My amazing cat
 

I adopted a cat that had been stray a few months ago and she is amazing! No behaviour problems apart from the usual hissy fits at first with my other cats but that was nothing and she is sooo loving and co-operative. This idea that older abandoned cats have tons of problems just isn't true. Kittens can develop all sorts of things and are way more trouble for the first year than an older cat. Anyway, just wanted to put my two cents in and remind people that older cats are just as loving and so much worth adopting! Especially when you think cats can live fifteen years and sometimes longer an older cat isn't old for a long time.

Marielle,how very true...thank's for reminding everyone:p
I have had cats live to be 17-19yrs and they only started getting"old"the last couple of years.
Many people unfortunately don't seem to realize what a long-time commitment a kitten is:mad:

The other point people miss is that you can pretty much know what personality traits are dominant in an adult cat before you bring him/her home. You can't do that with a kitten as easily and kittenhood itself lasts for such a short time really. By six months they're already more adult than baby so in my humble opinion, older cats are the special ones, at least mine is :-)

I couldn't agree more! There is nothing cuter than a 6 week old kitten, but they don't stay that way very long, and they can be royal pains in the butt! I know - I have one here right now. :p

Nearly every cat I've ever had was a stray or feral,and ranged in age from 1 to 5 years old.

One great thing about strays is that they aren't frightened of everything, as cats who have been raised in the house often are. They also usually are pretty cool about having other cats around, as they often live in colonies outside and are used to them.

The only problem I've ever had with any of them was their obsession with food, but even that usually fades when they realize they won't starve anymore.
My feral cats were (and are) the best - never even jumped on a counter or table, and never beg for food when I'm eating. Not being raised in a house has it's benefits.;)

Little kittens get adopted from us very quickly, but many people know the charm of older cats - and don't want their houses wrecked and their legs climbed - and request adults.

And yes, they can live a long time - my last cat lived til he was 20!

I have had the obsession with food problem with my new girl actually. What we did was stop the free feeding with all of our cats and put everyone on a schedule. This way she knows when her meals will be and is getting less frantic about the whole issue. If I leave food out she will just eat and eat. Honestly though the feeding schedule is much better as I can really keep track of how much and what everyone is eating. It's a help when there are different diet requirements too so that was a good change anyway.

I agree with you 100%.