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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

How many cats is too many cats?

46 replies

Pinkandwhiteblossoms · 22/04/2017 22:16

We have 3.

My heart is melting at an old man on my Facebook page (he is at a rescue centre, it's not gumtree or anything like that.)

Is 4 too many ... ?

OP posts:

wtffgs · 22/04/2017 22:33

Aww!
My old fella is definitely happiest as the lone cat. Mind you, he's doolally anyway so who knows?

If you have space and time, it could be lovely. Beware the eyewateringly high bills as they get into their dotage!!

booellesmum · 22/04/2017 22:33

We have 3 - 1 of them hates the other 2. MIL used to have 7 - all got on and no problems.
I think it's more about whether they'd all get on than the numbers.

Smeaton · 22/04/2017 22:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lottieandmia · 22/04/2017 22:35

Oh by the way I was only going to have one but since she's a rag doll she was so lonely if we were out. Ours chase each other around and keep their weight down this way.

bluebelltippytoes · 22/04/2017 22:39

Aw, go and get him. If he's an old man he may not have many years ahead of him.

Our last rescue was cooped up for 9 months. We only had him for four years but I am certain he was very happy with his lot.

Original poster

Pinkandwhiteblossoms · 22/04/2017 22:41

blue our oldest one was nearly two years at a rescue centre! I can't believe no one wanted him - he's awesome. Friendly, loud purr, tolerates other cats, patient with children. Just wants to sit and sleep basically, a very no-trouble cat.

OP posts:

thisusernameisnotavailable · 22/04/2017 22:42

I have 6 and have to say that is enough, cats out number humans 2-1. BUT I can't guarantee there won't be more.

Despite cats not being social animals all mine get on well enough. They all get attention, all have set places they have chosen to sleep and all have free roam of a Katzecure garden so run no risk of getting harmed outside the home. I love them all to bits

witwootoodleoo · 22/04/2017 22:42

Had 3 but after a year or so one of them took to trying to murder the other two so horrifically she'd have to be dragged off them. She was rehomed to be a lone cat with a good friend of mine and is much happier there.

Now we have two and I wouldn't have any more as I couldn't face risking similar havoc in the future.

But if your resident cats will tolerate it then go for it :)

Ohyesiam · 22/04/2017 22:54

9 is to many. 4 is cat heaven.

AlletrixLeStrange · 22/04/2017 23:16

We had 6 until last Sunday
3 of them are babies of two older cats, plus another rescue.
I couldn't sale the babies, they're the most loving cats EVER even now at 1 year old. Mummy cat was the one that died last week (stupid drivers not paying attention!) but daddy cat loves them so much.

Fuxfurforall · 22/04/2017 23:28

I have 5. My Boyfriend ( who doesn't live with me) had 1 when we met and said I had too many( even though he loves them).

He now has adopted 3 more...

All they ask for is food, water and kindness. Have as many as you can care for..

Mermaidinthesea123 · 22/04/2017 23:34

I had four last time and they all got on brilliantly.
When they died I got two and then a shelter cat to add to the family, it was carnage, house stank of piss, they all hated each other and I ended up rehoming the third with a friend as the only cat and she is well happy.
The other two have now stopped pissing all over the house.
So I guess it depends on the cats really.
They are not really sociable (cats) they will tolerate other cats but prefer to be the only cat usually I find.

Salubrious · 22/04/2017 23:37

The more the merrier imo - as long as you have space and plenty of love to give I don't see a problem

trinitybleu · 23/04/2017 08:46

So our 5 are

17yo girl who's outlived her brother and various other waifs and strays. Getting dodgy of hip now but dangle some string and she's on it like a kitten
15yo girl I adopted from an old boss. She's my baby and sleeps under the duvet, curled up against me.
2 x 2yo girl "kittens" who had been dumped in a carrier bag at about 4 weeks old. Quite petite but doing great. One is DD's shadow and the other sleeps on my feet so she can demand cuddles at 5am when she gets lonely.
4yo ? boy who has just moved in. Didn't let us go anywhere near for months and then suddenly decided DD was trustworthy. Within 10 minutes was sat on OH's chest ... well, how could we say no??

9GreenBottles · 24/04/2017 08:34

I have 4, but because of cat politics creating all sorts of mayhem, I'd say 2 was the optimum number for me. That's not to say I wouldn't have more though...

Trustyourself2 · 24/04/2017 15:03

I always seem to have 3. As one is coming to the end of life, another one comes knocking at the door.

Since my personal circumstances have changed recently, I won't be opening the door to anymore for a few years. 3 is enough for me at the moment.

IHaveBrilloHair · 24/04/2017 15:07

I have four and that's enough, I absolutely adore them but anymore would be insane for me.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 24/04/2017 15:40

Here's the Engineers' Guide To Cats perspective.

Purplebluebird · 26/04/2017 15:26

We had 4 and yes it was too many

cows573 · 26/04/2017 20:56

We currently have nine cats - the latest addition is a pregnant stray, due any day with 4 or 5 kittens!!!

What can I say, we are suckers for waifs and strays too! Lol...

Three of our cats are solely outdoors, we inherited when we moved into this house - they are all 13yr & 14 yrs old.

Four cats, both indoor and outdoor but usually only in our big sitting room - 17yrs old, 12yrs old, 3yrs old & 1yr old.

2 recent additions, allowed the roam of the rest of the house - 4.5 mths & 1yr ish pregnant stray.

And no, this is not too much but we fortunately have a large farm that they love to hunt on.

Neverm1nd · 07/05/2017 09:44

In a remote farmhouse. We don't have any fighting or real cat politics, they get on fine. Aged between 2 and 22 years, and four of them only have three legs, plus other issues. Most are rescue and seem to appreciate the charmed life they have. Also have 4 dogs and about 40 free roaming hens. There's the odd bicker between cats/dogs/hens when food is thrown outside, which is very funny as everyone has the utmost respect for the inbuilt defences of the other species (teeth/claws/beaks/feet/wings/volume), it's usually limited to about 2.5 seconds of posturing. So...I have no idea what the maximum number of cats should be. I haven't reached it yet....

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