Also, studies have shown cats recognize and respond to their names. The thing is, with too many cats in one household, forming secure emotional bonds becomes harder.
Cats may become clingy, depressed or develop poor socialization skills. Beyond that, Dr. As Cats Protection , a feline charity in the U. Watch for mutual grooming or sleeping next to each other. Cats from different social groups can get cliquey and lash out at each other. Even cats from the same litter have been known to distinguish themselves as being from different social groups.
Introducing a new kitty to an existing group can—and should! The fewer the cats, the easier it is to monitor actions and make sure everything is copacetic. A much better indicator of a healthy environment is strategic resource placement. Resources are things like litter boxes, food dishes, toys, beds and windows. Cats also need places to hide especially when acclimating to a new home and places to perch they feel safe observing the world from above.
For eliminating, the general rule of thumb is: one litter box per cat, plus one more. Some experts advise at least one litter box on each floor in a multi-story home. Urination problems are almost a guarantee with more than a few cats, especially because felines often refuse to use dirty litter boxes.
Cats from different social groups should eat and eliminate in different areas. Depending on how many cats you have and the various social groups that develop within their group, you may need to literally cover a lot of ground with their resources.
Within hoarding, animal hoarding is a disorder subtype. Rarely do the two disorders present at the same time though sometimes animals are hiding amongst the stuff, which is awful. Ferreira found 88 percent of animal hoarders were unmarried; 64 percent were considered elderly and 73 percent were female.
So much for crushing that crazy old cat lady trope. Interestingly, many of the subjects began hoarding animals after a significant negative life event, like the loss of a job or a child. Getting more cats would only make the problem worse. Determine if you can keep your home clean. It is important for your and your cats' health that you keep your house clean. This can become difficult when you have too many cats.
If you find that your home is not as clean as you wish it was, then you may have too many cats. Many people who have too many cats find it hard, or impossible, to clean their cat's litter boxes often enough.
This can lead cats to go to the bathroom elsewhere, leading to an even bigger cleanliness problem in the home. If you are unable to keep the smell of the cats at bay, even with regular cleaning, then you have too many cats in your home. Assess whether your home is overcrowded. Determining whether you have too many cats depends on how big your home is and whether there is space for all people and pets in that home.
If you are tripping over cats constantly and there is no room for the cats to get away from each other, then your home is overcrowded and you may have too many cats. One clear sign that you own too many cats is if you don't know the exact number of cats in your home. Consider whether the number of cats you have negatively impacts your life. Having too many cats can be overwhelming and it can make you feel isolated and alone.
If you are happy and healthy and you have multiple cats that you care for well, then you probably don't have too many cats.
However, if you have multiple cats and you are stressed out and overwhelmed by their care, then you probably have too many. For example, if you are neglecting your social life, personal hygiene, or your health because of your cats, then you may have too many cats. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. It can be very difficult for animal hoarders to identify that they have a problem. If you suspect that you are hoarding cats, discuss your problem with a therapist or trusted friend or family member.
It is important that you feel free to discuss your problem and ask for help. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 4. Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References 1.
About this article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: 4. Updated: March 28, Article Summary X To avoid owning too many cats, take into consideration the size of your home.
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 10, times. The article brought me back to reality. They even have their own room! I commend you for getting all black cats and for everyone on this page! You are amazing! Thank you for taking such amazing care of them. The Litter Robot is a game changer for this — they do recommend one per cats. Thanks for taking such amazing care of your cats, Kelli! I am a cat person, I have five cats.
Because I have so many. I just love them all so much. My cats are well taken care of. Thank you for this blog. The problem is that I adore him, and my neighbors all agree he considers me his human. He runs to meet me and could spend an hour on my lap if I let him. Even my family, who think three cats is a lot, were sort of shocked when I said I was still trying to find him a home.
I really want to keep him. Thank you for this reassuring post. Of course — it sounds like you are providing an amazing home for them, so 4 is ok in my eyes. My husband read this and sent it to me. We have 3 inside cats. One old lady and 2 young boys. She tolerates them. My question is this. We have noticed a couple of strays hanging around. They are very skittish so I just put out food and , so far one shelter house. I noticed a third different cat this morning then he saw yet a fourth!
What do you say? I currently have ten cats and one dog…all rescues and all spayed, neutered and with proper vaccinations. I do not want this many cats at all! I found homes for six kittens last year, and then just acquired a mother and her kitten, and no luck so far with homes for them.
I have one that is 15, one that is 11, two that are ten, and the rest are younger than that. The dog I acquired last fall, running through traffic, matted and filthy. I actually have bad dreams about this! Please, no more! I am 77 and worry about the person who is going to inherit my house having to make decisions for all these animals.
Hello, thank you for your blob and post! Thank you to all who have posted on your blog! I have 3 cats: 1st female tabby was rescued at 7 weeks old, she is now almost 3 years old and is the first cat in my house.
The 2nd cat is a male black and white, he is about 2 years old and was also rescued at 7 weeks old, the 3rd cat is a female tuxedo and she was rescued at 6 months TNR , but she purred so much while in the trap I knew she was super sweet. Well, she turned out to be a blessing because she and my male black and white are inseparable, They rough play together, chase each other, and just completely love each other.
My 1st cat, the female orange tabby is like the grumpy cat and is definitely a loner and enjoys playing by herself! My home is clean, they all have pet insurance and are updated on their immunizations. I do TNR in my neighborhood and currently is also taking care of a female calico on my back deck. She is the reason why I started feeding the cats in the first place.
She was a kitten with her mom and sibling, my heart melted and I started feeling them six years ago. Once I saw that the colony consisted of six cats in the neighborhood I became responsible and learned how to TNR.
The reason why I am writing on your blog is my feral calico is super friendly to me and now wants to come inside. I love her dearly and she is the last of the original colony, if I take her in will I officially be an animal hoarder.
I do understand that if I bring her in, she will need to be in quarantine for a few months, get her into the vet for vaccinations, and make sure she is healthy and disease free before introducing her to my existing pets. I just worry about her and want to protect her.
Writing this lengthy message may make others think that I am a crazy cat lady. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thank you. I have 4 cats and one dog in a 2 bedroom 3 level house.
I have 2 litter boxes on each level and water bowls on each level. The cats all get along with each other and my dog. I would never keep more than 4 cats at a time for many of the reasons in the article. I need help. My mother has cats in her hole and another on a back porch. My husband and I just found out we are having a baby we also just returned from visiting.
We made the decision to not stay in house again and to not being our baby into the house either. Grew up close to an auntie working in rescue, with 5 dogs and an average of 20 cats in a beautiful old villa and a beast of a wild secured garden really nice unless you needed to find a specific cat. Many were unadoptable. But she had help, family and rescue volunteers coming several times a week. I always wanted us to have 6 cats but due to circumstances, we ended up with 7.
Rehoming them failed. No one wants a cat that can bite and tear you up without a notice. Or one who poos and pees into your bed or anywhere else really. Even when explaining that it would likely go better in a new home.
And everyone wants kittens or fancy looking cats. It got a little better since we moved — double the house size and two balconies already cat-secured. The worst annoyance for me is when people try guilt tripping us into taking more cats, especially now that the house is so much bigger and we have a big garden etc pp.
Good places to put the litter boxes? Time to clean after them and keep their vet appointments? Noticing when they are sick? We already have older, sicker cats which require medication and litter box patrols.
But that cat would have to be a perfect fit for what we already have, which is difficult so we will probably just let a rescue relocate some outside cats to our garden for us to feed and monitor.
Or a cat will just find us again. Hello, My boyfriend found this post and freaked out saying im over the crazy cat limit lol. So now im slightly worried. I have 5 cats currently 3 that have been with us for years. About 8 months ago we moved and found a black and white kitten kept coming to our door and desperately scratching to get in. Since it has been so deathly cold out lately I relented and let her in. She quickly navigated the home and settled herself right in the middle of my bed Very odd behavior I would think for a stay cat.
So I called up my landlord. Turns out the old tenant had 4 cats and this little one matched one of the discriptions. Shes been here ever since. Renamed her Eclipse. The 5 is a 4 week old kitten who is left out of a barn litter where i keep my horse. I kept her because the poor little thing lost her tail and 4 toes to frost bite before she was found. So I guess the real question is is there too many?
We live in a one bedroom duplex with two floors, and none of the 4 cats have been fighting, there is a cat tree in everyroom Save for the kitchen and a litter box per cat. There definitely is something as TOO many, but it sounds like you guys are caring fore them well — I would recommend one more litter box or even an automatic litter box like Litter Robot.
As long as they get along, they are healthy, they are getting preventative care at your veterinarian, sounds like they are in good hands! The safety and best thing anyone can ever do in this situation is to call Animal Control, as they have the resources to help both the animals and the person.
Best of luck. As you mentioned before, nature has a way of taking care of a lot of them. We live in a forested area in the city, and unfortunately, many in the feral colony do get killed by other wildlife, and also, just traffic and unsafe drivers will take a few out also.
I am a Christian and I have to mention this, because in our case, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has helped us immensely to be able to manage both outdoor and indoor situations. Of course, we trap n release when we can.
You sound like a very compassionate person. It will all work itself out. When that happened, these cities were begging to get the cats back, lol. His ex wife keeps taking in stray cats in Ohio, and then when she comes to see my brother, she brings him more cats. His cats do not look healthy, the litter boxes are chucked full of feces and you can smell urine from outside on the front porch of his apartment.
I did contact his landlord and not sure what will happen next. My brother is a loner, prefers not being around people and things he can rescue every cat that he thinks needs his help. He lives in a dump, landlord barely takes care of the place. My brother can barely walk and has brain issues from a motorcycle accident from years ago and the heavy scotch drinking has added to him not being able to balance himself and he falls alot.
He manages to keep a job, but relies on others due to losing his drivers license from several duis. I do not feel it is a good environment for the cats. Not sure what else to do. I will wait and see what his landlord does or does not do. My brother now thinks he can buy the house kick out the other tenants so that he can do whatever he pleases.
He is not mentally stable in my opinion. I would recommend calling animal control as they have the resources to help him and the cats. Animal control? I have five cats. Two boys. Three girls. Hunting them. The other girl gets chased into hiding. Does it even need to be fixed? A Feliway diffuser, calming collars, supplements, and prescription medications. I would talk to your veterinarian about this! Get large spacious carriers, knock out walls in them, and connect them, as we did.
Add litter boxes, watering areas, and playing and sunning areas within those carriers, and place clean cardboard in there for scratching areas for them. We have small paving stones in some of ours, they really like the stones. We add racquet balls for them to play with. We have two cats that can have run of the house and get along fine all the time.
But the others do not, so we let one cat at a time have run of the house when the others are contained. God Bless You and Good Luck. Set some boundaries for them. Cats actually like carriers that have walls and tunnels and holes they can crawl into and out of. But new kitty has cottoned on to him!
Can I introduce them to each other? To the point How!! My friend and her mother have 16 cats and they live in a tiny apartment! But I do know they do not take the cats to the vet regularly and some bully the others, according to my friend. If you have any advice I would greatly appreciate it. I just brought home 2 black kitties from a litter of 5 black kitties. My daughter is already attached and we have 3 currently 15 yrs, 7 yrs and 6 yrs. My oldest hid and hissed when I brought home kitty 2 for 2 weeks, then they became best friends playing all the time both female.
Then we brought home kitty 3 male and they both hid and hissed for a week or so and then got over it and came out but they stopped playing together completely. The boy wanted to play with them and they hissed at him. We gave multiple litter boxes and clean them regularly.
I hate cat urine smell and no one knows we have cats until they see them. My question is, is it ok to take stray cats as barn cats we have 5 acres and a nicely insulated pole barn they could get in. Or is there a better mix of males to females? Do 2 males compete and pee? Right now they are in the garage in a plastic play pen area because they are flea infested.
Or see if you can find homes for them. You can bring them in sooner — they just need a dose of Capstar from your veterinarian which kills fleas quickly and can be used on young kittens. Use clumping litter — not clay and show them how to use the litter box. Me and my boyfriend both started off with one cat each and we moved in with each other about six months ago. A few months later we noticed her getting quite large and found out she was pregnant later having two surviving kittens.
All the cats tolerate each other now with occasional hissing and I dearly love all five. This puts us at 3 adult cats one is technically under a year so still a kitten but I consider her an adult with the two 9 weeks old around. Should I let the new cat be taken by animal control or find a home? Should I find the kittens homes as it would be easier? Or should i care for the six with an absolute limit of no more?
What should I do? I personally would recommend spaying and neutering all of them ASAP and finding homes! I was hoping for some advice here as it seems to just pertain to cats. We have 3 beloved chihuahuas two girls 10 years old and a new baby boy under a year. Our son is 21 and has a cat that has been his for some years. Our son is leaving next year and Luna is going with him.
Our conundrum is this; my daughter 18 and I have recently been spending time at a cat rescue. We have fallen in love with all of them but feel one especially would fit into our household and be prepared for our chis and on some occasion Luna the cat. We put in our application for her but, as happens when you are at a rescue, are thinking to adopting one other besides.
We are being careful however as we have the chis 4 lbs, 5 lbs and 8 lbs. Everything in our home is enclosed right down to the dining room being separate. We are always at home even with work because we never want to leave the chis home. When we camp, our son and daughter help out being at the house and are adamant when they leave to be here close to us in the city; I know we can always rely on them as we are Ren people and take our chis once in awhile to Ren fairs locally overnight.
We have a good vet and are being careful but wondering if having 3 cats while our son is still at home and 3 chis is just too much. All of our animals are indoors without problems although Luna tries very, very hard sometimes to escape.
What are your thoughts on mixed animal households in regards to cats being added. Thanks for any advice. Animal control is a horrible recommendation. They only euthanize. Craigslist is just as bad if not worse. How can you be an animal person, looking out for their best interest, and give such terrible advice. I run a rescue, I should know. I will never judge anyone for the number of cats, or animals period, that they have as long as they are well cared for.
I disagree — depending on where you live, our local urban animal control works with dozens of rescues to get these guys into homes. Best of luck and thank you for helping safe pets! I have lots of animals between dogs, cats, lizards and a snake, we have 14 total. We also foster kittens so I know how hard it is. Usually I love all the kittens and sometimes it breaks my heart to adopt them out once they are healthy and of age to be adopted. So far we have fostered 19 kittens and have adopted two of those fostered!
So I understand when it is hard to let them go. But others I will take to my vet and have checked out. Honestly I believe hoarding is only hoarding once it effects your live or that of the pets life. This includes your husbands life too. My husband loves the fostering side because he knows they will eventually be adopted out.
I believe everyone who saves animals like you and I do should always try to find them a home that they will be spoiled at. And if that fails then and only then should you consider keeping them. But if you are not trying to adopt them out you will eventually have way too many!
My mom says cat urine and their fur is bad for the health of young babies and that some cats have even suffocated babies. Is this true? If so why? However, babies are a source of body heat and a cat may lie on top of them for warmth. Glad I found this post! I adopted two siblings from a shelter. Then another kitten who was not in the best living situation.
It came from another street. It worked and I can actually snuggle it now! I have to bring it in. Being my neighborhood cat monitor is so hard. They may have free vouchers. The low cost clinic near me does some free or at a very low rate. If you need help with TNR, use social media to find who nearest you does that. I had a lady provide me with traps and showed me what to do and hooked me up with the TNR clinic. Good luck! I am not sure how to get rid of this guilt…. Hang in there and prayers to your husband.
Our cats love their carrier homes, and we are content in knowing that when they are in there, that they are safe, fed, have their litter boxes, enough gated areas and windows to see out, play and scratching areas, etc. Ours will go into their condos even when all of the gates are open, as they love them. And remember, if you do this to put down thick mats if they climb the gated doorway. This is a must for their safety, but other than that, you will be very happy with your results.
When we have company come over, we have our cats in their rooms or condos, perfectly and happily contained. I found this article searching for laws on how many cats one legally own. I have an unstable family member that takes blows at my family every turn they can. We currently have 11 permanent cats living with us. All healthy, happy, well cared for, vet checks regularly, in a 6 bedroom home.
Some fosters came back multiple times as those who adopted had various excuses. Cat scratching furniture, allergies, etc. We are at our limit. People can be judgmental. Um, change the litter and have multiple boxes. Some friends have one and their homes stink. People ask me how many cats i have. Good for you! So many people are so judgmental about how many cats i have, always offering unsolicited advice. I have 8 cats at the moment and I care for 6 feral colonies. It is disheartening to see folks assume everyone with multiple cats fits a stereotype and more sad for the cats that people give them up or avoid them in order to not be stereotyped.
I spend time with each of them individually- the 3 siblings are never far from each other so they get group playtime too. They all sleep with me or in their condos. I also feed and care for feral cats in the neighborhood. He cried with me when I had to put my 20 year old down due to cancer. My goal in life is to open an animal rescue. I do feel i have maxed out though at the moment. Hi I have 20 cats and was wondering if 20 cats was by law to many and thay are all well looked after and all there vet work is complete and up to date.
Hi I am wondering if I am bracing the law in Sa owning 20 cats because I have checked with the Cancil in my area at least 1 a month and ever time get told there is no by law to how many cats you can own and was wondering if 20 are still ok and I am now at my limit as well.
My family and I have 10 cats. We have 3 water bowls filled at all times. And multiple litter trays which are always kept clean. They receive a bowl of wet food each a night as well as having dry food in the mornings, available all day then before bed over night. Our cats are all perfect weights and all perfectly healthy.
Except one Maine coone which has the cat flu gene but does not display symptoms so has been cleared by our vet they all get booster jabs when due and have all been spayed or neutered. I fee having multiple cats is fine as long as they are content and well looked after. They can definitely help! Is it ok to own 16 cats as long as you can look after them the correct way and I did at one point have 25 cats but not all of them got on with each other so I have reduced it to 16 and was wondering if it is still ok as long as thay are well looked after the right way.
Are all the cats vaccinated and up to date? Are they all dewormed annually and do you have 17 litter boxes that are scooped daily?
Are there Feliway diffusers for all cats to get along? Are there scratching posts in all the rooms? Is the housing clean and free from odor? Do you see your veterinarian at least once a year with all those cats? If not, no. Our cats are all very friendly and I bet you would love them, seven are black which I still stand with black cats being the friendliest!
Thank you for your time. I have 9 cats. I acquired 4 new ones this summer that we rescued. One kitten was seconds from death in middle of busy intersection. The other 3 were siblings that we trapped. I already had 5 cats that were all rescues at some point. Im maniacal about keeping the litter boxes and house clean. All cats are vetted and up to date on vaccines and flea treatment. It IS a lot of work to have 9. But im used to it now.
In fact, I networked with other rescues and shelters and now an official foster and volunteer. This way i can continue to help animals and not add another as a permanent pet. I agrre that there needs to be a limit to be able to care properly for each pet. I am making 9 work but its not for everyone.
I do LOVE my 9lives crewe. Thank you so much for all that you do — you are a saint and I really appreciate you saving them! Hi I have 12 cats and live in a housing Sa house and thay are ok with 4 cats but are not ok with 12 cats even though I have down size them from 30 cats to 12 and was wondering if I was to keep them outside in a outside cat enclosure all the time including in the summer time when the weather was not suitable would it work in a way of being able to keep all 12 cats because I am unable to rehome any of them because they are all the very best of friends and toatch to all of them as well.
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