CATAWBA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA – NEWS AND COMMENT: In terms of cat adoptions, I think that the combined age of this woman and the cat she adopted is the highest on record. There should be a Guinness records for that! It’s a great little story and a great matchup. It reinforces the belief that no matter what age you are there is a cat companion for you and vice versa.
This special cat adoption of the oldest cat in a North Carolina animal shelter, the Humane Society of Catawba County, is a match made in heaven. Gus was a 19-years-old rescue cat at the shelter. His previous owner was heartbroken. They had to give him up to the shelter because of unforeseen work commitments.
The shelter did the usual checks and found that for a 19-year-old cat he was in “exceptional health” according to Jane Bower, the shelter’s Executive Director.
It seems that they were prepared to look after Gus until he passed over the rainbow bridge but Bower admitted that that would not have been an ideal arrangement especially at Gus’s age.
The 101-year-old lady’s family were searching for an elderly cat. They came to the center to find one. Bower said: “The adopter’s family contacted us asking to adopt a senior cat for their mother. She had recently lost her cat and although they had given her a stuffed cat, she wasn’t happy because it didn’t purr.”
The shelter was initially cautious because of the age of both the adopter and the cat but the family said that they were willing to look after the cat on behalf of their mother. Gus has settled beautifully into his new home with Penny who said that he is eating like a horse!
This is a really beautiful picture of Gus with Penny taken by The Humane Society of Catawba County. What a beautiful pair they are. Penny looks as healthy as Gus by the way.
The shelter shared their good news story on their Facebook page on September 30 last year. It reads: “Our [hearts] are full with this beautiful adoption. Our 19-year-old (133 in human years) great-grandPAW, has found the loving arms of his new mamma who is the ripe young age of 101. Congratulations Gus-Gus. Wishing you the best days ahead watching squirrels and sharing your love and purrs.”
Bower stressed that they still advocate for cats of Gus’s age and do all they can to find them a new home. This is a brilliant example of their excellent work.
Source: Newsweek.
SOME MORE ON ELDERLY CATS:
List of oldest living and deceased domestic cats 2023
Infographic on spotting joint discomfort in cats
Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.