For those who have 3+ cats..

Hey guys!
For those of you who have 3+ cats, what went into your decision to add more kitties than two? My boyfriend and I are trying to decide if we should add another, but.. what to consider? =D

Finances are not an issue. ^_^
Have any of you regretted getting the 3rd, 4th, etc?

I've regretted it lots of times....the more cats you add the more chances for arguments between them. (which I have)

What went into it? Most were going to be euthanized if I didn't take them.
Squishy
Bea (She's only a foster)
RB Damita
Dorian would've been sent to a farm because he was a bit sickly, or euthanized
Ophelia Rose....man she would've been killed if she ended up at the shelter
Molly
PJ & Punky (they're fosters waiting to travel to a TCS member)

Originally Posted by Fiery

Hey guys!
For those of you who have 3+ cats, what went into your decision to add more kitties than two? My boyfriend and I are trying to decide if we should add another, but.. what to consider? =D

Finances are not an issue. ^_^
Have any of you regretted getting the 3rd, 4th, etc?

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our main thoughts were costs and how would the others take too it, all our cats are nosey and love new cats...other cats weve had have been really bad with chafge its down too personalities really

Well, I know Toby won't like it.. or maybe he will. He didn't like Trina, but she was 10 months old.. Trin, on the other hand, will love it; she's mothered tons of kittens that we've fostered and comes running whenever she hears baby kittens crying on TV. It's really bizarre.

Blah! I don't know what to do. =(

Well, we didn't exactly decide we were going to get a third cat! We had Enzo then got him a friend, Leya. And about 6 months later I went to my granny's farm and found a gross little kitten someone had dropped off. He was dirty, had ticks all over, and was VERY under feed. It looked like someone litterally dropped him out the window as they drove by. He had a knot in his back and was hurting from it.

So, now we have Stuart! I wasn't planning to keep him, but my boyfriend said, "but we could keep him here!"

I should add, my SO keeps asking me "should we get another one?!"

Oh go ahead and give in. You have the finances to care for them and if there are issues you can always work through them. I have 5 now. Never ever thought I would have 5. Ever.
But like you finances are not an issue so I figure why not? You can take the intros very slowly and pick cats with good dispositions.
The two newest kittens are learning socialization from me so I do a load of cudddles, petting, stroking and carrying in my arms.
I personally prefer to bring in cats younger than the resident cats as they are less threatening. Mary would not tolerate another adult.

Maybe get a playmate for the little one so that they won't irritate the older one so much.

Trina is a kitten herself pretty much. Three and a half years old and she goes TEARING after a ball I throw her and terrorizes poor Toby half the time. I think she'd be thrilled to have another kitten around.

Originally Posted by Fiery

Hey guys!
For those of you who have 3+ cats, what went into your decision to add more kitties than two? My boyfriend and I are trying to decide if we should add another, but.. what to consider? =D

Finances are not an issue. ^_^
Have any of you regretted getting the 3rd, 4th, etc?

Click to expand...

Ginger was lonely as a 1 year old, having been an only kitten since 8 weeks old, so I got Ferris as a friend for her.

But Ginger didn't like 12 week old Ferris, she only tolerated him. And Ferris was lonely after being rejected and scorned by Ginger, so I got 2 year old Penny as a friend for Ferris (and because I had always wanted a Bengal, and as a retired breeder, she was affordable for me to adopt.)

So then I had three, and they were learning to get along, and Ferris was happier because Penny would play with him, and Ginger was happier because Ferris was leaving her alone.

And then 8 month old Max, Penny's nephew, became available for adoption last fall, and I just had to have him. So Max came to live with us, and strangely enough, it turned out that fickle little attitudie-tortie Ginger likes to play with Max very much.

And Max likes to play with Ferris and Penny, too. So now no one is lonely, they are all getting along fantastically, and having my two boys and my two girls, all under the age of three, is a joy I had never dreamed I would experience.

4 is way better than 1, 2, and 3.

I got Oreo because she has Fcks and no one would want a cat with problems. Sasha I got because she would have gone to the pound. I am getting a pure bred soon. i have 4 Cats now. I am lucky all mine get along. Oreo became very good friends with Coco. She tried to Nurse on Coco when we got her. We went to San Francisco for Sasha and Daly City for Oreo. I had no idea my Stormy for die 2 weeks after we got Oreo from Kidney problems at age 5.

I think more than anything, Trina needs a cuddle-buddy for when my boyfriend and I are not around. She tries SO HARD to cuddle with Toby, but unless he's passed out, he bats at her, growls, and gets up and leaves.

SOMETIMES he'll put up with her.. Not often though.

Think an outgoing, loving kitten would change that?

I would get another Cat for her. I have always had more then 1 Cat. My Brother has 6 Cats but his Cats do not get along.

Our third cat. Pru, was not planned, she showed up in our backyard and needed a home. Actually Sam wasn't planned either, hmmm. I love all three but after going over that hump of having three cats, I worry that I'm on a slippery slope, but I worry even more that another cat will turn up in our backyard.

Gah! I want another itty bitty kitty so bad!

My only other concern is the apartment complex. They only allow two cats per apartment.. However, either my Aunt or my Dad would be willing to take them if it were ever discovered, so they would be safe and loved either way. Hmm. Stupid complications!

My biggest concern in adding more is the issue of how well they will all get along. I *hate* it when one cat beats up on another. Fortunately my 4 get along well. Toby is a bit of a bully with Zara but that isn't really a big problem.

To answer your question though, I got #3 (Coco) in the hope that she would help Toby burn off some energy in ways other than picking on Zara. Didn't work. Toby is a wimp and won't mess with Coco cuz she beats him up if he gets too rough. Zara won't fight back so he still picks on her.

I got Jeta just cuz I figured I could handle a fourth and she needed a home. I made sure though that she was known to get along with other cats. That is a big advantage of adopting an adult, their temperament can be known before hand. Toby won't pick on her either cuz she fights back also. He is such a bully!

Originally Posted by Fiery

Gah! I want another itty bitty kitty so bad!

My only other concern is the apartment complex. They only allow two cats per apartment.. However, either my Aunt or my Dad would be willing to take them if it were ever discovered, so they would be safe and loved either way. Hmm. Stupid complications!

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Please consider adopting an adult. They are only itty bitty for the blink of an eye and adults are much harder to place than kittens.

As a soon to be 3rd cat owner (next spring), here's my reasons (which are probably the exception to most).

We got Charlie (DH picked him out) because we lost our 15 1/2 yr old rex and had Ling at a show in HHP - and DH fell in love with the Ocicat. We were originally considering another rex.

Anyway, Ling hated Charlie for months. She still doesn't totally like him - would rather play with the dog. So poor Charlie has no other cat to really play with - just pester Ling......

So since I wanted another Oci for Charlie to play with, we put in an order for a kitten. Hopefully the 2 boys will leave Ling alone and play chase/wrestling, etc with each other.

That's our reason for adding a 3rd cat (we will have 3 cats/1 dog)

I did not have much of a choice the first we took in was preggers.. so we kept them all.

Oh man, I want to adopt an older kitty! It breaks my heart every time I look at the local shelters' webpages.. however, it has to be a kitten this time. Toby was mad enough when we brought home Trina, who was ten months old.

I don't regret it for a moment, considering I probably saved her life, as well as her sons and daughters(she came knocked up) and the countless others that the byb would have produced from her, but this time it has to be a kitten for Toby's peace of mind.

I don't know about a kitten, I would worry it would be far too energetic & really annoy Toby.

I think whether you go for kitten or adult, Toby will hate the newbie. I think with a younger adult, though....that you would have less "annoying" factor which might help Toby. (That & he's now been through adding a new kitty)

I'm of the opinion it would entertain and keep Trina quite busy! Hmm.. I'll have to think on it some.