Five Reasons to Adopt a Shelter Pet {PLUS, a GIVEAWAY!}

Both of our cats have been adopted from local shelters and now that we've had that experience, I can't imagine welcoming an animal into our family any other way. Today I'm partnering with evercare to share five reasons to adopt a shelter pet. Plus, I've got a great giveaway for you, too!

Adopting Our Cats from a Shelter

After getting married, having a baby, and buying a house, we decided it was time to add to our family. We were in search of a kitten because we knew our daughter would LOVE a tiny cat to snuggle. However, we got to our local shelter and they didn't have any kittens. There were dogs, cats, and a few small animals. Unfortunately me and my husband have pretty severe allergies to dogs, so while we love them we couldn't take any home. We decided to visit the cats and pretty quickly fell in love with a big guy named Teddy.

We had a couple of concerns because he was already five years old. Would he be set in his ways and hard to get along with? Plus, he'd never been around kids before and grew up on a farm, so I wondered how he would do indoors with an overbearing two year old. We actually left the shelter that night without adopting him, and I cried all the way home. The next day, I called the humane society and made a deposit immediately, because it was clear that he was supposed to be part of our family. We picked him up that day, and after just a couple days of warming up, he's been the sweetest cat ever!

Teddy has been the BIGGEST blessing to our family, and we can't imagine life without him! A little over a year after we adopted him, we felt called to bring another cat into our family. We knew that we wanted to adopt again, and as soon as we laid eyes on Mittens, it was clear who we were bringing home. Our daughter actually said "look, it's Teddy Junior!" Indeed, Mittens looks exactly like Teddy, but about half his size with white paws. Mittens has fit seamlessly into our family and Teddy loves having another warm body to cuddle and clean!

5 Reasons to Adopt a Shelter Pet

After adopting from a shelter twice, I can't imagine adding to our pet family any other way. Here are five reasons you should consider adopting a shelter pet!

1. These animals will love you unconditionally. After we adopted Teddy, I was a little nervous. Would he be gentle or would he bite and scratch, which I was mostly worried about with our daughter. Would he wake us up at the crack of dawn or poop all over our house and make us regret ever considering a pet? Well, the only thing I can say is, I feel like we matched up with Teddy for a reason. Since the day he came home with us, he has been nothing but gentle, sweet, and respectful (if you can call a cat respectful!). I would honestly say he treats us like he's so grateful that we took him home. I have heard so many similar stories from people who have adopted animals from shelters, that they just are so, SO loving.
2. They need you. While our shelter is no-kill, it's still devastating to read some of the card tags and see "Teddy has been here for almost six months now and would love to find a good home to call his own!" I think this is especially true with older animals because most people (us included, previously!) head into a shelter looking for a young pet. It hurts my heart to visit a shelter and see all of the forlorn looking pets who just want to be loved.
3. It's smart math. Before adopting from a shelter, we considered getting a cat from a local family. They were actually giving the kittens away, but after adding up the cost of vaccines, spay or neuter, and initial vet visits, it was actually cheaper for us to adopt from a shelter. Teddy came with updated vaccines, was neutered, and we also got a coupon for a free first vet visit. Now, he did end up having ear mites after we adopted him but that cost was still minimal compared to what we would have paid if we got a kitten who needed everything done. Plus, once cats reach a year old at our shelter, they're priced cheaper than the kittens. Mittens wasn't quite a year old when we adopted him, but it was still cheaper to adopt him than a cat outside a shelter. Let's not even get into the cost of animals purchased from pet stores!
4. Shelters are more humane than breeders or mills. Now, I'm not talking small homes that raise animals as part of their family-to me, that's not a 'breeder'. I'm talking large breeding facilities that are forcing procreation to drive a profit. The animals that come from these places often end up in shelters, which is heartbreaking. Our local shelter is filled with amazing employees and volunteers who really want to find the right family for each animal.
5. Adopting a 'seasoned' pet is easier on you. We thought we wanted a kitten because they're just so cute and cuddly. Plus, we thought we could train them 'our way' so they would fit in with our family. What we didn't think about was the convenience of adopting older animals! Our cats were already potty trained when we took them home, and we didn't have to deal with them biting and scratching everything while they were young kittens. Win, win!

Even though we made a pretty quick and easy decision to adopt our cats from a shelter, that doesn't mean I didn't have hesitations. One of the biggest things I worried about was allergies. Along with bad reactions to dogs, I've had a mild cat allergy since college and I was a little concerned I'd be overwhelmed with the dander. However, that didn't keep my bleeding heart from wanting to adopt ALL the animals at the shelter!

As soon as we adopted Teddy we got a cat brush and I've tried to keep our house clean. I vacuum almost every day but I still find cat hair on my clothes, especially when I'm wearing black. I also still get a little itchy and stuffed up if I don't wash my hands after snuggling the cats, but things have drastically improved just over the past week. Why, you ask? Well, I discovered evercare® lint rollers! These lint rollers are the BEST.

While most of our floors are hardwood or laminate, our stairs are carpeted and I just hate vacuuming them. I try to do it at least a few times a week, but even still I know that's where a lot of the cat hair ends up. Lately I've been using my evercare Pet Mega Lint Roller, and it's been the perfect solution. The lint roller sheets are ten inches wide so I only have to make a couple rolls on each step to collect the hair. Plus, they're SO sticky! I'm actually pretty horrified by what the Mega Roller was able to pick up on just a couple of my stairs.

The handle extends to 43" with a simple twist, which is great for stairs or rolling an area rug. Using a Mega Lint Roller makes so much more sense than dragging the vacuum out every day for small areas like this. It comes with 25 sheets which should last us awhile, but refills are available for when we run out!

Another one of my favorite evercare products is the Fur Erase Extreme Stick Plus Lint Roller. We've got a dark brown polyester couch and the cats' hair gets embedded very easily. When we have people over, I always find myself apologizing for the hair that clings to their clothes. Even after vacuuming, I can still use the Fur Erase to pull more hair up from the cushions.

I use the Fur Erase brush to pull the fur out of the couch and then use the lint roller side to collect it. It's much faster and easier than pulling out the vacuum. Plus, because the roller is so sticky, it really grabs every piece of hair.

evercare carries many types of lint rollers depending on your needs. The Giant Pet Extreme Stick Lint Roller is another favorite in our house. Even the kids get a kick out of rolling along collecting cat hair. We use it on our pillows and furniture throughout the house. With 70 easy-peel sheets, this roller will last us a long time.

The roller I like to use on our clothes is the comfort grip Giant Pet Lint Roller. Not only is it a great handheld size, the sheets have a fresh linen scent. I always grab this before heading out the door and do a once-over. If I'm wearing leggings (which is most days!), those seem to pick up an insane amount of cat hair. I keep my lint roller right by the door now!

I love using these lint rollers to eliminate the cat hair in our house, and I've been pleasantly surprised that my allergies have improved, also. When we turn our furnace on for the winter I usually have a few days of bad allergies. This year I haven't been affected by the dander and dust blowing around our house. Plus, I'm definitely heading out the door with less cat hair on my clothes which is a big bonus!

You can purchase evercare products at your local Target and Walmart. Our friends at evercare are generously offering one of our winners the perfect pet prize pack! One winner will receive a Mega Lint Roller, a Standard Lint Roller, and a $25 Target Gift Card! Enter using the Giveaway Tools form below.

Open to the US only, ages 18 and up. Ends 11/23/17 at 11:59 PM EST.
Enter using the Giveaway Tools form below. Good Luck!