Will 4 cats turn me into mad cat lady?

[AnneElliott]

I have 2 gorgeous girls and a DS . I always thought it was a shame that DS didn't remember the girls as kittens, but DH always insisted he didn't want any more ( he grew up with cats whereas I did not).

Today he rings me from work and says a client has 5 kittens and they need good homes, and we can have 2!

DS and me went straight round there and have fallen in love with them.

My question is would I be mad to have 4 and how do I reconcile my two to the incomers? I should have taken pics but was too busy snuggling them.

4 cats is definitely an amateur compared to some on this board! (I think thecatneuterer (TCN) had 22 at the last count although it's been a few weeks since she said and as she volunteers for a rescue, Gawd knows what the figure is now.)

How old are the new kits? (And what are your current cats like?)

I'm glad 4 doesn't seem that many! Currently the kittens are 3 weeks old so we wouldn't be getting them for a fair few weeks yet.

Current cats are reasonably chilled out. One thinks she is a baby though and is possessive of DH. She won't like it if he pays them any attention. Other cat is less needy and not a lap cat, but she doesn't like her own sister so not sure how she'd cope with 2 more siblings!

They do need a good home though. And DS is excited at having his own cats, as our girls were bought for me before he was born. DS is 8 so hopefully old enough to help out.

I'd have flocks of cats if I could afford it.

Four cats is NOTHING let me tell you:) Do you know if they're getting the mother cat neutered?

Even if it did I don't think being thought of as a mad cat lady is such a bad thing!
We have three. I'd happily have more if we had more money and one of ours wasn't a grumpy old lady who dislikes other cats.

Yes, enjoy.

My late mother had nine cats. It was frankly awesome.

4 isn't that many , as of today I have 6

You need this toy.

OMG - someone has literally just posted that picture on my FB wall this afternoon!!

OP, four cats is fiiiiine. I have three and would LOVE more but they are wildly different and integrating the newest one isn't so easy. I think getting row newbies together is a good idea, as they'll have each other.

I have three

we had six growing up

two at a time seems fine

Looking forward to the pics..! :)

Am I the only dissenter here? I have five at the moment, but at one point had twelve, and let me point out some of the problems involved.

When you find cat shit or piss in the wrong place, who do you punish? There is nothing more counterproductive than punishing the wrong cat.

Vet bills.

Friends with allergies never visit again

Phenomenal levels of cat hair everywhere.

And when I had twelve, I could never give any of them the attention they so much crave, though with four it would not be a problem.

I love all my cats, but after this generation passes away, I only want to have two cats.

Mexicanspringtime 'who do you punish?' - answer: none of them. Ever. You should never 'punish' cats. They don't understand the concept of punishment and will just think you're being randomly nasty which will make them stressed and upset. Punishing any cat is counterproductive!

The rest of it I can't really argue with though, but it's a price I'm willing to pay.

How does one punish a cat?

I don't punish our cat

If he wees etc in the wrong place it's because I've done something wrong like not used the right litter.

I have NO idea how or why you would punish a cat. [confused.]
If one of mine craps in the wrong place (as per yesterday's dirty protest at my three day absence) I just have to look at the offending turd, then look at the cat and he KNOWS!

You NEVER punish a cat. My dad did this once to a Burmese. She punished him right back. Cat fine. Father bleeding!!!
Had 4 cats growing up. Fine.

Four is a lovely number! Go for it. They sound lovely. Your DS will be in furry heaven.

Thanks all. We are going to get them and DS is so excited!

I think they are going to neuter the mum cat, I think the 5 kittens was a bit of a shock.

four cats is fine at the moment i have the four permanent residents, charlie the stray i took in whos on the waiting list to go to yorkshire cat rescue for rehoming and two 6 week old yorkshire cat rescue kittens and a hound i adopted from cyprus, my friends call me the crazy cat lady

In answer to your question, you can never have enough cats.

I want another, DH says no. I think I might "find" one at the bottom of the garden.

Enjoy your new kittens, photos please.

We had nonce a

Noooo that should say we had nine at one point, now we have three and DH has suggested getting another one

In fact, I think four more is positively restrained.