I was just looking at these two and it got me thinking I would give them a home in a heart if I had the money and space (our flat is really small).

I definitely would give a home to a disabled/old animal. Even larger animals e.g goats, horses, cows etc etc if I had the land and the money. In the future I would love to open up a sanctuary/petting zoo for animals that need homes, including disabled and old ones

All animals deserve a second chance and its a shame that disabled/old ones get ignored for the "cuter" younger animals.

To be brutally honest I am not sure I could, the financial cost of an elderly dog is offset for us with the years of fun and laughter we have had with them from puppy hood onwards, I am not sure I could actually put in the hours of overtime I am at the moment for the care if I didn't have the memories pushing me on.

I am not proud of that but I am afraid that is it.

so long as i could afford to feed it & the vet bills i would in a heartbeat

I would without a shadow of a doubt.

To be honest I think i would always go for an older anilmal now, I love puppies BUT they are such hard work!!

Alot of the remoming shelters will make a contribution or even fully pay for any vets bills that an older animal will incur.

I don't think I would and I know that sounds horrible. If I'm truthful I couldn't for selfish reasons, I would hate to get attached to a pet for it to die not long after.
In terms of disabled animals, again I'm not sure. I don't know if I would have the necessary time and attention for an animal with severe problems.
Plus there are the vet bills, I probably couldn't afford any on going treatment.

I've actually got a 15 year old dog and he's blind now. He's very snappy too. I've had him from a pup but it's a hard thing to take in an elderly dog with these problems.

I've just been looking on a website and considering a 10 year old dog that is very similar to my elderly dog. He's a chi and I've always had chi's. Cookie my 15 year old is a chi. This dog has lost his owner and is very moody and snappy and doesn't like much love exactly like Cookie. I've been sat here considering him.

I couldn't take any more now, but do have a soft spot for " hard-to-home " cats. Go for it!

I know that at least one branch of Cats Protection will put older cats on permanant foster - you pay the food, they pay the vet bills. If you are serious about wanting to help older animals, ring your branch and ask how you can. Some older cats should not go out, so a flat is fine.

As to a sanctuary / petting zoo - noble ideas but there are all sorts of ways they can go wrong, from financial ruin to children picking up bugs.

I would have said yes till a few weeks ago when we lost our dog, whilst we weren't looking to rehome a puppy we did want a younger dog so hopefully he will be with us for much longer than we had our previous dog

That's very good that they pay vet fees. The thing that puts a lot of people off is the vet fees when they get older. And insuring an elderly dog can be hard and insureres that do take them charge a bomb.I would have no hesitation if vet fees were free or even made cheaper for people who take in an elderly rescue.

We foster older cats and I love it. It does hurt like crazy when one dies but it upsets me even more to think about an elderly cat being left unloved when its owner dies.

We both work but the local branch are happy for us to have 2 cats with us so they're company for each other while we're out. They don't want to go out much so they're happy to have a warm sofa to sleep on and their doting foster carers coming home in the evenings to pamper them.

As soon as one of us retires and can be at home during the day, we'll take in an old dog. It's something I've always wanted to do since I had my first rescue dog 35 years ago.

The sanctuary/zoo was just a passing thought one day maybe when I'm a bit older (I'm only 22 at the mo)...As for children picking up bugs, that could happen anywhere in any zoo or farm or even in the home.

There was an organisation called "The Old Cat People" that helped to rehome elderly cats eg when their owners died.

Their website website is down, I hope they are still going

http://www.rescuedirectory.co.uk/ani...powys-439.html

Does anybody know?