Health concerns with large cat family?

We have 7 cats. Four of them turn 8 this year. The youngest will be... 3 or 4.

Lazlo (our first indoor-only rescue) was rescued 8 years ago yesterday.
Shelly, his brother from same litter came inside 8 years ago nine days from now.
Spooky, their sister, was adopted out badly by us, and we rescued her back after she was abused in December 8 years ago.
Tuxedo, their brother, we deemed unadoptable because he was so mean and totally disruptive to the feral colony - and sent two cats to the hospital with wounds. He came inside 8 years ago next March? April?
We fostered kittens almost continuously for several years starting the summer 8 years ago. The health or special needs problems were the ones we kept.
Our last adoption was in 2008.
We are in the process of introducing an FIV+ kitty to the group as a long term foster - he will make 8.

We live in an RV that is 38' long and 8' wide. We do not have slide-outs.
We have made the RV extremely kitty friendly. We took out the dining area and put in cat trees. There is access to all the windows via window seats or the back of the couch.

The trick to having a large kitty household is proper introductions. We found that our kitties accepted kittens pretty well, but we had to put a lot more work into older cats.

If your cats are all indoor-only, there shouldn't be much in the way of health issues. If they go outside, then you have to keep up with the deworming. (In fact, the lifecycle of worms is such that the treatment only kills the adults, so deworming must be done in cycles of three weeks, and the cycle must be done at least once, and better to do it a third time just to make sure).

The sooner the kittens can be spayed/neutered the better.

One of our females was NOT good with the last female we introduced to the group, but has been totally fine with the subsequent two males. It took her a year to fullly accept the "new" female.

But yes - multicat households require more work, because there is more stress. We have to give them frequent attention - directed play and individual "alone time" play REALLY helps reduce stress.

Providing a lot of vertical space helps reduce stress.

Making sure there are enough litter boxes, and keeping them clean is important. The rule of thumb is you should have one more litter box than you have cats. Being in the RV, there simply isn't room for nine litter boxes. We have three. This would NOT work if we did not work from home, because I scoop all day long - the bare minimum is three times a day.

We also use Feliway to help keep things calm. This is a synthetic hormone based on the "friendly" markers in cats' cheeks. It helps reduce the territory issues that can arise between even spayed/neutered cats. We've found it to be most effective by using it three weeks on, two weeks off. We prefer the spray - others prefer to use the diffusers.

We also add Bach's Rescue Remedy (Flower essences) to their water. Our kitty that stresses the most easily, Spooky, we often dab it under her chin.

The boys did develop crystals in their urine when they were a year or two old. This is a combination of genes, diet, and stress. It took some work to get their bladders calm, and they're all on the prescription diet of Hill's c/d, which is not the highest quality food, but it has helped a LOT of cats with this problem.

One of our little rescues, Flowerbelle, was so badlly riddled with herpes when rescued she ended up having an eye removed. Despite the fostering and the adding of cats to our home, she has NEVER had a flare-up. We give them all an L-lysine (250mg) supplement, and none of the other cats has ever had a problem with herpes virus (manifests like a URI but does more damage to sinuses and eyes and such).

Tuxedo has an autoimmune disorder that is not contagious, but keeping his stress levels as low as possible is important to his ongoing health.

Any situation can be made to work, it's just a question of time, money, and effort, really. Sometimes it takes some creativity - but remember, there's always TCS to turn to!

We have 8 kitties. We have a decent sized house, 4 litter boxes, one cat tree in a 2 bedroom house. We have a living room, extra room, kitchen. There are 2 covered boxes in our laundry room, an uncovered box in our open closet, and one in the living room for our blind kitty. Before blind kitty we had 7 cats and 3 litter boxes. I scoop the litter twice a day and work from home so it makes it easier to have this many cats. We have tons of kitty toys and they love to hang out in our guest room on the guest bed and in windows. 4 of the cats were all together before, as they were my husbands cats. They get along pretty well. We have a stray that we are "fostering" who does not get a along with the other kitties, and has accidents/hides a lot but we are working on it. Our three youngest cats, one is almost a year, one is 15 weeks and our blind kitty is 13 weeks. They get along pretty well and play together.
We use feliway in diffuser and spray forms. It seems to help a lot. Introducing new kitties can cause stress on the older ones, but it has been going pretty well for us with our newest, and using feliway. Make sure your cats have enough room, and get enough attention. We make sure to give the older cats extra love so they don't feel forgotten, and give treats each day to all the cats int he same room as they usually stay segregated throughout the day(their own choice).
We are getting a couple new cat trees soon, they just love them. We have pretty lazy cats though, so they just like to perch on things, and in our guest room we have a chair, bed, desk and window sills that they love to hang out in!

We've found that the most important factor in introducing kitties is giving as much attention as possible to your existing kitties during the introduction process. They should always take priority - fuss over them extra, give them more attention than usual, and do everything with them first (treats, food, play, pets, &etc.). But you can start a thread (or look up others) in the behavior forum for the intro process.

I also wanted to address the issue of "make sure your cats have enough room." This is really subjective. We're able to make a lot of cats work in a small space. When outdoors, cats "den" in very small spaces. They have a lot of territory - this is for hunting. When inside and fed, they don't need the territory for hunting, thus they are able to adjust well to living in small spaces (one of the reasons cats are such great pets for people living in apartments). The KEY to keeping cats - especially multiple cats - happy and healthy in small spaces is activity.

Also, ensuring that the space is set up properly is important. We only have one "constricted" space - and that is the short hall from the bedroom to the rest of the RV. Otherwise we've made sure that there are NO places that a cat can become trapped by another cat. Even the litter boxes have multiple access points. And in the short hallway, we've placed a construction forming tube that is about 8" round (purchased at Home Depot, used for forming concrete/cement pillars). We bought a strip of remnant carpet and cut it into a strip about 3" wide and attached it so they can get traction going through the tube - but this way no one can block the hallway.

Five cats is totally doable, MaxMommy. And if your older three already accept the younger two, then you're way ahead of the game.

I started off with four rescued siblings in 2006 but lost one in the 2007 pet food poisoning; rescued another litter of four in the fall of 2008 and kept two/adopted out two; then started caring for my daughter's three rescued cats (all three different ages from very different backgrounds). I now have 8 cats, six of which live together quite comfortably.

LDG and FrankTheTank already mentioned several tricks to maintaining harmony in multi-cat households, such as Feliway, vertical space and play-time. While I don't use Feliway on a daily basis, it was invaluable during the integration of the last three cats.

I heartily third that a multitude of levels is important - Armakat Trees are sturdy and reasonably priced - and the more perches you can provide, the better. I have five cat trees, an eight foot tall wardrobe with a spacious top, and a six foot long window seat in front of my living room windows. This gives everyone plenty of levels to choose from without having to fight with one another.

Play-time and feeding time are also important. Try to make sure everyone gets the level of attention that matches their preference. At feeding time, you can separate cats by putting some of their plates on a table and some on the floor (although, if your cats all get along well, you might not need to do this). Try not to let them get overly hungry - two of my six get nasty with the others when I have to work late and their dinner is delayed.

With indoor kitties, you don't have to worry about diseases all that much. In fact, after talking it over with my vet, I no longer vaccinate my cats with anything but the state-mandated rabies shot.

A book I found very interesting and helpful in decoding my kitties interactions with each other is Pam Johnson-Bennett's "Cat vs. Cat: Keeping Peace When You Have More Than One Cat".

Good luck, MaxMommy! There's nothing better than a house full of furry happiness. :-)

We have 8 babies here in a 3 bedroom duplex and it works great! I also have a foster room where we keep foster kitties seperate from our babies.

We have 2 large Rubbermaid tote bins that are used as litter boxes, one covered and one not, as they all have their preferance. We also have 2 large cat trees in our living room so the kitties have something to lounge on and watch the world outside. They have lots of beds, toys, etc. and although there is the occasional disagreement, it's never anything major and life goes on with the Excellent Eight. Where the 2 newbies are kittens, the older ones shouldn't have any real problems with them. I have found for the most part older cats adapt easier to kittens than they do other adults. Good luck!

I'm glad your vet retested. Some would take that one positive and never consider that it could be false - when the ELISA tests can have plenty of false positives (not just the Felv/FIV, but all the ELISA tests).

Health wise, I haven't found a difference between having two or nine. If you have a cat that's unhealthy (or gets sick) it's pretty much going to happen at some point or another regardless. Making sure you bring in healthy cats and keeping them all healthy is really the best thing you can do.

All the health issues I've had to deal with were not stress related either. The kitty that got the UTI was eating grain free, male, and I hadn't been careful enough about magnesium and ash. Blann's a kitten and some kitten's eat things they shouldn't. In the past I only had Tomas and Sho when Tomas had his stool issues. Siri came as an outside stray with a bug bite allergy.
Maybe I've been luckier than most, though.

I don't know how many times I've been called a crazy cat lady...and at one point I would get offended, but now I'm simply flattered. I don't mind it one bit. I know I'm not crazy, just passionate about cats and their well beings, my boyfriend and I both are. We foster for 2 seperate organizations and I am also the adoption/foster care facilitator for one of them. On top of this we both have regular fulltime jobs, so needless to say, we rarely have free time.

I wouldn't have it any other way though. The cats are our kids, immaculately cared for and spoiled rotten. They are my joys, my therapy, my life. If that makes me crazy, then so be it.

I'm not going to repeat the points that others have already brought up, but will cover a little more about medical and aging issues.

I currently have 10 cats, the youngest is 7 and the oldest is 15. Within a few months, all 10 cats will be considered seniors. We have ongoing health issues with 3 of them, and 2 more with cancer right now.

The realities of a larger household is that if the majority of them are close in age, your vet expenses start to go up and up as they age. If you have to medicate any of them, or any of them need special diets, it involves a lot more work on your part.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have started all of them on wet food at a very young age. As they age, most need more fluids, and some of them can only be medicated in their food bowls. It's harder to convert a die-hard dry eater over to wet when they are older (not impossible, but harder).

What I've done right with them is to give them each their own bowls in their own spots. That way medications or special diets can be accommodated. Start some things while they are young.

Be prepared for very large vet bills as they all age. Something you may not think about right now, but over the next 15-20 years, your vet costs are going to double, triple, or more. Make sure you are stable with your income so that you can afford them.

Also be prepared for litter box issues as they age. You know that cats start to go outside the litterbox when they are ill. Old cats get ill and can regress with their litter habits. You will always need to stay on top of any of these issues for the long haul.

Be prepared to spend enough time with each of them so that you understand each of their unique personalities. I recognize when a cat in my house is sick by observing the other cats in the house. The sick cat doesn't always tell me. The others always will. This sounds easy, but I've been surprised by some of the things my older cats do that I never expected from them. I realized after I retired the end of last year and am spending all of my days with them how much I didn't know about each of my cats because I worked long hours through most of their lives. You have to give them a lot of your time. My household is as stable as it has every been because I'm now home with them.

Just remember that you have a LONG commitment to these cats. They are adorable when they're all young, but one day you will face extreme challenges. I do not want to discourage you, just want you to stop and think about the commitment.

I totally understand. I lost an 18 year old a few weeks back, 2 with cancer, and my oldest is going on 14 years with an auto immune disease that could turn to the worse at anytime. I'm facing losing 4 cats this year.

In all honesty, I wish I had limited myself to no more than 5 and stretched out their ages a bit. I have no choice but to get through this year with my elders. You can become a stronger person on the other side of it, if nothing else than a little more pragmatic and crusty around the edges while you live through it.

Hey, thanks! This thread isn't about me. I just bring up what I'm going through to give you a sense of what you would ultimately face. But it sounds like you've thought that through pretty well and I'm very glad to hear that.

I have 29 and I privately rescue. Got into a bit of trouble this year because the economy is in the tank and no one wants an extra mouth to feed, so the kittens rescued, are staying until I can find them a good home. My oldest is 19 and right now he is fighting bone cancer. Right now he has quality of life and although he can't walk on his back leg, he can get around and he is eating. He will tell me when he can't make it anymore.

Your biggest issue is going to be the stress factor on the cats- so you need to set your limit and stay there. Bringing in new cats unleashes a new round of behavior issues- issues to us, normal to cats- including spraying issues, aggression among the alphas, and scratching in inappropriate places. My crew has a large cat enclosure that attaches to our home- they have the run of the house as well and except for Riley, they are healthy and well-adjusted kitties. The cat enclosure is 65' long 35' wide and 8 feet tall. They love being out there especially during the summer months when the evenings are so warm.

Keep your crew vetted, de-flead, and wormed and you should have no health problems until they reach their senior years. Keep to a routine as much as possible with them so they can settle in- as they love routine.
People in this part of time call me the crazy cat lady, eccentric and other names I won't repeat here. But I wouldn't change the thirty some years that I have chosen to live with strays for all the money in the world. They have been my best teachers.

It sounds like you have an amazing vet! That will help.

33 cats/kittens at the moment. Get a good vet! Know how to keep cost down-flea meds to litter/food. Cheap litter goes to waste faster, get best food you can afford within reason. Know your cats weights/what spots and friends they have. Keep eye on little changes as could be sign a vet visits in order

We have lost two kitties this year....before we got our two youngest. So having enough money to pay vet bills if a cat gets sick or passes is definitely a concern...but these cats are basically our kids and we sure treat them as if they were! We have them close in age as well...we had the mama cat and 4 of her grown kitties. The mama cat passed, one of her younger kitties passed from kidney failure, so we have been doing early checkups on the rest just because it was odd to us to have two pass so close together. So it can get expensive but it is worth it.

And, we have been called crazy cat people so often. It makes me sad. We get so much joy from our cats, and people seem to think if you have 8 cats you are either crazy or your house is smelly/nasty...neither of which is true!!! I don't pay it any attention anymore. Our lives are enriched by our kitties, and we enrich their lives.
I mentioned space mainly due to our kitties who seem to need the extra space. We went from a small condo to a medium sized house and the difference in the kitties behavior is astounding. We have a couple content with lazy days and some that love to run through the rooms, so it really is just preferences I think.
Thank you for your words about Billy, our blind baby. He is just a wonderful cat, and I was also worried about adding an 8th cat to our family but so far it is going so well. A couple of the older ones are still leery of him but it has definitely gone better than I thought. Good luck with your kitties!