As an old cat adopter I want to add one thing to this. Yes, it hurts to lose them when their time comes, but something I didn’t expect is that after the mourning I’ve always started to feel a sense of urgency to find the next old timer to rescue. I’ll remember the time and love I had from the ones before and I curse how much time was wasted while they waited in a shelter for someone to come for them. Why couldn’t I have found them sooner? They deserved so much more love and comfort, where the hell was I? Then we go out and find our new friends that have been waiting for us for so long and our family gets better again.

It’s always tough knowing that our time with them is short, but that’s true of any animal relationship. In the end we’re left with the love for them which in my experience never diminishes. We may say more tearful goodbyes when connecting with the old ones, but over time the wonderful memories and love in our lives just accumulates more and more.

I agree the responsibility (and occasional expense) of caring for older animals is not always in everyone’s capabilities, but I implore you not to avoid considering welcoming one (or more) into your life solely because of aversion to the pain that comes from losing them. The love they give outweighs it a thousandfold.