the senior kitties that were such an important part of my life. Am now blessed with a young one … my fear, that she will live on well beyond me … and where will she go, who will care for her … would it have been better to have chosen a “senior” when I adopted. But I cannot turn back the clock now.
A lovely, heartfelt and very true poem. We see, if we care to look, much of ourselves in cats. We need to see in all our companions, wild or tame, the shared goodness most inherent.
Have a wonderful week.
ERin
Beeuteefull an touchin poe-em Miss Deb!!!
Zoey iss gorgeeus…shee does NOT look her age! Mee iss now 11 yeerss old an yet mee playss like a kitten two. BellaSita rescued mee from Faraway Sheltur an mee was all reddy 6 1/2 yeerss old. Havin guud foodabullss an snax an keepss mee young at heart (an havin so many kewl toyss two!)
****purrss**** BellaDharma an {{{hugss}}} BellaSita Mum
Pee S: Wee sorry wee did not vissit. Wee had sum Life issuess an then had Pee C issuess….at leest wee ARE heer today!!!! 😉
What a special and very touching poem. Thank you, Deb, for sharing it with us. Senior cats are amazing. We adopted our Gracie and Zoe when they were 13 years old. Zoe lived to 17, and Gracie til 20. So much love packed into their years with us. XO
Our beloved cat was 3 when I joined the family. Now, my sweet Elvis is 16 and though he, like all of us alive, is progressing in age, he is and will always be my kitten. I adopted him at age 9, so he was already a mature cat. He still races up and down the hallway when the mood takes him, is meticulously clean, and lightning fast with da Bird. LONG live cats!
awesome poem Deb !! dai$y turned 20 in may, we are hoping she can make it to 21, so she can legally
buy a wee pint at the local pub 🙂 happy week ahead to all ~~~ 🙂 ♥
Beautiful poem.
I enjoyed reading your post with poem, as I can identify with it so much. Yes, until recently cats were supposedly senior at 7 years of age. I’m glad they moved the purrameters.
The only antidote we have is to document our kitties lives as much as possible. Looking back still brings some joy.
I, too, am thinking about my mortality having just hit 70 last month. I think Dani will be my last pet who arrived as a kitten. She will be 7 in January. Like, you, I would like to adopt a senior cat thereafter. ❤️
It is so amazing to me that your beautiful babies are seniors now! How can that be? What’s up with the time? With all the love and special care you give them I think they are beyond the conventional terms of “senior” :-). Looking forward to seeing them healthy and happy for many more years.
Brenda, of Tommy and Teaghan (only six years old already and I can’t believe it).
That was beautiful. My Joanie is 18 so definitely a senior.
That was beautiful Deb. They years go by so quickly. It’s really hard for me to believe that Simon and Seal are our elders now at age 7.
Mudpie is 10 now and it doesn’t seem possible. The years go by so, so fast.
What a lovely poem. With having an 18 year old, it really hit home.
Life is so short for our kitties, would they’d be able to be with us much longer…though well, then we would find other things to worry and fret over. The first kitty we had, came to us at at least age 7, who knows, but he graced our hime along with others for MANY wonderful years. He was like a grandpa to three kittens!
Right now or two pups are 5-1/2, and the older one is at least seven, maybe polder we are not sure. He could be nine or ten…but other than grey muzzle furs, he’s as nuts as the younger one, LOL!
I work with senior citizens, and there is much to learn from the, I think also from our senior pets. Esp those who need new forever homes, even if that forever may be short…
I now have three cats…usually have at least four; but i am old so have to start whittling down – The oldest is Wyatt..He came to me as a young – very naughty Burmese mix…But he aged rather at a youngest age due to going blind at about eight years old…which i found out is common for blue eyed cats.. He also has a bit of dementia. I usually have to show him his food and carry him to the bowl. The black cat, Zipper is around 6 years old and Zane, my white & black is only two and a half. Due to his being starved as a kitten (i found him abandoned as a young cat, ) he over age and is now quite a big, chunky boy.
You are so right. Senior cats never give up being kittens at heart.
I agree 100% with the revision of cat ‘ages’. I have seniors who, at 7 or 8 are bigger bundles of mischief than any youngster! Miranda is eleven and recently coped with an attack by a mad person with an arrow. 11 year olds are tough!