Question Of The Day, Wednesday, September 26, 2018

[Mamanyt1953]

My last question from my home away from home! By the time many of you read it, I'll be headed back to my OWN APARTMENT!

So...how many cats is "one cat over the line"?

For me, it would be two. Hekitty has no intention of sharing ANYTHING AT ALL with another cat. I'd have to live as if I had two only cats, and that just doesn't seem right. And I know that Hekitty really isn't that dominant (or wasn't when younger), and I would feel horrible if she ended up living out her life in the shadows. No, my girl is gonna live large and loud as a pampered only child.

 

[Columbine]

I don't have a clue for me. I'd love Asha to have a kitty friend, but personality matching isn't easy with her. She's got the upper paw with the boys, but it took her a long time to get there. I do know that bringing in a second bonded pair would be too much for her, so maybe 6 would be one too many for her.

As far as the boys are concerned, I think they'd say the more the merrier!



Much as I'd love more cats, I have a greyhound shaped hole in my life right now.

I think that would be my next adoption, if it were possible (right now it isn't).

 

[denice]

I have one now and that is good now. I did have two but I had gotten them as kittens. They weren't litter mates and I got them 3 months apart but kittens usually just accept each other easily. Alice is very much a senior now and I am not going to put her through accepting another cat.

 

[Lari]

I'm thinking five.

There's two here right now, which is all we're allowed and that's great. I feel like I could handle one or two more, but past that I'd feel like I couldn't take care of them all properly and we'd get too crowded in the apartment.

Props to all of you that have a lot of cats and are able to give them all the love and care they deserve. I love to lurk on some of the foster threads and see how well all the kitties are loved!

 

[Winchester]

At this point in our lives, more than two (three absolute max). We're at five cats now, down from eight. As our cats have passed on, they have not, and will not be replaced by other cats. It's too much. Between dealing with five and then The Beast, there are days when I don't know whether I'm coming or going. Two would be OK, preferably. Three at an absolute maximum. No more. And Rick and I have agreed on that

 

[mightyboosh]

I think three is the max for me at the moment. It may change in the future.

 

[Norachan]

I don't think it's about the number of cats, it's more about the personalities of the cats you have. Right now I'm lucky as most of mine get on very well together. There are times when they decide to gang up on one member of the family or have a feud between themselves and that makes things very difficult. Fortunately these spats are short lived and they soon settle down again.

So two who hate each other would be too many, 20 plus who get on well together is fine.



Glad to hear you'll be going home soon Mamanyt1953 Hope everything is OK when you get there.

 

[neely]

The most cats we've ever had at once was four. However, after they went to the Bridge we've only had one at a time. I think Carleton would do well with a friend since he came from a hoarder and was used to being around many, many cats. But he is pampered and spoiled now so as he approaches his senior years I think the old saying rings true, i.e. "if it's not broke, don't fix it."

 

[LisaT.]

I would LOVE to have another kitty, but two is the limit at my apartment building. Bummer!!

 

[maggiedemi]

I'm keeping it at 2 because I'll probably have to move to an apartment again soon. If I won the lottery, I would probably get a small house and have 4 total. It just depends where I'm living and who with.

Glad you & Hekitty are back home safe Mamanyt1953

 

[betsygee]

I don't think it's about the number of cats, it's more about the personalities of the cats you have. Right now I'm lucky as most of mine get on very well together. There are times when they decide to gang up on one member of the family or have a feud between themselves and that makes things very difficult. Fortunately these spats are short lived and they soon settle down again.

So two who hate each other would be too many, 20 plus who get on well together is fine.



Glad to hear you'll be going home soon Mamanyt1953 Hope everything is OK when you get there.

I agree with this. We have four now. Three of them we call the 3 Amigos who get along great with each other. I think we could take in another cat or two and those three would be okay with it.

BUT--the fourth one is just a cranky old lady full of tortitude. It took a long time for her to get along well enough with the other three that we could even leave them all together when we're gone, so taking in any more cats is out of the question right now.

 

[DreamerRose]

I have two, and I think a third cat would be one too many. I don't have the time or money to minister to the needs of three cats.

 

[meandcaptinmeow]

When I was young, my parents' habit was to get a cat..always female, and let her have one litter ("let her fulfill the life cycle", my father would say) and then we'd spay her. This method led to us having a mother, daughter and grand-daughter...plus a fourth cat, a male stray who slept in the sun on the porch. So I'd worry that 'over the line' might be five, because it may all become more like a crowd than a family community. And who knows, with sufficient numbers, the cats might even start plotting rebellion and then WE'D end up sleeping on the porch!

 

[kashmir64]

When I first moved up here to the mountains, I had 6 cats. I then (almost immediately) had a friend who's cat got hit by a car leaving 7 two day old kittens that I fostered for him until they were 8 weeks. Plus, I had a Dalmatian and a Pit Bull. So, my house was very full for a while (and 9 horses). I was busy.
However, now, I don't believe Samai would allow another besides her sister without maiming or eating them, so 2 will have to do me. Unless her other sister becomes available, which I would adopt in a heartbeat.

 

[Shane Kent]

Mamanyt1953 - Great to read that you and Hekitty will be heading home I am sure you had a wonderful stay but you know what they say, "home is where the heart is".

Currently for me 5 cats would be 1 cat over the line. I will wait until Taz, Kitty and Rusty get a little older before I introduce another cat. Zoe is OK the other three are still a little rambunctious. I will get an older cat from the Humane Society when the time comes. Beyond that 6 cats would be 1 cat over the line because the city I live in has a limit of 5 cats per household.

 

[Tobermory]

My last question from my home away from home! By the time many of you read it, I'll be headed back to my OWN APARTMENT!

Yay, Mamanyt1953 ! That’s wonderful news!

Over my 45 years with cats, I’ve sometimes had two but more often three. That’s been the maximum number I’ve felt would be comfortable in the various homes I’ve lived in, their personalities, and the fact that I seem to move every four years or so. Oh, and The Spouse’s cooperation which seems to have maxed out at three. If I’d had the right kind of space and set up, who knows? Infinite numbers of kitties! I pretty much want every cat I see...including all of yours.

 

[Elphaba09]

By the time many of you read it, I'll be headed back to my OWN APARTMENT!

Yay!!!!!!!

I used to think it was two. Then four. We now have nine. I have come to the decision that if you can afford to care for them and have enough time to give each of them individual attention you are under the cat limit. We have five people in our house, so, technically, it is not even two per person at the moment. I think 9 is the most we could comfortably afford and still be able to care for the feral colony.

I mean, we have what many would call a small house (just under 1,000 sq ft), but the only time it feels cat crowded is when I feed them, since they tend to spread out throughout the house.

 

[aliceneko]

At this point in time; two is enough as I wouldn't be able to cope with more financially. However, in the future, if I have a good house and a stable job and the means to care for more feline friends; I wouldn't hesitate in adopting a couple more! 4 is enough for me in a good financial position though.
I've also been considering in fostering in the future, that is, if I'll have the means.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

.
I'll throw my vote in with Norachan and betsygee - When I was rescuing the "cats next door" who'd been abandoned, I had 54, spread over three buildings, and even with the daily help of my veterinarian, it was a struggle keeping up with them - but the three "sets" of cats got along perfectly within their respective clowders, and that really was the key to managing them - and to socialising them sufficiently so that nearly all were able to adapt, adjust and overcome (a few stayed on here, and with time and patience, grew to understand, as well). When there's infighting, two cats can be one cat too many (just think of that pair from Kilkenny).

An observation with which I suspect norachan and several others here on TCS will agree: there are times when one particular cat can change the fact that we're one cat beyond absolute desultory chaos. In years gone by, my Japanese Bobtail "throwaway" - Noodles - was the peacemaker and the welcoming committee. Any newcomer immediately fell under his protection, and I never met a cat who wouldn't defer to him. He facilitated the introduction of many new kitties over the years, and his passing made two new introductions rather difficult.

Now, the least likely of all my cats - White Tip, a former feral cat herself, and once the fiercest and least social cat I'd ever known - has become the facilitator, welcoming Black Friday, Clawed-Ya and Mirò as though they were her own Family, and even acting as Mirò's protector initially, in the same fashion in which Noodles once did.

It's all about personality - and whether you have a Diplomat Cat who can ease the tensions while a newcomer learns the ropes, however, at a certain balance point, the dynamic seems to take care of itself. Introducing a new cat into a one-cat household can be incredibly intimidating. Adding a newcomer to a four or five cat clowder is generally a great deal easier, since the group thought process already prevails in most cases. Toss a new cat into a ten cat clowder and the chances are good that the rest with just say, "oh, a new cat," and go on their merry way.

The real answer to the question:

So...how many cats is "one cat over the line"?

is that there's no such thing. A little time, a little patience and Love is all it takes. Back to Virgil again; "Love conquers all."
.

 

[miagi's_mommy]

More than 3 at a time. 3 is my limit.