How many cats is too many?

Feral_Moon

:rotfl: at the non cat people

happilymarried2013

:rotfl:at the non cat people commenting on a cat related post.

No amount of cats is too many tbh. It depends very much on if you have the space, the money for food and cat litter and enough laps for them to curl up on.

We had three - I'd love another one, two, three, four etc but for now I'll have to be happy with my two queenies and the puppy

GwylimT

It depends on the individual cats, cats are as a rule not social creatures so the majority do prefer to live alone.

We only have one cat at a time, for the reason above and so things like pet insurance and feeding costs remain at a fairly reasonable level.

missbiggles1

GwylimT wrote: »

It depends on the individual cats, cats are as a rule not social creatures so the majority do prefer to live alone.

We only have one cat at a time, for the reason above and so things like pet insurance and feeding costs remain at a fairly reasonable level.

I'm afraid that if everybody felt like that, the rescue shelters would be even fuller than they are already and anyway, feral cats live quite happily in groups.

We went up to 7 which was too many in a 2 bed house (big garden) with 2 dogs as well. Now we're down to 3 1/2 which is much better, even with 3 rescue dogs.:(

gunsandbanjos

As others say it's 100% dependent on your current cats temperament and the size of your house.

I have 2 cats and I know my house isn't big enough for a third.

gunsandbanjos

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I'm afraid that if everybody felt like that, the rescue shelters would be even fuller than they are already and anyway, feral cats live quite happily in groups.

We went up to 7 which was too many in a 2 bed house (big garden) with 2 dogs as well. Now we're down to 3 1/2 which is much better, even with 3 rescue dogs.:(

Why/how do you have 1/2 a cat:eek:

missbiggles1

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

Why/how do you have 1/2 a cat:eek:

She comes and goes - I assume she has another mummy in the next street.

cyantist

Our cat wouldn't put up with another one. We rehomed her from a couple who she had adopted. The initial owners got a kitten, our cat was having none of it so just found someone else to move in with.

Though I'm not sure what she would do about it if we did get another, given that she is blind now and unable to find another home like she did before.

Anyway, if Murphy isn't getting used to Misty too well, maybe you should stop at 2? Unfortunately there will always be a cat in need. You can't have them all! (This is what my husband says to me on a weekly basis anyway)

Mrs_Z

As others have said, it depends on your living arrangements. Isn't there a rule of the thumb that goes as many cats as bedrooms or something like that? Joking aside, do you have enough room for them to escape one another if they don't get on?
We went from 1 cat to 3. We had cat 1 from a kitten, felt sorry for her being the only one as being lonely when we went to work so we introduced a rescue cat 2 which was slightly older. They never got on. Cat 1 was in total shock, cat 2 who would 'never be a dominant cat' according the rescue place, took command straight away and almost bullied cat 1. Roll on 2 years, and cat 3 is introduced. Tension between 1 and 2 is now divided between 3 of them, so is some way it's better for cat 1. However, none of the cats ever became friends; they didnt fight but merely tolerated each others presence. We lived in a 2 bed house at the time, no children, so there was enough space for them to divide the house into their own territories.
Fast forward to 2014 and cat 3 is the only one left. When she realised that cat 2 was no longer around, she had a personality change overnight and became the most affectionate and loving puss whereas previously she'd been rather grumpy!
All cats were spayed females, not sure if that would have made any difference. Would I do it again; probably yes in order to give them all a home BUT in hindsight, we would have been better off taking a pair of kittens to start with I think.
The decision is yours - wish you best of luck!

missg2210

I have 4 cats and they are fine.

I had 2 which were brothers and introduced a third. Which went well, unfortunately 1 got run over and I felt 3 was a good number so I rehomed another, then I saw a kitten up for rehoming so took that one.

So that took me to 4 cats. All go ton well. Then 1 got knocked down and then I had 3 and a tiny kitten so really needed to rehome one mor ekitten and she absolutely hated the new one and would hiss and spit at him all the time. 2 years down the line all is well, They have their moments where they continuously fight but its all love really