How many cats is too many?!

[Catladyhere]

I have had cats for years. I had two lovely black and white cats first who are sadly no longer with us (siblings) who were attached at the hip - due to their long hair though, there was fur everywhere! A couple of years later and I now have a young ragdoll cross and a British short hair, who we introduced as kittens, they get on very well, though our BSH is way more reserved and doesn’t like to be picked up too much like many others of the same breed.

We are looking at getting another cat but I am wondering when it becomes too many… currently we don’t have a problem with things like fur because they’re both short haired and we groom them so they don’t really shed. But I am in too minds as to whether three will be really different to two and I’ve never had more than two at one time!

if you have three cats please tell me your experiences, would also love some general opinions on the negatives and positives of having three cats in the same house hold!

Thank you 🥰

One cat is too many for me, but each to their own.

As an allergic cat-hater, one of the evil beasts is too much for me.

How do they KNOW I am violently allergic to them? Because they make a bee-line for me and you can see the glee in their faces knowing I'll be sneezing and snotty in minutes.

They just kind of accumulate

I have 4, which is fine when they are well but I had 2 cats ill at the same time last year which was a lot to cope with, sadly my eldest cat died and we decided to wait a few years before getting another... new rescue cat is currently snoozing in his bed I have no willpower! Luckily he has fit in very well but I must admit it's a struggle right now to pay the insurance, food and litter so 4 is definitely our limit

I had four at one point, not by choice. It was too many. Two would be my limit.

Loved them all, still miss them but only have one now and that's enough.

I have 3, it is no issue! We have a cat flap though and they all go out. I wouldn't want to deal with litter trays for 3 cats!

I am building up to three... Two is great though.

I have 4 which is a nice number though one of them hates 2 others. But he hates us too. They aren’t cheap to run though! And the house is awash in fur which I’m resigned to.

Quite frankly one child is too many for me - cats are perfect.

Try reaching out to them and enthusiastically encouraging them to come to you - cats often go to the people who are ignoring them because they feel safer with people who aren't bothering them.

I have 7 - although one only visits every few months (he's found a nice old lady to feed him tuna I suspect), 1 is semi feral so only come in to eat, sleep and hiss at everyone - the other 5 and pretty chill!

I'd have more - I am a sucker for a rescue sob story (all of ours bar one have 'issues' or came to use with broken legs etc) but the insurance/vet plans make it financially impossible - insurance for 7 is not cheap!

I'm tired - ignore the typos!

We had two sibling cats and then we got a kitten and one of the older cats moved out! She’d always been quite an adventurer - we live on the edge of our small town, right next to fields and woods, and she’d often disappear for days at a time in summer - but this time she just didn’t come back after meeting the kitten. We don’t know if it was a coincidence and she just happened to get lost or killed then, or if she moved in with someone else, but we’ve never seen her since. I still feel awful about it, especially as the kitten turned out to be a bit of a sod who torments the older male. Ironically one reason we got him was that the male cat used to bully his sister a fair bit and we thought he’d like another rambunctious boy cat to play fight with.

I’d still get another one (or two) though! DH says I’m mad and has forbidden it until our current ones both die.

I would say be careful of introducing another cat to a stable dynamic though. Our 3 get on great, they are all female.
We took in a (neutered) male cat for a friend in need and it was a disaster. He attacked our cats and one of ours who is a bit highly strung got very stressed. We had to give the male cat back to friend to make other arrangements and our cat harmony was soon restored.

I have two Maine coons. Loads of hair. I also have two dogs, thankfully non shedding. I've always had two cats except when I've had one. I don't think I could cope with more even without the dogs.

I have 4, oldest is 4, youngest two are 18 months. I got them as two separate bonded pairs, the older two first and the youngest two 8 months later. I wouldn't be without them and yes, I have health plans for them which are expensive. I probably won't have young cats again after they die because I'm getting older myself, but the rescue where I got them also specialises in homing older cats with older people, so I will never be without cat.

I had cats for 40-odd years, and at one point had 3. 2 of them (female) were from the same rescue place at the same time (although they had never lived together), and one was very dominant. Cat 3 (male) turned up in our garden as a stray, and after having him neutered, he settled in well. The dominant female still ruled the house. When she died a few years later, cat2 and cat3 got on great. Cat2 died and the boy was at first quite lost. He lasted about 4 years. No cats now

One.

There is no problem with introducing another cat. You just take your time, keep an eye on things and let them get to know each other. Of course they are not going to get on at the start, it takes time for things to settle.

Dd has 4. One miserable, unfriendly old git of a cat (he always was a miserable git) now maybe 10, and 3 very friendly, cuddly one year olds, which were sibling kittens acquired when very little.

This

A one point we had six cats and two dogs, a friend arrived at their "tea time" and said it was like a shark feeding frenzy, we loved them all.

Just got two now.

@SeeWhatYouGetWhenYouAskAStupidQuestion Will you get any more cats? Both the cats I had were rescues though I didn’t have the two together. One was from a rescue centre he was 21 when he died. The other one adopted me as with your boy. He turned up in my garden as a stray I had him for 19 years. I have no idea how old he was when he died. My only worry with multiple cats is that they don’t get along. I have friends whose cats have just buggered off when a new cat has been introduced.

Yeah, heaven forbid you deal with your own animals shit. Much better to let everyone else clear up after the dirty fuckers, right?

1

Three was fine, though two ending up elderly and ill at the same time was difficult.

Only have one atm and that makes me sightly sad. He came to us an adult and I don't know how he'd take to another cat.