If you’re looking around on this site, chances are pretty good that you already have at least one cat or dog at home. Then I don’t have to tell you how great it is to have a furry friend in your house! Our two cats – Hepper (the company’s namesake) and Hudson are the Queen and King of our house.
This is the second home for both Hepper and Hudson. They were both adopted. Hudson is from New Hampshire, and you can read about Hepper’s NYC origins here.
Inviting a mid-life or elderly pet into your home is a loving and generous act. Providing for a cat or dog in need will earn you a special kind of love. They’ll become your family – the kind that doesn’t talk back!
Why Adopt a Pet from a Shelter?
- You’ll save two lives: the pet you adopt and the pet the shelter can take in as a result of your adoption.
- You’ll know what you’re getting: Many shelters and rescues provide behavioral assessments and vet checks on adoptable pets.
- Your perfect pet is waiting for you: 6-8 million cats and dogs enter shelters each year in addition to countless other species. 25-30% of shelter dogs are purebred.
- You’ll save money: “Free” pets are no bargain. Shelters and rescues usually cover initial veterinary costs.
- We recommend Petfinder.com to find your next pet. You can search their extensive database of pets that need a home here.
Another resource is Bestfriends.org. They have an adoption service as well as an amazing pet sanctuary. You can support them with a donation even if you don’t adopt.
#1 Reason to Adopt a Pet: Unconditional Love
Hepper and me ready for a nap.
With a little friend at home you’ll get unconditional love, endless entertainment, someone to care for, a warm (or squished) lap, someone to talk to, a friend to watch TV with, and on and on.
When I adopted my first cat I was just 23 and it was the biggest commitment I had ever made. Booker quickly became my best buddy and we had 15 years of adventures together. I still miss him terribly today, but his influence was what drove me to create the Hepper company, so his memories live on.
Do you have any great adoption stories? I’d love to hear how adopting a pet has changed your life.
Please leave your story in the comments on the blog post here.
Wishing you a new furry friend soon!
Jed
Hepper Founder/Designer
I adopted Mobert from a local farmer who took him from his mother at 3weeks of age, much too soon, and when he failed to thrive was going to just let him die. He was weak and frail and barely hanging onto a thread of life when I went to rescue him. No bigger than a soda can I nursed him every 45 minutes around the clock and willed him to live. Mobert today, 4 yrs later is a 200 lb pot bellied pig who lives in my house and has his own bedroom and is the light of my life, happy and healthy and as in love with me as I am with him. I also adopted 4 rescue dogs, 2 cats and 3 ducks, all coming from equally bad situations and beginnings and in desperate need of loving forever homes. the town I lived in found out I’d taken in a pig and gave me a citation and said I had to get rid of him, this was not even an option for me as when I adopt its for life. So I put my home up for sale and moved to the country to keep my precious pig now all my animals are happy and secure. All for the love of a pig!
I found my shipoo on Lap Dog Of New Mexico’s website. He was timid and scruffy. Now he is solid and strong and very fun loving and the best companion I could ever have imagined. Changed my life? Ask my kids.
My last 4 cats have been oldies, either from a shelter, or from friends. My friends say I run a kitty hospice, but I just love these old folks! They sleep, they eat, they poop, and they love to snuggle! They are too old to climb the curtains. and they don’t run across the bed a 100 times a night. Perfect companions.
I have 6 cats. All rescues of some sort. The youngest, maybe a yr old I picked her up a week ago from a family, who didn’t want her to influence her kittens that they were keeping. WHAT ?????. I got her for someone, that person has not contacted me about her. She is so tiny, she’s had two litters. She’s great. I lost one of my older cats in September. She was very sick. My boss’s tenant, took 3 feral kittens from their mother. The tenant was not taking care of them.I got one. She is one of the best. I was devastated after losing the other. I also have two yellow tabby sisters, Two torties. The oldest tortie, Crabby Abby. I got her from SPCA, 14 yrs ago. The other tortie, Widget I gave to my grandson, yrs ago. The other grandmother had her declawed. Then all of a sudden people in the house are allergic to cats. OK !! They are my family.
I think it is fine to suggest considering a shelter pet for one’s next pet, but please realize a kitten or puppy from a reputable breeder is a fine choice also. Most of these pets come already spayed or neutered and have been raised in an environment that gives greater probability they will become well adjusted pets. Whichever choice, the most important thing is to make sure one’s pet is spayed or neutered and is loved for life. Cheers!
I have been involved in animal rescue for most of my life.. And currently have 6 kitties and 4 pups (lost a kitty to lymphoma 2 weeks ago 🙁 ). All of my animals are rescues from the streets, shelters or puppy mill survivors. Only two have actually been babies when they joined my crazy family… It breaks my heart to see the seniors in shelters, scared and confused not knowing why they are there… My last adoption is of a 10 year old Pekingese we named Ted… He just turned 15 and is the heart and soul of the pack. Adoption is the only option in my home!
Mine is 14-year-old Morrison’s third (and last!) home. I adopted him from the Humane Society. He’s a lab/retriever mix. I adopted 9-year-old bassett hound/yellow lab mix Harry when his owner got a new job with long days, and felt that he needed to find a new home for him so Harry wouldn’t be alone all the time. I’m hoping he’ll never ask for him back. Major and Morley, my two 14-year-old cats, are brothers, adopted from a group called Just Strays, who found a litter of kittens with no mother.
I have a wonderful little pet family. I am their pet parent for the duration — a friend of mine once said we keep our pets “until they wear out”.
I have three cats all adopted. One I fell in love with right away after my dog passed away, he was for adoption in a petsmart and is an true angel.
Our second cat was a stray in our bushes. He was very sick and I could tell he wasn’t fixed, I knew he was either a stray or neglected outdoor cat. We took him and fixed him up. I was going to find him a home when he was healthy and decided to keep him instead. I was afraid he would have health issues and didn’t want someone putting him down because of that in a new home. I’m glad I’ve kept him because it turns out he has urinary tract disease and he required surgery. Also had many teeth pulled. Many people can’t afford some of the expensive vet care with these issues and I felt that I didn’t save him from dying on the streets to have him end up put down for his condition that is manageable, as so often owners feel they have to with this disease because of costs.
Our last cat came all the way from the Las Vegas, Sin City to the East coast. My mother got the cat from a family member who couldn’t bring her to their new house and they didn’t really have the time or money to care for her in the way she needed. She is very old, semi-feral. When my mother was moving back home, she didn’t know what to do with the cat she just got, other than a shelter. I knew they would just put her down because of her age and temperament so I had her brought over by plane. She has to be separate from the other cats because she is very unfriendly and with her age we decided it was better to allow her to have her own territory for as long as she has left. She was very untrusting, would hide and hiss at us but now a couple years later she does enjoy our company. I am very happy to see that she is happy now, as she spent most of her life hiding and not in contact with people in her previous home. Her affection for us means she really trusts us and I want her to content with the time she has left.
“RESCUED” has always been my favorite “breed” — and it comes naturally, as my family, on both sides, has always rescued and adopted for life, cats who find us. While I have adopted one beauty from a local shelter, almost all of the many cats in my life have always found me, and I know that when one is in need, that need should be met, so I do everything I can do love and care for cats for life. It’s a good question who rescues who, too!