Should I Adopt a Cat or a Kitten?
With Maturity Comes Peace
Please consider the following:
- A kitten is only a kitten for a very short period of time.
- Adult cats don't require constant supervision - kittens do.
- Adult cats don't run the Indy 500 in the middle of the night.
- Kittens can be destructive: Toppling plants, chewing wires, climbing your curtains and your legs.
- Adult cats have a developed immune system. A kitten's immune system is fragile and its health can never be predicted.
- The younger the kitten, the less reliable the Feline Leukemia/FIV test is.
- Adults only need booster shots every 3 years. Kittens require a much larger financial commitment in their first year.
- Adults will already be neutered.
- You cannot "mold a kitten's personality". Each cat's personality is unique. Adult cats' personalities are developed, so "what you see is what you get".
- Adult cats are more settled, often more affectionate and want more lap time.
- Adult cats have LOTS of love to give!
- Adopting an adult cat is a great way to teach your children compassion and unselfishness.
- There is nothing more satisfying than the grateful purr of a content, mature cat who knows he's loved and will never be abandoned again.
Financial
Adult cats will be fully vaccinated. A kitten will only have its 1st shot, and will need 2 more boosters in 4-6 weeks ($25-$30 ea.) A kitten will only have its first deworming, and will need 1 or more treatments ($10 ea.), plus fecal parasite checks ($13 ea.) Rather than declawing a kitten, we may have an adult that is already declawed, saving you the expense ($100) and the hassle, and saving a cat the trauma.
Personality
Kittens only stay small a very few months and as they mature their true personalities emerge. A cat is born with a certain personality, and it is what it is. There is no such thing as "molding a kitten's personality."
If you want a cat of a certain personality adopt an older teenager or an adult. This way, what you see is what you get. This is the cat that will be part of your family for the next 15-20 years - not the little kitten that was so cute!
Physical Characteristics
Likewise, it is impossible to predict what a kitten will physically grow into as an adult. Blue-eyed kittens grow into green-eyed adults. Small kittens grow into jumbo cats or seemingly large kittens may turn out to be petite adults.
Destructiveness
Kittens are very energetic and playful. They do not understand the difference between climbing up the wonderful cat tree that you bought for them or climbing up your expensive draperies or your pants leg - or even your bare leg!
They do not understand the difference between batting around their jingle ball or batting around your pearl earrings or batting your favorite vase off of the shelf. Kittens wrestle and play very aggressively, are easily stimulated and need constant attention. Kittens, especially when left alone, may destroy your furniture, your phone wires, your plants or your shoes. Adult cats are calmer and are not as likely to destroy your furnishings or keep you awake at night.
Young Children
By far, the most common victims of animal bites and scratches are children. Kittens are still learning how rough to play and what it means for humans to have no fur.