It's been almost 6 months since I posted for advice about adopting
adult cats, and I'm overdue for an update.  We adopted two adult boys
listed on Petfinders, and here's what's going on with them today.

"Smitty" (blue point siamese mix) and his brother were dumped at a
local kill shelter, and rescued by the no-kill shelter that we adopted
him from.  His brother was already adopted, or we would have taken them
both together.  Smitty's about 10 years old, and he weighs 20 solid
lbs.  He has the biggest frame/large bone structure that I've ever seen
on a cat, and the vet says his weight is healthy for him. His chest is
so big that he looks like a bulldog from the front.  In spite of his
size, he has a tiny high pitched voice, which is so unexpected and
funny.  He's not as vocal as a typical meezer.

Smitty had a senior blood panel (everything looked fine), and major
teeth cleaning and extractions.  The vet said that his gum disease was
so serious that his back teeth were ready to fall out on their own.
His breath had been putrid, but after the cleaning and extractions, he
is now kissing sweet.

He is the most gentle cat I've ever had, and loves to squeeze as much
of himself as possible on a lap and snooze, and is always up for a
belly rub. He doesn't mind having his claws trimmed, which I usually do
while he's snoozing on my lap, and he purrs the whole time.  It breaks
my heart to think that someone could actually dump this fantastic boy,
and it makes me a little sad that I know nothing of his past - such as
his real name; that we forced him to have a new name.  The shelter
folks called him "Big Daddy", and that name simply wouldn't do.  He has
adjusted well to his new forever home, and is as good as can be except
for an occasional foray onto the dining room table.  Sometimes, it a
hand going to pet him comes in too fast, he cringes a little, as if
he's afraid of being hit.  I hate to think of what happened to him in
the past, and we are teaching him that there is no hitting and the
hands will never deliver anything but love (and food).  I believe he's
learning that.  His favorite thing is drinking water directly from the
spigot, so we bought him a Drinkwell fountain, which he loves.

"Alex" is a Maine Coon mix who had been at the shelter for over a year.
He was rescued from a hoarder, and is about 2 - 3 years old.  Alex was
pitiful looking at the shelter.  He had lost over half of his fur,
either from flea allergy and/or stress, we think.  From his arms back
to his hind legs (except the feet and half his tail), he was hairless.
The skin looked clear and healthy, though.  He was also in a possible
feline herpes flare, and he kept his eyes squinted and 3rd lidded.  Our
vet started him on L-lysine, and within a few weeks  his eyes started
looking more normal.  Also, peachfuzz fur started growing in, and he
stopped looking so unwell.

Today, his coat is nearly all filled out, he has huge beautiful and
wide open green eyes, and looking at him, one would never know he had
any problems. He's a lot more high strung than Smitty and is a very
active, busy and curious boy.  He loves getting into boxes and popping
out to surprise Smitty.  We have cat toys all over the house, and he
plays with all of them, but the rings from milk jug lids are his
all-time favorite.

He's a large graceful boy, currently weighing in at 16 lbs and we think
he's still slowly growing. It's a joy to watch him go vertical upwards
to the top of his 5 foot tall cat tree.  Alex LOVES to be petted, and
his purr is so loud that we call it his "turbo-purr."  He can't be
held, though, and trimming his claws is out of the question.  He
absolutely freaks out when his feet are touched.  The vet trims his
claws when Alex is there for a visit, but 99% of the time he only claws
where he's supposed to, so it's a non-issue.

The boys have strongly bonded, and they are so responsive to each other
and share much mutual grooming, and often snooze nestled together, whic
is too cute for words. They have added so much joy to our lives, and I
always look forward to seeing them when I get home from work.

Thank you for your words of encouragement and support helping me decide
to adopt adult cats.  I would do this again in a heartbeat.

Lee