November 12, 2021 – Seal Beach, CA – It’s time to celebrate Senior Cat Month! We honor these precious elders and the people who care for them.

We celebrate those we have rescued, like dear Miss Arizona, an elder gal with numerous health problems including intestinal lymphoma and diabetes from the steroids she had to take to control the lymphoma. Understandably, her health needs were beyond the capacity of the public shelter to address, and she was on the list to be euthanized. Today, she is safe and loved in a foster home.

And we remember with love those we rescued who have moved on. We like to think their last months – even years in some cases – were their best. They were loved, they were mourned, and they are missed.

Some were abandoned by the people they trusted just when they needed them the most, others lost and found sick and suffering. Their bodies were weak but their will was strong, and a spark of life remained. All they wanted was someone to care for them, someone to care about them.


“Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

— Dylan Thomas

The crowded public shelter environment is no place for older, sick cats and their lives would have ended prematurely there. We rescued them from that fate, got them medical care, placed them into foster homes.

An old cat is a blessing. If you have an older cat in your life, or if you’ve rescued or are fostering one, thank you! As you look at them, as you find the spirit in their eyes, remember, they were kittens once, too. Their needs have changed but their longing for love has not.

So rave on, dear senior kitties, let your love burn as long as it can.

We would be so appreciative if you could help with Miss A’s medical bills! We love to tell her how many people who’ve never even met her care about her!


About Helen Sanders CatPAWS
Founded in 2010 to continue the legacy of Helen Sanders, who practiced and advocated trap-neuter-return (TNR) for feral community cats ever since the 1990s. CatPAWS rescues at risk cats from public shelters, finds adoptive homes, provides support to the community with education, low or no-cost spay/neuter vouchers, traveling kitten therapy program, and the DIY kitten care project. Visit www.helensanderscatpaws.com, CatPAWS Facebook page, or call 562-280-4450 to learn more or get involved.