Yes, kittens are adorable and tiny, but elderly cats are equally wonderful.
To give our older feline pals the love they deserve, Laura Cassiday, 29, decided to start her own retirement home for old and sick cats who would otherwise be put down.
Laura couldn’t bear to see so many cats being euthanised in shelters in Baltimore due to lack of space.
She began fostering the cats until they found forever homes or passed away, and now she and her husband Cody, 32, look after up to 10 OAP cats at any one time.
They’ve helped more than 100 cats since they started the home five years ago.
Laura said: ‘I take on elderly cats people don’t want.
‘They’re the ones that are first in line to be euthanised because they are old or they have health problems and they are the hardest to re-home because of that.
‘We have a huge overpopulation issue in shelters here in the US and they are forced to put down the animals that can’t be re-homed to make enough space, it’s terrible.
‘I think of my house as a retirement home for cats, between leaving the shelter to finding their forever home.
‘I try to get to know them really well and know their whole story.
‘Most of them have limited time to get out of the shelter before they are euthanised, because of their age or medical issues.
‘I usually pick the worst of the worst and when they are with me I try to treat them as best as I can.
‘We play with them, teach them new tricks, they have toys to play with and places to hang out in the house, we even get their health back on track and do things like teach them to walk again by doing physio.’
All residents of the retirement home are treated to a life of love and luxury, complete with new toys, being taken out for walks, and plenty of tasty treats.
The project started when Laura took in a cat called Thomas, who was riddled with health issues, but defied vets’ warnings that he wouldn’t survive the next few months to live to the ripe old age of 27.
Realising elderly cats still have potential, the generous animal lover felt inspired to help others like Thomas – but had to convince Cody, who was adamant that they could only look after a limited number of cats at once. He’s drawn the line at a maximum of 10 cats in the house at any one time.
Now the couple estimate they spend £200 a month on the cats and have to buy six stone of cat litter each month to provide for all their residents.
They regularly need to fundraise due to pricey vet bills, and are lucky enough to receive donations from their supportive online followers.
Laura said: ‘Thomas kind of gave me my mission, he had so many health problems, they thought he was only going to live another month, but he was with me for a year and a half.
‘I took him on when no one else would and it taught me that there aren’t many people who are willing to take on a cat with so many problems.
‘It’s still difficult to re-home the cats because of that so I try to write them a bio to reflect their personality.
‘I had a cat called Topaz who had an overactive thyroid so she was on the chubby side and had a bit of a sassy attitude so I compared her to the singer Lizzo.
‘It worked a charm – she went off to her forever home within a few weeks.
‘Getting them re-homed is what keeps me going, seeing them go off to a loving family or new owner and hearing the updates about how they’re doing makes it all worth it.’
Have you dedicated your life to looking after animals? Get in touch to share your story by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/16/animal-lover-creates-retirement-home-elderly-cats-12067869/
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