102-year-woman falls for shelter cat and adopts him...

[SheilaT]

10. I understand why you might feel that way.

When we bought our house in Boulder, it came with a cat who was about ten years old at the time. She lived about six more years. A year after she left our lives, I went to the shelter and adopted a three year old cat. Nine months later another cat, who was just under a year. Ten or so years after that a cat showed up on our front doorstep and adopted us, and although we never knew for certain, I eventually decided she was even older than my first cat.

In the end, I had the first two cats for nearly fourteen years each, and the other cat, the stray for only three years. I adored them all, and given my personal experience I would be willing to take on older cats again. Also, I am already 66, and since I am doing lots of travelling at this point in my life, it will probably be ten years down the road before I'm settled enough to have cats again.

Nonetheless, it's easy to understand why someone else would be reluctant to spend so short a time with such a wonderful creature.