I happen to be a big softy, I cannot turn away a stray, even as I am typing this I have been feeding a feral momma cat and her one kitten and was so excited because I was finally able to pet the kitten. Feral momma is still hissing at me, but she comes within arms reach and is fine as long as I do not make any sudden movements. ( Hubby thinks I am off my rocker BTW) anyway. We have 3 cats now. Our duplex's are sadly a place where people move out and leave their pets behind or just dump animals. I have rehomed quite a few cats. Recently a neighbor ( and my best friend) took in a cat to foster until a home could be found. She ( Mitten's) has a few quirks, not burying her wastes when she uses the litter box, and today she hopped on the kitchen table and ate/tore up a loaf of bread....so they are done. I want to bring Mitten's in, its getting so cold at night and although she is used to going in and outside, I just hate the idea of her outside all the time. I have posted her on freecycle, joplin yahoo cafe and even on craigslist, but the vast number of animals is overwelming. I do not really want to have 4 cats, but it also doesn't scream crazy cat lady at me either. She is very affectionate and good with kids, I worry about my cats, they are indoor and front declawed. Felix and Sylvie are super laid back as Mitten's has waltzed into my house on more than one occassion already, but Hershey is very territorial, I am terrified of a cat fight. Any time we have introduced a new cat it has been a kitten. I know my hubby thinks she is a beautiful cat, but he thinks 4 is too many. He would be happy if we found our youngest ( still a kitten) a new home. Technically Sylvie is my oldest sons cat, and he has paid her vet bills which is an expensive investment, he would be heart broken about re homing Sylvie, and to me that is just not an option ( my son is a teenager.) So what is the verdict...is 4 cats too many, even if we are just planning on fostering her until we can find her a new home?
Just to clear up some confusion, I have 3 indoor only cats : Hershey being the oldest is my daughter Kristen's cat, Hershey is 6, Felix is really Andy's cat and Felix is 4, Sylvie is my oldest son's kitten, she is going on 2 months old now, we have had them all since they were kittens, I Had a cat ( Mr.Kitty) but he had to go live with my in laws when my youngest was still crawling, Mr.Kitty was insanely jealous of the baby and was biting, he is way happy as an only cat with my inlaws. The Feral Momma and her kitten are outdoors, since they are feral I am trying to get them tamed, if I could get them comfortable enough with people I would find them homes. The shelter in our area has 300 plus animals and is Not a no kill shelter, they put down sometimes as many as 70 animals A DAY...I look at taking an animal to our shelter as a death sentence. I take care of my pets as if they were my children. I have decided to honor Andy's wishes and not bring in Mittens because it would add stress to our relationship and would also be stressful to the cats we have in the house who have just gotten used to the newest addition ( Sylvie) I will continue to feed the strays and try and find them homes. It just makes me so sad that so many treat animals as disposable, but as Andy tells me time and again, I cannot save the world. Thanks for the suggestions.
***Just wanted to update my update = ) We put ads on Craigslist and freecycle and Joplincafe and notquitefree and found a loving forever home for Mittens. My children also found a kitten the day after Christmas and we found a loving family for her a few days later by posting her on freecycle. I would never turn an animal over to just anyone. I always interview them.
Thanks for all the concern!
as many as your family is ok with. it's their house too. that's what i'd go by.
We've had as many as 5 and it was fine. So long as you can afford a quality food, vet care when needed, flea medications, AND, they are fixed or you get them fixed, AND, you are willing to scoop the litter boxes daily, it's fine. You need 1 box per cat. All ours get a long just fine. We have them declawed in the front too. BUT, I gotta say that it's easy to let the boxes get too ripe. I HATE waking up and realizing that the cat boxes started smelling overnight.
When I was growing up my dad brought home every stray cat that he found. He passed that on to me. If I see a stray I feed it and then it usually becomes ours. I can't go overboard like my parents because it is expensive to get them fixed and get all the shots, but I personally don't think 4 cats is too many as long as you can take care of them. Good luck. I am sure the cats appreciate you. :)
If you have to ask, then it is already too many. If anyone in your home thinks it is too many (ESPECIALLY your hubby, your life partner), then it is too many. Let your son keep his cat. Get rid of the ferrel cat, the kitten, and Mittens. Keep the other one (Felix?). That's it. Draw the line there...no more strays! Take them to a shelter.
We have 4 cats in a 700 sq. ft. duplex. As long as we vacuum and scoop the litter every day, the only indication that we have cats is, well, the cats! We have talked about getting rid of 2 of them, but we could never decide which 2 to get rid of since we love each of them for different reasons. I don't think 4 is too many if you can keep up with them. If you can't, then it's too many...each person is different. My mom thinks 4 cats is too many, but she doesn't have the patience (or time) to vacuum and scoop litter every day.
