Devoted Norfolk cat fan Becky Piggott is always drawn to an OAP; an Old Age Puss, that is.
Becky, from Watlington, Norfolk, is a devoted animal lover. But unlike some, her eyes aren’t first drawn to the cute and playful kittens at the cat charity where she works. Becky is attracted to the more mature moggies.
Becky, aged 37, has a record of caring for these furry OAPs, having adopted 10 oldies with a combined adoption age of 161 years. “I am absolutely passionate about older cats,’ she said. “I’m currently the proud owner of a young-at-heart 15-year-old Brigadier Monty Bojangles.”
Mature Moggies Day 2021 (16 June) is a time for celebration for Becky, a Senior Cat Care Assistant at Cats Protection’s Downham Market Adoption Centre. She wants to encourage more people not to overlook the older cats.
She said: “My mum came from a farming background and my childhood was spent around animals. We had a huge assortment of pets including dogs, cats and guinea pigs. I was 18 when I adopted my first elderly cat of my own. Sooty was also 18 and had been given up when her owners decided to go travelling.
“I was doing work experience at a small rescue charity where Sooty had been handed in. They thought she was too old to rehome and over the months we became very close. Eventually I persuaded the manager to let me take her home and from that moment on, I knew I would always have a mature moggy in my life.”
Sooty lived until the grand old age of 21, after which Becky adopted Bamber (16 years), Pippa (around 18 years), Girlie (15 years), Delilah (17 years), Raymond Hubbard (16 years), Dave (16 years), Gibby (19 years), Sophie (13 years) and current resident Brigadier Monty Bojangles, who was aged 13 when went to live with Becky.
Becky said: “Offering a loving retirement home to an older cat is incredibly rewarding. Older cats have just as much to offer as kittens. They tend to stay closer to home, are very affectionate and provide amazing companionship. With improvements in cat care, the quality of life for older moggies has greatly increased so people should consider adopting one.”
Cats Protection has created Mature Moggies Day to remind people of the benefits of adopting a senior kitizen, to share inspirational stories and provide information and advice. The national charity’s adoption figures show that older cats aged 11+ take an average of one month to find a new home – more than three times as long as kittens, who take just eight days.
To understand why older cats are being overlooked in favour of fresher-faced felines, Cats Protection commissioned a survey of 2,000 people who own or have previously owned cats, which showed that 23% of respondents would consider any cat aged over five years as ‘older’, whereas a five-year-old cat is considered to be only 36 in human years and a cat generally isn’t classed as a senior until it reaches 11 years of age.
Under a quarter of survey respondents said they would be likely to consider an older cat, compared to 68% of respondents who would be likely to consider getting a kitten.
The top reasons given for not considering an older cat were that it might not live long (72%), it would be more likely to get ill (56%) and it would cost money if unwell (40%). Almost a fifth (19%) of people who were unlikely to consider an older cat said that one of the reasons was that older cats are not very playful.
