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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Too many pets?

131 replies

DownUnderBound · 26/06/2016 22:38

Can I ask what you would consider 'too many pets' ? I am being tagged in Facebook things for crazy cat lady memes regulary ....quite often people make reference to 'ALL' my pets (said as if there are two million) so I just wondered what animals you all have and what your personal idea is of what makes too many? I'm watching animal hoarders and it got me thinking

OP posts:

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Pardonwhat · 28/06/2016 06:54

DownUnderBound - my mum had a smallholding at the time. It was a lot of work with us both working full time!

desertmum · 28/06/2016 07:09

We have 2 horses, 3 dogs, 3 cat and 6 chickens. But we have 4 acres to keep them on and run them on. My day starts silly early in summer letting out chickens and running dogs, later in winter when it is dark. But it's a constant job. All are well looked after, exercised, healthy, etc. Wouldn't be without my animals, I like them more than a lot of people.

EleanorAbernathy · 28/06/2016 07:37

Aaaah look at the little bottle baby kitten! :)
Here's a typical feeding time at ours......

WiddlinDiddlin · 28/06/2016 16:36

The right number is the number you can look after without detriment to their health and mental well being... or yours.

We have currently got 5 dogs and 1 rat.

We have had at one time - 7 dogs (five of our own plus two long term lodgers) 6 rats, 17 snakes, approx 200 mice and a tank of fish. That was the limit for me and it wasn't enjoyable at that point (no animal suffered but humans were starting to).

We have downsized since then, I sold on some of the snakes, some died of old age and sadly we had a resp. infection which wiped out the last few despite lengthy treatment with antibiotics (Snakes are sods for not recovering from respiritory infections :( ).

Ideally id go down to 4 dogs and a tank of fish which is probably where we will be at when the eldest dog dies and the lone rat shuffles off - I feel mean not getting Silent Bob a friend but then the cycle continues as they never die in pairs!

We don't have a big house (3 bed terraced, though at our peak animal numbers that was a two bed semi that was a lot larger) - but we are self employed and mostly work from home and animals is my job in pretty much every respect so its not quite the normal set up!

Therewere5inthebed · 28/06/2016 18:07

Three large dogs
Three cats
Fish
Five hens

All very well looked after spilt rotten
and in a clean four bed house with large garden.

bluebelle2662 · 28/06/2016 20:47

I have a tortoise, two Guinea pigs, a rabbit and a dog. They are well looked after and loved. Tortoises take minimal effort really and eat for free (they eat weeds). I don't consider this too many pets, I can see it would be unmanageable for some.

BlueKarou · 28/06/2016 21:24

I currently have;
3 cats (aged 7, 8, and 9)
2 dogs (aged 1 and 3)
5 ferrets (aged 4, 4, 4, 5, 6) - down from a height of 9.

It's the right number for me, although it's hard going with a 4 month old son, but it'll get back to being comfortably manageable. My only worry is if more than one gets ill or injured at any one time.

Not planning on getting any more cats ever - I want a bird table when these demons have lived out their lives. Would likely have another dog or two if I had more time, money, and space, but 2 is the right number at the mo. As for the ferrets; I would only ever want to have one group, although I currently have one poorly one living on my kitchen table, so it's not a matter of a number being enough/too many.

Gabilan · 28/06/2016 21:42

I have one horse and 2 cats. All happy and well cared for. Cats are litter mates and get on very well together. I'd love a dog but work fulltime outside the home. Agree with pp - there's no set number. It just depends what you can manage without your house smelling.

plominoagain · 28/06/2016 23:41

We currently have 3 horses at home ( outside , obviously , not warming their hooves by the fire ! ) and two greyhounds . All much less work to sort out than the DC's , TBH , if the routine is stuck to.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 28/06/2016 23:48

I've asked my 5 guinea-pigs.
They reckon 5 is fine but have g-r-o-w-n to fill the space so No More

GinBunny · 29/06/2016 00:02

Oh I do love a pet thread
I have 2 dogs and 4 house rabbits (outs self). We did have 6 rabbits, 3 guinea pigs and a gerbil at one point but that was because we volunteered for a rescue and kept rehoming them to ours! As long as the pets are clean, fed, insured and generally looked after then all good. I know of people that have had more pets then they can look after as well as maintain their own quality of life, but through good intentions. I guess it's up to what the individual can cope with.

MrsHardy1 · 29/06/2016 13:09

A family member has 6 cats, 4 dogs (small breeds), a couple of rabbits, a lizard and fish. The house doesn't smell at all. It isn't too much because they have the space, time and money.

Actually my house smells more, and I've only got 1 dog .

W0rried · 30/06/2016 12:38

Is there such a thing as too many?

Most of my family say 1 pet is plenty but then they aren't particularly animal people and all think I have 'far too many'. My work colleagues are always joking about my "zoo" and I often get tagged in things about having lots of pets on fb too.

I agree with others that if the animals are suffering and your house is a permanent grotesque mess then you probably have too many for you as an individual.

We currently have:

2 large dogs (aged 10 & 11 years)
2 rabbits (brother and sister aged 2 years)
1 small dog (aged 1 1/2 years)
4 cats (two aged 1 year and two aged 9 months that are sisters)
A tank of fish

Its hard work (mostly due to the big dogs as they have very fluffy double coats, shed profusely especially in summer and require plenty of exercise and as much as I love them I wouldn't have the same type again) but they are all loved, well looked after - fed, groomed, exercised, wormed & vaccinated, the youngest dog and all 4 cats are also fully insured. My house is by no means immaculate but I think given the number of animals I have its pretty clean. I've had several people compliment me on how nice my house is and how they'd never guess I have as many animals as I do due to lack of animal smell.

As pets go cats are probably one of the cleanest and least time consuming pets to own so I can see why they are so popular and are often easily kept in large numbers. Here they go out in the day if its not raining and come in in the evening / overnight for snuggles. They sleep a lot, are easily entertained and if short coated require very minimal grooming. Because they go out most days the litter tray is barely used and only for a pee so at most it takes 10 minutes twice a week to clean out. I'd love a couple more but I can't really afford it right now sadly.

littleprincesssara · 30/06/2016 13:18

OP you are being VERY unreasonable - you can't say you have four cats and then not post pics of them! :)

Farmmummy · 30/06/2016 13:28

4 dogs, 8 cats, 16bantys, 4 quail, 18 hens, a goose, a turkey 18 sheep and until recently we had 3 potbellied pigs a donkey and a pony all missed. Although we are a veg farm so plenty of space

musicposy · 30/06/2016 13:34

We have 4 dogs, 1 cat and a gerbil (was 3 but 2 have died and the last is very old so I'm sure it will soon be just the dogs and cat).

4 dogs is too much, if I'm totally honest. It was a bit of an accident. We had two, one was on deaths door, so we got one from rescue as we thought DDog2 would be upset when DDog1 went. We got persuaded eventually into taking 2 rescues. Well over two years on and DDog1 is still with us at 14 years old.

They are all well looked after and we adore them all but keeping on top of the house is a nightmare and I'm sure the place reeks of dog despite my best intentions. I think 2 will be my maximum in future.

RubbishMantra · 30/06/2016 13:56

Me and my 2 cats. One a neurotic black and white mog, the other a colourpoint Devon Rex. The Devon's just come in after rolling in the garden and covered in garden bits - his curly coat seems to attract unwanted stiff like a magnet.

If they could speak, B&W mog would have a sinister Spanish accent, and the Devon would have a Californian accent and say "awesome" and "high five" a lot.

They're insured, chipped, vaccinated and get fed good quality food and have been a massive comfort to me when going through bad times.

Self indulgent photo attached. My little Devon's still a kitten in the picture.

Booboostwo · 30/06/2016 14:29

I keep my horses at home and once you start living in a place that can accommodate horses adding more animals is easy. At the moment we have 4 horses, 1 dog (our nanny has another dog) and 2 cats (of which one is an outdoor cat by choice). I've got two kittens coming in August and a GSD pup booked for spring next year.

The most I have had at any one time was 6 horses, 4 dogs, 1 cat and 2 rabbits.

Effendi · 30/06/2016 14:31

12 cats here. And about the same again that are feral that we feed outside. All snipped and well cared for. Animal welfare is shit where I live.

viviantaylor666 · 30/06/2016 14:47

For me - more than 2 would be way too much

thecatsarecrazy · 30/06/2016 15:17

I have 2 cats and most days think that's 2 to many

Ilikedogs · 30/06/2016 15:20

My previous boss had 30 cats! Seriously.

WappersReturns · 30/06/2016 15:27

I have 3 dogs, 3 cats, a guinea pig, a lonely hen (fox got her pal ), 2 ponies, 4 pet sheep, a mouse colony and currently 37 snakes (corns and retics) but that's changeable.
I'm literally known as "the mad woman at the top farm" and I like it
If you ask DH he'd say we have too many pets but he'd only ever object if he felt I couldn't cope with the upkeep of them all. Which I think is the key point which almost everyone has agreed on, too many is defined by what you can care for well not just adequately.

DementedUnicorn · 30/06/2016 15:59

Cripes! I constantly feel judged that I have 2 small dogs and a cat!

I can't imagine the cost/work of anymore (although 2 dogs are waay easier than 1)

Gabilan · 30/06/2016 21:08

In the last few hours my cats have deposited a dead juvenile rat in the living room, woken me at 5am, used my lap as a convenient place to dry themselves and tried to tip me head first down the stairs. Does anyone want them? They do look cute, it's how they get away with it.

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