Centers help senior cats look for homes (with photo gallery)

SARASOTA — Sugar is on a diet.

She loves ping pong balls and quiet, and she isn’t a big fan of dogs.

Sugar has lived at the Cat Depot rescue center for most of her nine years, but workers hope the black and brown Maine coon will find a home this weekend during their Mature Mates Adopt-A-Thon.

“It’s funny because she doesn’t act 9,” said Michelle Furci, the center’s adoption coordinator. Sugar is frisky for her age, Furci says.

The center has 14 cats who are 9 years or older. They will all be available to people 55 and older for a donation from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Cat Depot, 2542 17th St., Sarasota.

The rescue center also has 100 cats 1 to 8 years old who will be offered for adoption at $37.50 for those 55 and older — half off the normal adoption fee.

The weekend will feature bingo, prize drawings, Wheel of Fortune, prizes and refreshments.

In Bradenton, the Humane Society of Manatee County has 50 to 60 cats up for adoption and has extended its adoption specials through June 30.

The society’s Seniors for Seniors program waives all fees for people older than 50 who adopt a cat older than 2. Also, anyone of any age who adopts two cats or kittens will pay a total of $90, a discount of $30.

Adoption fees for cats from both locations include spaying or neutering, vaccinations and microchips.

June is a busy month for cats in animal shelters as kitten births usually spike in April and May. They are now maturing to an adoptable age, shelter officials say.

“This is the time of year we have an explosion of kittens,” said Hildy Russell, spokeswoman for the society.