Multiple Cat Households

purplexxpassion

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okay, question here I've been wanting to ask for a while!

Anybody here with a lot of cats(say, 13..14?) what do YOU do with LITTERBOXES?? I know everybody says you need to have 1 litterbox per cat + 1 extra, but lets be realistic, unless you have an actual cattery....how many people can fit, say, 14-15 litterboxes in there house!?
So, how many do you have if you have a lot of cats(10 or more). We have 14 and have 2 litterboxes...as long as we scoop everyday it works out just fine and there are no problems. We can't have 15 litterboxes in the house...that just would not work.

so, post away! I'm eager to here your replies
 

sharky

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many put the extras in closets .... bathtubs ...
 

kittkatt

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I have 5 indoor cats, and 2 litterboxes, which get scooped out twice a day. The "main" litterbox is actually not a "regular" litterbox, but one of those big plastic storage containers that you'd normally use for storage (such as winter clothes, whatever). The second litterbox is about half that size, and is kept in my bedroom closet, b/c Gabriel spends most of his time in the bedroom, and I want him to have access to a litterbox (he stays in there a lot b/c Geronimo is always bullying him
). The litterboxes are never overflowing (and none of my furbabies have a problem sharing them), but if I would have to go out-of-town overnight or anything, I'd have to set up at least one more for them to use while I was away..

I myself really don't think it's necessary to have one litterbox for each cat.
Not unless you have a problem cat who refuses to share it. I once had 7 cats at one time, and I never had a problem w/ them, either.

~KK~
 
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purplexxpassion

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what if you dont have extra tubs/closets? for instance..we don't. we've got 1 tub, all closets are filled,etc.
 

sharky

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I have seen cupbourds ... furniture hiding and or covering...

Silly me if only one tub HOW do you have room for that number of cats.. I am old school one room per cat
 
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purplexxpassion

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lol, well I dont think anybody with more then 10 cats has 1 room per cat!!

we have 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 8 closets,etc., 70+ acres of land and a 15 stall barn + 60x60 hay barn(where the kitties LOOOOOVE snuggling up in the hay!)
that is how we have that many cats
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by purplexxpassion

lol, well I dont think anybody with more then 10 cats has 1 room per cat!!

we have 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 8 closets,etc., 70+ acres of land and a 15 stall barn + 60x60 hay barn(where the kitties LOOOOOVE snuggling up in the hay!)
that is how we have that many cats
well you DEFINATELY have enough space...

too bad the kitty s dont like the barn easy to hide a few there


and you likely are only about .2 of a cat over ... see it is ALL rooms ... ie bedroom bath living dining
.. AVE house has 8-10 rooms
 
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purplexxpassion

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yeah. well, our 2 bengal boys love the barn, I often catch the more adventerous of the two sleeping on top of our mares' back, it's quite the sight to see! they both are totally fine with it, it's funny.

and you likely are only about .2 of a cat over ... see it is ALL rooms ... ie bedroom bath living dining
.. AVE house has 8-10 rooms
lol I'm sorry I'm slow, I didn't get what you meant by that??
sorry
 

sadieandziggy

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I'd say fit in as many as possible. I have one for 2 cats, but I am considering getting a second, but I'm not sure where it will go as my bathroom has limited space.

Are any of the 5 bedrooms a spare room? If so, you could put in another 2 per room.

You must go through a lot of cat litter!! Do any of them use the outside for their business?
 

yayi

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12 cats, 8 litterboxes... 2-3-2-1 spread out around the house. Scooped each morning. Washed every month or so. My cats are indoor/outdoor that is why 8 is more than sufficient.
 

shorty14788

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I have 10 cats and 5 litterboxes that get scooped everyday. I cant stand for it to smell like I have as many cats as I do, and I normally dont have that problem unless I forget to scoop... Then by the next morning you can tell.
 

momofmany

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10 cats that live inside. 2 more than come in and out. 13 rooms in my house with 6 oversized litterboxes. I have 3 of those boxes "hidden" under wooden boxes that double up as benches. 2 of those are on a sun porch under the window so you can use them for seating and the critters use them to stretch out in the sun. 2 more are in bathrooms (I actually have 3 bathrooms in this house). One in a spare bedroom, and the last one in the laundry room.

I buy the oversized sterilite bins so that each box is close to a double box. I can't imagine only 2 boxes with all these cats. I'd be afraid of litterbox wars (every cat has their preferred box), and I couldn't scoop often enough to keep them clean!
 

katiemae1277

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I have 14 cats right now and 9-10 litterboxes in use. I keep all the litterboxes in my spare room, also known as the cat room for obvious reasons


Also, as far as space goes, I live in a 2 bedroom trailer, 2 beds, 1 bath, living room and kitchen, and I really don't think I'm overcrowded, everyone has their space if they want to be alone...most of them prefer to be on me though
 

arlyn

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MIL runs a cat sanctuary out of her home, usually 20+ cats.
For those that run loose in the house she uses kids' wading pools in the basement and she completely changes them every other day.

In the center, she has those dog potty training plastic fire hydrants, they seem to suit her stand and pee cats as well as her sprayers.
 

snosrap5

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I have 9 indoor only cats and 2 indoor/outdoor cats. I have 7 large rubber maid tubs. 1 located in the outdoor enclosure which leads indoor. 3 located in laundry room, 1 located in my bedroom, 1 located in the kitchen and the last one located in a spare bedroom which I have just converted into a cat room. This room will also have an outdoor enclosure attached to it by summer with another litter box.
We scoop twice a day. Full litter change once a month.
 

crazyforinfo

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I have 7 cats and 4 boxes(one is over-sized). We could add more but it's mom's house and she refuses. Luckily they are ok with 4th. I scoop them daily.
 
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purplexxpassion

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You must go through a lot of cat litter!! Do any of them use the outside for their business?
Yeah haha we buy 17lb bags of litter(changed to Worlds Best now..it's awesome and SO odorless!) 2 times a month. around $40 on kitty litter every month lol. We go through food even faster though, man all our cats are eating like pigs because of the colder weather now! Yes we actually have one older cat(almost 15yrs) who has never gone in the litterbox, she always goes outside..even when it was just her in the house(14yrs ago!) she never did, she always goes to the door and does her business outside. or 2 males(the only adult males in the house, it's a house FULL of hormonal women
) love doing their stuff in the horses' shavings


Wow you guys have some clever ideas with hiding litter boxes! Well we actually have 3 right now, because we have 5 kittens that are just learning to use their litter box, but it's smaller so they can comfortably get in it and they are in a seperate room from the other cats. Once they get bigger and are roaming the house we'll try to add a 3rd. Nope we don't have any spare rooms right now, we will though in a few months and in about 7 months we're moving to some bigger property in Texas and THEN we can probably have a more sufficient amount of litter boxes in the house!!!


I wish we did have just a "cat room", that would be very helpful! Also, we use the Litter Locker thing so basically at any time of the day when I'm done doing whatever chores and I'm relaxing, I'll just scoop the litter boxes. They get scooped a lot of times during the day.. fully changed about every 2 weeks.
 

gingersmom

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In this thread, 4 cats may not be considered "multiple," but I live in a 5 room, SMALL (less than 1,000 sq feet) apartment with my 4 and I have 4 litterboxes: one in the kitchen, one in my bedroom and two side-by-side in my office.

With the amount that I scoop on a daily basis from just my 4, I can't IMAGINE having 10+ cats and only two boxes!
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by sharky

I have seen cupbourds ... furniture hiding and or covering...

Silly me if only one tub HOW do you have room for that number of cats.. I am old school one room per cat
well... i have only 1 tub, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a dining room - [but those last 3 are all one big room, really] - & 5 cats.
 

shorty14788

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I wish I went through that much litter a month... Having a diabetic makes the litter go a lot quicker. (I can only imagine if she wasn't regulated on her insulin)

I go through 20lbs of litter a week. (I do a FULL litter change out once a month) Wow, I never really thought about how much money I spend just to have my cats poo on something.... geez
 
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