How many cats is too many for a normal household?

[Rainyrunway]

Could have put this in the cats topic but wanted to get the views of less "catty" people.
We were devastated that our cat died over the weekend after getting hit by a car. And our other cat seems distressed, keeps raoming around the house yowling. I can only assume she's calling him. She also is much clingier than normal which probably means she's lonely I guess.
So we'd like to get a kitten at the end of the summer to keep her company and to fill the hole that our other cat has sadly left.
The problem is that while our resident cat would probably love the company, I think a kitten constantly jumping on her to play might be a bit annoying for her (she's 3 and a half) So we were thinking of maybe getting 2 so they could run around and jump on each other but resident cat will still have company while we're at work etc.
Is 3 weird? Will our house be gross? We could obviously just adopt an adult cat instead otherwise but I worry that resident cat will not accept an adult in the way she would a kitten (or 2!) Thoughts please. Thank you

I def don't want people thinking I'm a crazy cat lady 😬

3 is ok. I had 4 when I was growing up and that worked too but we had a big house and big garden and one of the 4 spent most of the time at a relative's house down the street anyway.

In your case, I would probably get one of a similar age to yours. If you get a bonded-pair of kittens they might ignore your cat and she will be on her own anyway.

You probably would have been better off putting it in the cat topic tbh because here you will get opinions from a lot of people who have little to no experience of cats. As you can see, several people posting "0" as an answer already, which is fair enough, people are entitled to their opinion and not to like cats and to object to them killing small creatures outside but it's not particularly helpful in helping you decide how many cats and what age of cat you should adopt.

If you can see the floor there's room for more! 🤣

Seriously I think 3 is fine! I have two, mother & son, they get on reasonably well & do play together but they seem to have split the house into zones where 1 cat goes & the other doesn't. 🤷‍♀️

I like this 😃

“The limit does not exist.”

No, seriously I have unintentionally got 4 cats after one of them had kittens and we fell in love with them, in a house with 2 adults, 2 small kids, and we are drowning 🤣 I wish we only had 2. But how could I possibly choose between them??

3 is fine! We have 3 for a similar reason - he two, one died, got two more. I think the kittens need some age company.

They should never outnumber the humans unless you live alone in which case 2 is fine but 3 is heading for Cat Lady territory. Not that there's anything wrong with that imo if you can afford to keep them well fed and healthy and manage vet's bills. But it is seen as eccentric.

I'm frightened of cats, but can just about cope visiting a house where there is one cat. More than one and they could gang up on me.

@knobheeeed fair point. I might ask for it to be moved to the cat topic a bit later for more specific advice related to how the cats interact. I guess I was more wondering how we'd be perceived by non-pet people. I don't want to come across as crazy 🤣

One unless you have an indoor cat or bother to catproof your garden as they’re a nuisance to everyone around you.

Why do you care with people think?>
If you have the time and space, maybe foster for a rescue instead of having your own pets?

We have 3 had 4 for a while but one is completely outdoors now apart from the odd cuddle (his choice)

We have 3 indoor cats who happily coexist.

When you get to an age where people might consider you a crazy cat lady, you will find you no longer give a fig about other people’s opinion of you.

Will my DH become a ‘crazy cat man’ or is it just an insult for women who prefer cats to man-child?😜

I'd think more than 2 is a bit much. Maybe 3 would be the absolute limit before I assume someone is a bit mad...

DH is already a crazy cat man! He's even more devastated than I am about losing the other one. Even though he never wanted to get a cat in the first place. Now he can't imagine life without them.

I do also have 2 primary aged kids. So we'd be a house of 4 humans and 3 cats potentially

As a cat lover i think one is enough.

How many cats is too many for a normal household?

Sorry I don't understand. Is this a trick question? 🤣🤣 Too many cats?

3 is fine. I think more than 3 is entering crazy cat lady territory. But there's nowt wrong with that!

I have three and that is definitely enough. Any more and I think they would be unhappy about it too.

Sorry OP, I do like cats, they are intelligent and full of character. But I do think there are far too many in this country. They have such a negative impact on wildlife and so many owners seems to talk about the kills their cats drag in as some kind of cat owner badge of honour. (Not assuming this is you btw, just based on experience from cat owners at work.)

I think one cat per household is fine, provided care is taken to minimise impact on wildlife eg keep indoors dusk to dawn. They are quite happy living solo and actually most animal charities advise keeping only one cat as they tend to be much less stressed alone. They are not pack animals like dogs.

We currently have 13, all rescued, some I bottle fed. Our maximum at one time was 18

We had 3, I think 2 is the ideal number though.

Ignore the ‘keep them inside’ mob, they’re the same people who probably let their dog shit anywhere and don’t bother to pick it up anyway.

Three is a good number I find!

This is a trick question, isn't it? A bit like "what do you do with leftover wine?"

More than three in a normal size home is (a bit) weird.

For qualification I have had more than three at a time before