November is National Adopt a Senior Pet Month, and it serves as a reminder to every potential pet owner that older dogs and cats need homes too. Most people look for puppies or kittens when they’re looking to add a pet to their household, but few consider senior pets.

As a result, many of these older animals end up languishing in shelters instead of living out the rest of their lives with a loving family. And we think that this is a complete shame. After all, while kittens and puppies might be cute, older animals have their own list of benefits to offer a family, including being easier to handle.

The History of National Adopt a Senior Pet Month

This month has been around for a few years now. It was originally created by the ASPCA to raise the public’s awareness about the importance of adopting older animals. After all, it’s relatively easy for most shelters to find homes for their puppies and kittens, but it’s incredibly difficult for them to find homes for older dogs.

We suppose that’s just human nature to want to adopt a baby animal, but that doesn’t diminish our responsibility to ensure that our older pets also find good homes.

Some Important Facts About Senior Pets

We’re not here to guilt anyone into adopting an older pet. Let us be clear about that point. What we are trying to do is to raise people’s awareness about the need to find homes for senior pets. With that goal in mind, we thought the perfect way to observe National Adopt a Senior Pet Month is by listing some of the facts that we know about senior pets below.

• Cats and smaller dogs tend to be considered senior when they’re 7 years old.
• Larger dogs tend to be considered senior when they’re 6 years old.
• Contrary to what people commonly believe, senior dogs can learn new tricks.
• Senior pets are the last to be adopted at shelters, and it’s common for them to never be adopted.

Observing National Adopt a Senior Pet Month

Anyone who’s not sold on the prospect of adopting a senior pet should take the time to check out some older animals during this month. Take a look at them and see how much calmer and well-behaved older dogs tend to be.

Then, if you can, adopt one of these older pets and add them to your household. We’re sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Once you find the perfect senior pet, just be sure to let everyone know about this month using the hashtag #AdoptASeniorPetMonth on social media.