17 cats

I went to a client with my fiance yesterday- and it was awesome! The woman insisted I had to come see her kitties, since I have my three that I adore. She has 17 in all, and all of them are taken care of amazingly. She even has a room with a momma that was a stray with 5 little kittens. I of course had to play with them (cutest little things! They were born in July, and are adorable!), and love on Momma. She volunteers at the humane society, and ends up adopting cats that no one wants, fostering them, and things like that. That is actually why she has momma- to foster. I LOVE it. Playing with kittens makes me miss when my boys were young though!

I was shocked to learn that there were 17 cats in their house though. It did not look or smell like it. I would honestly expect a disaster from that many- but not at all!

Sounds pretty much like my place. I have 15 right now including my fosters and I have people over all the time who say they wouldn't even know it because they are all so well cared for. She sounds like a wonderful person!

Originally Posted by laceface

I was shocked to learn that there were 17 cats in their house though. It did not look or smell like it. I would honestly expect a disaster from that many- but not at all!

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It's terrible that media and stereotypes have conditioned people to think this.
There are several on here with double digit number of cats who take wonderful care of them.

I have had as many as 15, I think. Now I have 11. But I tell people 4 because there is that stigma attached to being a "cat lady".

Like this lady, you can come in my home and not even see a cat. You always could. Nor smell any litter. It takes work, and a good "system". Especially a good system.

It is nice to see another success story with multiples. It can be done!

sounds like a great person!

The world needs more people like her!

A co-worker of mine has 17 cats inside, and I believe 9 that she feeds outdoors at her house. She TNR's the strays around the place we work at, and has rehomed a few as well.

There are definitely good people left out there

I am really hoping I can go visit again, I loved playing with those babies!

I guess she has 3 males that live outside, as they weren't neutered before she had them, and they spray badly. Someone was house sitting for her and brought the boys inside, and they were left in for three days... I guess it took her months to get the smell of that out, I can imagine that was horrendous, but she definitely fixed it!

The more I think about it, the more I think that years from now, when I don't have my boys (or maybe while I do, if I can convince my guy) I would like to foster pregnant mommas. I think that would be amazing!

It is possible! I've had as many as 10 (sadly, Jasmine died in June, so we're down to 9). Honestly, if you came to my house, I don't think you'd know we had pets (well, most of the time!), unless you saw the cat bowls, toys or a cat. However, I've decided this is the limit, as I don't want the housework to get out of hand--I couldn't live like that. You just have to keep on top of the cleaning. I vaccum every other day, or every day, when needed, and mop the floors a lot. The floors are the worst areas of the house--cat fur--but oddly, not the furniture. We're very lucky in that all but 1 litter box is in the garage (which is only used for the cats and storage--don't worry--no cars--so no danger to the cats). The stairs seem to be where the tussles take place, so I sweep them every day. You wouldn't believe the fur balls there! I air the house every day, upstairs and downstairs, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor every day (the worst dirt is there). I wash the cat bedding every week, in hot water, with some vinegar. I keep Swiffer cleaning pads on hand, so I can do a quick floor mop if company's coming.

You just have to set up a cleaning routine, and stick to it. Get a decent vaccum, with a very good pet hair brush (Hoover Elite Deluxe is my model). My cats have the run of the house, but I know people with a tribe of cats who relegate them to one area of the house. I've left the study open-floor-plan, so it's their playroom, and the sun comes in in the morning, through the French doors, which they love. Since it's at the back of the house, it's easy to hide should unexpected company arrive before I can clean.

Originally Posted by laceface

The more I think about it, the more I think that years from now, when I don't have my boys (or maybe while I do, if I can convince my guy) I would like to foster pregnant mommas. I think that would be amazing!

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It IS amazing sweetie, trust me. There is no feeling like it, but be prepared for heartache as they don't always all make it. It is bittersweet sometimes, but so worth it.