How many cats do you have? And what do you think is too many?

Question

My husband and I rescued 2 kittens 4 weeks ago, and they are finally doing very well. Their mother abandoned them and they were in extremely poor health. So, we took them to a vet, bottle fed them, and hundreds of dollars later, they are ready to go to good homes or the shelter, until I found out that it's a no-kill shelter, which I am not okay with. We have two cats right now, a 15 year old and a 1 year old that aren't too happy about the situation. I don't want to keep them, but I don't want them to go and be mistreated or put down either. We could suck it up and keep them and provide them a good home, but 4 cats? Do any of you have this many? Is it difficult? Help! Any advice is appreciated.

Answer 1

Well i have three cats and three dogs and i think that the cats are great with each other the keep each other occupied it is not to much of a hassle i dont think that it is too many  

Answer 2

Lol!! Four cats??!! Are you serious? That's nothing, it's about average. My family have 12 cats, a lot of them were strays who we rescued - we hardly notice them, they're out a lot or sleeping on the couch, they all get on & they don't even cost much to feed etc

- Smokey

- Cloudy

- Rosie

- Champagne

- Phoebe

- Pastel

- Daisy

- Tilly

- Dinky

- Jaffa

- Bourbon

- Tabitha

Love them all =] x

Answer 3

As long as you can take good care of them and give them lots of love, there's no amount that's too many. We have a 3 year old cat (Dr. Oscar) and a 4 month old kitten (Marty McFluffin) and we were happy with that. But the other day we were driving past an animal adoption drive and we rescued two boy kittens. After we decided we were taking them home, the volunteer working there told us that they were going to be put to sleep at the beginning of next week. We saved their lives, just like you and your husband have done. I also learned that here in Georgia, over 8,000 animals die needlessly every year, simply because they don't have homes. We decided to name them Phoenix and Winston. Oscar and Marty were a little grouchy when we first brought the new kittys home, but that has pretty much stopped. If they get nasty towards each other, pick up a pheromone diffuser. You can buy them on line or at places like petsmart. We feed all the cats at the same time, that seems to have really helped them bond. Somehow associating the smell of food with eachother makes them happy. I think it's because they feel like a pack. I wish you and your husband all the best- Good luck!!!

Answer 4

i have three cats mother, father and son. my sister has four cats two of whom are related to my youngest and my father has about six. this depends on size of property and whether you can cope and afford vet and food and litter bills

Answer 5

A no kill shelter, will not put the cats to sleep.

Answer 6

We have 5 cats; we adopted 2 and 3 are stray cats that we feed. As long as you can manage 4 cats (financially, physically etc.), I don't see a problem.  Just make sure that they all have enough space to be 'to themselves' and that they are all give equal attention.  

Answer 7

I have 2 cats and I think that 2 is a good number of cats .

but you should keep all of them until you find a safe place for them to live.

Answer 8

I could (possibly) take them? Where do you live? Do you have any friends/ family that could take them? Do you go to church or visit nursing homes? Maybe if your kittens are very well mannered, an elderly person at the church could have them or it could be a therapeutic pet at a nursing home.

Hope this helps and God bless you and the kitties for saving little lives

Answer 9

First of all, I don't understand what kind of shelter you would send them to.  If you don't want them to go to a no-kill shelter, there is a huge possibility that they will be put down at another shelter.  You can't have it both ways.  Send them to a kill shelter, and they will put them down when their time is up, unless they find homes on the off-chance.  Not all no-kill shelters are bad places.  You should visit this one and find out.  As for keeping them or not, the number of cats you can take care of depends on your ability to provide for them, financially and the amount of time you can spend doing it. For the record, I have 17 cats, and it's not easy.  But at this point I wouldn't even know what to do with a number as small as four.

I have trouble understanding why you would go to the trouble to rescue them if you don't want them and you don't want to send them somewhere else.  I'm not criticizing, I'm just not sure where you are coming from.

Answer 10

6 cats here, indoor only, with claws.  Ages 9, 5, 4, and 1 years and 5 and 2.5 months.  It's a bit crazy.  We had two for awhile and ended up with 4 more just this year from saving them from the outside.  

It's really not that bad.  They pretty much get along or stay out of each others' way.  If you have the space and can afford them all then I'd suggest keeping them.  If you can find a good home for them yourself with someone you know then that would be great, but that can be really tough.  

I wouldn't let them go to a shelter.  Even if they get adopted, some other kittens will die in their place.  

The kittens have each other to play with, so they shouldn't bug the adults too much.  The adults may eventually learn to love them anyway.  Our 1 year old freaked out completely when we found our youngest (he was 5 weeks old then) but within a week they were buddies and have played together a lot ever since.

Too many is when you can't afford them, can't pay enough attention to them, and don't have enough space for them.  If you think you can manage them then it should be fine. I can get a bit overwhelmed trying to play with 6 but they help out by playing with each other too so they all seem happy and well adjusted.  

best of luck with them!

Answer 11

i have two cats and i am fine you should keep all four the cats will come too like each other.

Answer 12

You went to all the trouble of saving those cats, they'll never find a better owner than you - anyone else would be a downgrade. Keep them. There's no maximum amount of cats anyone should have. As long as you can take care of them, you can have 100 if you want. You're a good person and I hope you keep them.

Answer 13

As the cats don't all know each other already, it could be a really bad idea. Cats can get incredibly territorial; if they don't get on they might fight, stop eating, become anxious, and probably p**s all over the house. On the other hand it could turn out great, and you'd have 4 great cats. Personally I wouldn't risk it. If you can't find a decent shelter, take them to a good vets, they'll find home/s.

Answer 14

Ive got 4 cats Sasha,Daisy,Oreo,and Tigger and 3 dogs Ginger,Snap,and Bommer 3 cats is good my mom thinks 4 is way to much

Answer 15

I have four adult females in my house at the moment and we have no problems.

My cats are all indoor/outdoor though so depending on your situation this could affect how mad your household becomes!

Sometimes it feels like there are too many of them when they're all going mad and charging around but our house and garden is big enough for them all and I couldn't be with any fewer!

Just make sure you can afford all the necessities such as food, litter, worm and flea treatment and then make sure you put some money aside each month in a back account in case of emergency vet bills or just regular boosters.

I hope all goes well!

Answer 16

Had 4 now 3...

it depends how you care for them... obviously you take care of your pets or you would have made excuses for NOT taking them to the vet.

GOOD work.

If you can trap the mom then take her in and have her spayed.  That way your 4 wont' end up being 6!  

Answer 17

we have 3 cats it is much easier though because they can go outside . only if you live in the country though because otherwise in the town they get runover. the good and bad thing is that since they can go outside one just had 5 kittens.

Answer 18

I have eight cats, all but one are rescues. I know they all need more attention than I can give each one, but they had no where else to go.  This is and has been thier "forever home" for years.  I would say the optimal number of pet cats is two, but sometimes you just can't say no!

EDIT: I just want to add that you should be able to afford the vet bills associated with however many you have and you seem to be doing great.  You should keep them!

Answer 19

right now 1

a few years ago 2

i while ago 6

long time ago probebly 8

yeah ive had my share of cats

Answer 20

8 cats!                                                     You can never have to many

Spooke                                                                         cats!!

Mr. Kitty

Little Sister

Sassy Six Toed

Bonita

Gillbert

Maggie

Teddy