Today is Petside.com's fourth annual Pet 'Net event, when many pet websites all agree to write about a specific theme. And this year, that theme is our favorite: pet adoption!

Since we pretty much always write about pet adoption, and since November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month, our Pet 'Net blog post is about what you can do to get senior pets adopted.

Here are some easy ways you can help:

1. Tell a friend! Take our Stand Up for Senior Pets Pledge and make a commitment to tell one person why senior pets rule. Bonus: You'll be entered for a chance to win a BISSELL Lift-Off® Deep Cleaning System for yourself and one for the Petfinder shelter or rescue group of your choice (official rules).
   
   
2. Donate your Facebook status. Find an adoptable senior on Petfinder and share him or her with this message: "November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month. Save a life: Adopt a senior pet!"
   

November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month. I share my home with a cat who is 9 and another who's 13, so seniors are close to my heart. But in a Petfinder survey, 30% of shelters and rescue groups said older pets are the hardest to find homes for. And with more than 14,700 senior pets currently listed on Petfinder, they deserve some extra attention.

So make a commitment to help: Take our Stand Up for Senior Pets Pledge and promise to tell at least one person why seniors make great pets. (Find 10 reasons senior pets rule here.)

As a bonus, by pledging you'll be entered for a chance to win a Lift-Off® Deep Cleaning System for yourself and one for the Petfinder.com shelter or rescue group of your choice, both courtesy of our partner BISSELL.

So take the pledge now, and check back here all month for senior-pet Happy Tails, tips on adopting and caring for a senior pet, ways to help seniors find homes and more!

Tell us: Why does your senior pet rule?

Since November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet month, we're highlighting older pets, and Ponch is another example of an older pet who needed a home -- although for a cat, age 8 is not so senior. 

Nevertheless, his age weighed against his being adopted. He had been at the shelter for six months. He had lost his former home when his elderly pet parents went to live in a nursing home.

Their daughter consigned Ponch, then called Honcho, to the outdoors.  A neighbor felt sorry for him and took him to the Baltimore Humane Society, where staff posted him on Petfinder.

But Joelyne King of Laurel, Md., didn't practice age discrimination. "The moment I saw his face, I knew he was the one," she says. "There was just something very special about him. My husband fell in love with him, too."

Dr. V is a veterinarian and the author of Pawcurious, a blog that tackles humorous, educational, and touching pet topics. Each day Dr. V wrestles with dogs, cats, and emotions in the drama of life in a small-animal vet clinic. Today she shares her experiences with pet osteoarthritis.

With winter just around the corner, it's a good time to be conscious of the symptoms of osteoarthritis, one of the most common afflictions of senior dogs and cats (yes, cats get arthritis too!).

As people with the same condition can tell you, cold weather can wreak havoc on diseased joints and cause a great deal of discomfort. But a little preparation and coordination with your vet can help your pet keep the pep in his step through the cold months ahead.

Next year, Petfinder will celebrate its 15th birthday, so in last month's Petfinder newsletter, we asked if you had a pet who was born the same year we were: 1996.

Julie F. told us about her dog, soon to be 15. Before she adopted the pooch, Julie had just moved to a new area and was feeling lonely. "In an attempt to brighten my spirits, I went online, finding myself at Petfinder.com, looking at the canines. Staring back at me with the sweetest brown eyes from a shelter in a place called Muscatine, Iowa, was an irresistible melon-colored year-old homeless pooch."

Julie says she is directionally challenged, but with the help of a map, she found Muscatine and the Muscatine Humane Society. "I was put in a room, and not long after, in through the door trotted 55 lbs. of furry terracotta sweetness. She walked straight into my waiting arms, laid her big silky head on my lap and cooed out loud, and her mouth turned up at the edges into a smile." Though the weather was dismal, Julie calls it the "most perfect of days."

Theresa H. wrote: "It was 1996 and we had just gotten married and decided we wanted an orange tabby to go with our gray kitty. We picked a 6-month-old female who was skin and bones because her owner 'couldn't afford to take care of her.' "

Granny was no spring chicken. She was a 13-year-old German Shepherd with poor vision and hearing loss. She also had a large tumor in her abdomen. Her chances of being adopted seemed slim.

Fortunately, that didn't deter Tammy Lord from adopting her after looking into Granny's big brown eyes on her computer monitor.

Granny was transported to Tammy in New Hampshire from Vermilion County Animal Shelter in Danville, IL.  When Tammy met the transport van, she says, "I fell in love with her all over again. She was so petite and dainty. I couldn't wait to get her home."

Granny fit right into her new family. "She instantly accepted my two middle-aged dogs," Tammy says. "They seemed to sense right off that she was to be treated with respect and that she wasn't a new rough-housing playmate. ... She is the most loving, loyal, best-behaved dog I have ever had."

Poor Simon. He had been adopted, but returned to Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin, IL, and had been waiting for years for someone to give him a second chance.

But, at 8 years old and a little portly, he had only slim opportunities indeed. People just walked by and headed for the kittens.

Just when hope was almost lost, into his life came Beth Reiter of Chicago, who saw him on Petfinder. She says her cat, Annie, needed a feline companion, and Beth wasn't daunted by Simon's age or appearance. She adopted him, and Simon suddenly found himself in an entirely new situation.

"After a bath, he spent the first month hiding under the bed," she says, "but slowly, over the next few months, he expanded his comfort zone to include the entire house."

November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month! As mom to three "older" cats and one 20-year-old turtle, I consider senior-pet adoption a cause near and dear to my heart.

So this month, I'm challenging everyone to pledge to spread the word by "liking" this post. If you want to do more, we've got ways to help after the jump.

And if you have a friend who's thinking of adopting -- or if you're considering adding a new furry family member yourself -- read and share this list:

10 Reasons Senior Pets Rule:

1. When senior pets are adopted, they seem to understand that they've been rescued, and are all the more thankful for it.


2. A senior pet's personality has already developed, so you'll know if he or she is a good fit for your family.