Older cats find new homes with, well, older cat lovers

Helen Schnee was lonely.
The Massapequa resident’s husband had died, and her two children were grown and had families of their own. Her house was just too quiet. It was her son, Arthur, who suggested that she get a cat. Not a kitten, but an older cat, to keep her company.
“She was a little reluctant, saying ‘Who will take care of the cat if I die?’ but I told her her granddaughter would,” Arthur said. “We all have cats.”
Arthur called Bideawee, which finds homes for rescued animals, and it recommended the Patricia H. Ladew Foundation in Oyster Bay. Helen, Arthur and his daughter, Julia, who is home from college for the summer, went to a “Senior Prom” at the Ladew Cat Sanctuary, on Hamilton Avenue, on June 11. Helen said it was the best decision she ever made.
Holding Baby, an 11-year-old female tabby, Schnee said that her new pet was friendly and warm, and added that the cat needed a good home. “What I like about her is she’s calm,” Helen said. “I want a little friend at home.”

The adoption event, which had a prom-like atmosphere, highlighted the foundation’s Seniors for Seniors program, which connects senior citizens with senior cats. People are often wary about adopting older cats because of the potential for large veterinary bills, so the Ladew Foundation covers future medical expenses for cats 8 and older. And an ailing cat can be brought to the foundation for treatment by its veterinarian, Susan Whittred — who is also its executive director — or another veterinarian approved by the foundation. Whittred has been with the organization for 19 years.
“That’s one of the reasons why we like this program,” Arthur Schnee said. “There are no medical expenses, and Mom will have someone to call if there’s a problem.”
Additionally, if the adoption isn’t satisfactory, the cat can be returned.
Helen, wearing a wrist corsage, left the prom with Baby after they had their photo taken to mark the day. Her son and granddaughter carried a gift basket filled with cat treats and a bag of litter out to the car. Outside, a large group of volunteers, who manned tables offering popcorn, cotton candy and bottled water, wished the Schnees well, and said goodbye to Baby.
The Ladew Foundation is a state-registered shelter/rescue facility with a mission: “Reducing feline suffering by providing housing for homeless cats rescued from municipal shelters, sterilizing those stray and feral cats to reduce overpopulation and by providing necessary medical treatment.”
The cats come from Animal Care and Control, a Manhattan-based nonprofit that finds homes for abandoned animals, and from municipal shelters on Long Island. They are vaccinated, tested for the feline leukemia and immunodeficiency viruses, sterilized and microchipped.
The Ladew Cat Sanctuary has been home to cats and kittens since 1975, when Patricia Ladew, an heiress to the Standard Oil fortune and an artist who had been rescuing cats in the New York-Long Island area with her friends, decided to use her inheritance to buy the old house. She paid two caretakers who lived upstairs, and the downstairs was reserved for homeless and special-needs cats. She died in 2002, which was when her estate established the Patricia H. Ladew Foundation Inc. to ensure that the sanctuary would continue to be funded and sustained.
Whittred and the Ladew board of directors decided to renovate the house in 2021, hiring Square Paws, a company specializing in making unique furniture and environments for cats. The house’s interior now looks like a feline resort. The rooms, warm and welcoming, include a 1960s-style recreation room with a console television, which is always playing one of the programs on Youtube, referred to as cat television. The living room has a faux fireplace, a grandfather clock, a mid-century modern “captain’s desk” and a climbable corner table lamp.
In the kitchen there is a faux double wall oven, a retro “catified” telephone, a bright red retro refrigerator and a cat dining table. The objective, according to Square Paws, was to make it seem like the cats were just an average suburban family that owned the house.
Jordan Salvit has been on Ladew’s board for seven years. He lives in Westchester, but said he didn’t mind the drive. “Finding a quality organization like Ladew is rare,” he said.
“It’s easy to travel for something meaningful.”
Salvit’s experience with Ladew began when he agreed to foster a diabetic cat five years ago. He has adopted three cats from the foundation since, taking the last one home when the coronavirus pandemic began.
“Susan has done a fantastic job expanding the program,” Salvit said of Whittred. “And our goal is to expand the program further.”
The atmosphere was festive at the Senior Prom, where, ultimately, 11 cats were adopted. Nearby, other cats could be seen walking on an outdoor enclosed run or in the “catio,” a playground that was built just for them.
“Our cats have year-round access to fresh air and the ability to explore high cat walks for safe bird watching,” the Ladew website states. “They can also be tantalized by a butterfly garden, cross rope bridges, relax on a swing, chase leaves and/or sunbathe to the soothing sounds of wind chimes.”
To find out how to adopt a cat or for a tour of the cat sanctuary, go to TheLadewCatSanctuary.org, or call (516) 922-2287.