How Many Cats Are Too Many?

We own our own home , we have 2244 sq feet of living space not including the enclosed sun porch , attached barn( its a barn but its finished and attached garage.

We currently have one cat and one dog tomorrow we adopt another cat. So thats 2 cats and one dog. My son is interested in a 4 month old kitten....so that would be 3 cats and one dog. My husband is interested in another cat from the shelter so that would be 4 cats and one dog.

We realize we have to get them shots and vetted as needed thats not going to be an issue ..... my question is I don't want to be a collector ... is 4 cats too many in my size house?

Heck no - that's about the same room we have and currently have one dog, 2 cats and will have a 3rd cat next spring. Personally I limit myself to 6 adult cats max.

I have read that a good rule of thumb is one private room available per cat, but having been to many animal shelters where I've seen the "colony" rooms, I know that the ratio can be comfortably higher. You have plenty of "hands" to pet, groom & play with kitties and the dog and DEFINITELY PLENTY of living space, so IMO, you will be creating a happy, lively household and I applaud you for opening heart and home to those very fortunate kitties

My house is 1200 sq (plus a basement) and counting my fosters, I have 5 cats.

Check this out: The married couple who runs our shelter's cat adoptions live in an average size house (1500 sf or so) and have 90-100 cats!! Only 10-12 of them are actually theirs, the rest are fosters. These people are true saints!!

The main issues are:

1) can you afford it? Not just food and litter, but if one of them breaks a limb or suddenly gets ill can you afford to take it to the out of hours vet? It can be extremely expensive, and you should have savings put aside, an unused credit card, or pet insurance in case of emergencies.

2) Can you tell if one isn't feeling OK? In terms of time to observe the habits of each of your cats and know when one does something out of sorts - often the first sign of illness

3) Can each cat have its own space? Cats often require time to themselves, and every time you introduce a new one you run the risk of having to set up a separate territory for it, should it not get along with your existing cats. You can't make them be friends. I go on the basis of 1 territory (ie room with access to food, water, shelter, high perches, low hiding places, and comfy sleeping spaces) per cat. You may find yourself in the position of having 2 cats that don't get along - do you have room for them to live seperately if need be?

Hope all goes well

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments

Too many cats is when there is no room, there's too many for you to properly look after and you can't afford to spoil them.

No Way. I have 4 and am in a Apartment right now. We will be moving to a House next week that is 1008 Square Feet and I am getting another Cat and maybe a dog. My Brother has 6 Cats and a Dog in his Apartment. Go ahead and get another pet.

I've got a 2400 sq ft house with two big dogs and six big kitties, there is plenty of room for them all!

hehe I have 5 french lop rabbits (bigger than cats) 2 guinea pigs and 1 cat and I'm in a 1 bedroomed flat

I don't think so!

Two of my friends have loads of cats, and they live in a smaller house than you do!

One friend did have 4 cats, but one of them had to be PTS so she got a puppy, and another friend has 11 cats and 3 dogs.

I think you have plenty of room for the amount of animals you want As long as you can afford them, that should be fine!

Just keep in mind a few things (health-wise)

The more you have, the easier it is to spread disease, upper respitory, etc.

The more you have, its harder to isolate a sick cat sometimes or to find out who is not using the pan or is having problems.

If you have multiple cats, its a good investment to get a large cage for isolation or needing stool samples. And the cage is good if you have a pregnant cat where you can keep her and the kittens safe and secure

NO WAY!!! We have a house with half the space as yours! We've got 3 cats and 1 dog.