Mr. Bingley

Why We Adopted an Older Cat

When my boyfriend and I were finally ready (we got a place that allowed a cat) to have our own cat there wasn’t any doubt in our hearts that we knew that we wanted to adopt an older cat. About 2 years ago my boyfriend was living with a roommate who brought his old cat to the house. He left this cat locked up in his room saying that the cat was too frightened to come out and he didn’t really like anyone anyways. After about 2 or 3 weeks of the cat being locked up in the room I FINALLY convinced his roommate to leave the door open during the day so the cat could at least TRY to come out and explore their home. I would come over, see the cat and yes it would run away. My boyfriend’s room was in the basement and after awhile the cat would start coming downstairs. My boyfriend and I already bought this cat some treats and when we would see him downstairs we would shake the bag to get his attention. It didn’t take long for the cat to finally start coming into his room. He was shy cat and an angry cat. He would hiss at us, swat, but with time all that began to stop. We would leave the door open in the middle of the night and wake up with him sleep on or beside us. As time went on it became clear who the cat liked better because he would be in the basement all the time hanging out with us. This cat was 8 years old and still we managed to completely change his attitude. He was a lot friendlier with us, he still got mad sometimes but it was like he was just putting on an act (holding up his reputation or something lol). When his roommate moved he took the cat with him. As sad as we were, at least we helped to give that cat a second chance, even if it was only for a short while. It was that cat, Chaos, that fully convinced me that I wanted to one day save another older cat.

On October 19th, 2012 my boyfriend and I went to pick up the love of our life, Mr. Bingley (aka Fatty or Cheese Wiz (he’s got “personality”). Originally when I went to MEOW I was hoping for a bit older cat than Mr. Bingley (at least 9 years old) which they guess that he is about 4-6 years old. But when I looked through the pictures of cats, Mr. Bingley’s chubby face melted my heart. I knew the moment I looked at his photo that this was going to be our cat. When we went to go meet him at his foster home he was so gentle and sweet that within a half hour of meeting him I told his foster Mom that we would love to take him. After about a week before MEOW could release him we finally got to bring our loveable ball of fur home. We have had Mr. Bingley just over 3 months now and he is 100% our kitty-cat! When we first brought him home we left him in the starter room and didn’t want to bug him too much (even though it was soooooooooo hard).

Mr. Bingley was not scared at all, it took him no time at all to be comfortable with us. Within a week he was following us all around the house. We can pick him up any which way and hold him tightly. He snuggles us in bed and not once has he ever attacked or hissed at us. We can bring friends and family over and he doesn’t shy away at all. He lets strangers pick him up and cuddle him and purrs brightly. My boyfriend and I couldn’t be happier with our big ball of fur. We want everyone to know that any cat with enough love and attention WILL turn out to be an awesome cat, no matter how old they are!!! If you’re considering adopting at cat DO IT! Especially an older cat. You will be giving the cats final years the best years of their lives. You shall never regret helping save a life!

Sincerely,

Chicken and Beans
(Ryan and Sabrina)