How many is too many?

I know we all have our own answers for this. How many cats do you think is too many cats? Maybe it depends on where you live, or if they are indoor or outdoor. I would say you can never have too many outdoor cats because they are great at keeping the mice away! I would say that three cats is enough inside my house. Four cats or more would be way too many for me to handle.

 

I think it has something to do with your personal capacity to look after the cats and the place where the cats are kept. If, for example, you live in the countryside with lots and lots of free space, plus you have the means and inclination to feed and take care of one hundred cats, then why not.

 

I think 3 would be plenty for me. I could handle more than that, but I don't think I would want to.

And I have had lots of outside cats at a single time, too. I would happily keep lots of them again even, but it has its downfalls. For starters, it gets expensive to keep up with the food costs. Because they're always outside, you never know when one might run off or get hit by a car, too.

 

True, with outside cats, we never know what kind of danger they will get into. However, that's part of life. If we were to protect our cats totally, then our cats wouldn't be cats any more. They would just become little more than stuffed toys.

 

Well for inside cats, isn't that what they essentially are? We ARE protecting them entirely if we're keeping them inside (minus a few risks here or there of them possibly getting out or getting stuck inside the house somewhere, etc).

 

I agree with the previous posters, how many is too many depends on how much space you have and your ability to take care of each cat. Personally I'd never own more than two cats, but I know of others who can easily manage three or four.

 

The most I have ever had was only one dozen. That was when I was living in a very cat-friendly neighborhood and I had a large back garden for the cats to do their thing. So it wasn't a problem to anyone. As for food, all those cats were strays and they lived very well on rice and dried fish plus fried fish crackers for treats. Not much of a financial burden either.

 

I think 3 or 4 is the limit for me. You want to be able to care for them well. Bring them to the vet and feed them healthy foods. I couldn't afford to give them the care they deserve if I took on more cats, not that I wouldn't love them. Its sort of like kids, you have to think about how much you can handle responsibly.

Beth

 

I once had 14 cats and it didn't feel like a lot. We had 4 indoor cats and 2 strays who lived outside. The two strays had 4 kitties each and would bring them every night. We tried to catch the stray moms to get them fixed, but they eventually stopped coming around. We did catch 4 out of the 8 kitties and adopted them out.

 

I would say three would be the limit for me. My biggest concern is vet bills. Even with just one sick animal, things can get very expensive. If you have like 10 cats and can't afford to get them checked regularly, let alone handle the bills if some of them have serious illnesses, then you're just more or less making them suffer slowly.

I have a friend who has nearly 20 cats in her house. No surprise, the house reeks and the litter boxes are always full, the bowls always empty. It kind of bothers me, because those cats would likely be much better off in a no-kill shelter where they would be taken care of better.

 

That's something I hadn't considered actually. You're right that vet bills can get really expensive, especially if one gets sick. We don't usually take the outside/stray cats to the vet, but indoor ones have to be checked and vaccinated regularly.

Oh ew. That sounds really gross. I don't agree necessarily that they would be better in a shelter if she really tries to take care of them, but I think it can't be good if the boxes aren't cleaned. Is it possible she just feeds them in the morning and evening, which is why the bowls are empty when you're there? Maybe the same with the box cleanings?

 

I think Jessi may be right. With that many cats, the litter boxes can be expected to be full and the bowls empty. As for life in a shelter, I am not really confident about the strict enforcement of the no-kill policy.

 

Regarding the shelters, at least the one that I've volunteered at, there are multiple people running it who all take turns coming in various times throughout the day. In that situation there are just more people there to take care of the cats, so the litter is changed more often and the food and water bowls are filled more regularly. Also, the shelters have the advantage of receiving monetary donations that they can use to provide necessary medical treatments to the cats. The shelter also regularly has visitors, so the odds of them getting adopted are much greater. My friend isn't inviting the general public into her house to adopt any of the cats, she's trying to keep them all to herself.

 

If you have a large property then there is no limit. However, if you live in the city and have only certain amount of space in your apartment then a maximum of two or three would be enough. It all depends on your living conditions.

 

Personally, I have two now and I think that's enough. I'll see a cat when I'm out and about and always want another, but I know I shouldn't get it. My two take the right amount of money to take care of (any more may be too much) and have the right amount of cuddles. They're so rotten, they're both taking up a good portion of my bed right now! Between that and the fact that there are also dogs in the house, I would have nowhere to even sit if we got another cat.

If I had more space and less dogs, I may get another, but not at the current time.

 

The most cats I have ever owned at one time is 5.

If I had a huge house and yard, I would definitely adopt a bunch of shelter cats. I think a lot of cat lovers fantasize about taking in all the cats with one eye and one leg and saving them from being put to sleep.

 

Honestly, I think one is my limit right now. I don't have a lot of space, and I do not want to accumulate several pets at the moment. When I lived on a farm, we had tons of cats. It was never an issue, but now that I live in the city, it does cause certain complications. I would also like to eventually get a bird or dog, so having too many cats would complicate their incorporation into the household.

 

I think I could have only a few... probably about 3.
It's just not my cup of tea to have that many animals, especially if I'm not home much.

 

I think that's really key in deciding, too.

If a person works at home or is retired and stays at home a lot, then I think they could potentially handle more animals. If a person is always gone, though, and chooses to have a lot of pets anyway, I really don't think that's fair to the pets.

 

That's a good point. If you're around to clean litter boxes several times a day and check the food and water bowls , and give the cats attention, then you could possibly handle more animals. I think a person who works a lot should have 2 cats at most, just 2 that can keep each other company while you're out.