who has the most cats on the forum?

[abnihon]

I'm just curious who on the cat forum has the most cats and how many?
I'm talking about permanent indoor cats, not fosters or outdoor cats.

How many cats do you think people can safely take care of at once?
I watch those animal hoarding shows on Animal Planet and some of those situations looks scary!
My husband jokes with me that I'll end up on that show someday. Haha.

 

[my4llma]

Originally Posted by abnihon

How many cats do you think people can safely take care of at once?

That depends on how much time the person has, how much money the person has, and how much room the person has. Believe me if I were rich, I'd have a mansion full of cats.

 

[catsallaround]

May be me 32 in house full time 1 goes in/out as she please and 2 semi ferals live outside that came with the house.
Of the 35 34 are fixed one whos not has serious medical issues. I stay home all day spend a while in am cleaning then just hang with them on laptop. Money is not to bad cause I stock up on things with coupons/discounts and get all items at some discount. Petsmart has come to expect me a few times a week with carts and carts of stuff

I think what I do is not something common/can be done unless your dedication is there. One missed day of cleaning means my house is BAD!!!

I just had 2 construction workers over(bf/gf combo) and BOTH were shocked when I said how many were in house. Hes like wherever I look is either food or a cat(had just came back from petsmart and dumped planning to bring it upstairs in a little while)
My vet does all the fixing at 8 weeks(no cats got pregnant here but a few came pregnant/adopted kittens) and shes great. When I first went there I think she was a bit worried but now shes not and when I go shes always commenting how loving they are/adjusted(ok minus a few misfits....

 

[Willowy]

I think catsallaround has the most on the forum. That I can think of, anyway.

I have 20 cats indoors. Some ferals outside (7 have been TNRed, and a couple of toms I haven't caught yet hang around, but I don't know how many to count as "mine". Some of them live in other neighborhoods and only come to eat occasionally, it's only chance I was able to trap them). Maybe I'll get second place

.

It's all in how many pets you can handle. Some people can't handle 1 pet. Honestly, I think that anyone who has unaltered cats (besides those with health problems that preclude surgery, or those part of a responsible breeding program) is teetering on the edge. One little accident and things can so easily get out of hand.

 

[hissy]

I had 32- now I have 23 because God smiled on me recently and made some adoptions available for my crew.

They are all indoor-outdoor enclosure kitties (the enclosure attaches to our home) with the exception of two semi-ferals who are barn cats unless the weather is nasty then they come inside. Most I have ever had (and never will again) was 45 after they cleaned out a mobile home park and pulled all the rigs out. I will NEVER do that again!

you will find that true hoarders never know their numbers. They fudge or hedge or they lie about how many they actually have.

 

[abnihon]

Yeah, the disturbing thing about the hoarders on that show is that none of their animals seem to be fixed, so they just breed with each other. In a situation like that it would be impossible to count how many you have! They also, for whatever reason, seem incapable of cleaning up after their cats - feces and urine everywhere...
The breeder where we got our Maine Coons had between 20 and 30 I think. We were always impressed with how clean it was there (though the smell of un-neutered male cat urine is strong....) I think she vacuumed daily and scooped litter boxes several times a day.
I can't even imagine. We recently got 4 and it's hard enough to keep up with the cat hair and litter box....
If I had more space (and money to a pay a housekeeper!) I'd love to have a few more though!
catsallaround - do you work from home or do you have a spouse who works? Just wondering how you're able to stay home with the cats. Sounds nice!
My husband is currently working from home so I call him our stay at home cat dad. Haha.

 

[ldg]

Animal hoarding is an illness, apparently based in obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is similar to any type of obsessive collecting, but is so very, very sad because it isn't inanimate objects, and the animals suffer.

My4LLMA is right - there is no "number" that works as some kind of limit that determines whether or not someone is a hoarder.

How many can be properly cared for is a very individual thing. For some people, one cat is their limit.

 

[addiebee]

I have seven but I really think that is too many. They are foster failures...
I led with my heart not my head but stopped before I got really out of control.

I am lucky that the boys all pretty much get along except for Casper who is afraid of a couple of the others... they know it and bully him.

I think four would be a good number for me... but of course, these guys have a home with me for life. I promised them they would NEVER see the inside of a shelter again .... EVER.

 

[cococat]

I have one kitty so not me.

 

[catsallaround]

To be honest I originally quit my job so we could start a family after a miscarrage thinking the least stress the better(was working 6 days a week in 3 broken up shifts a day as home health aide sometimes more shifts and VERY physical work) That never panned out as of yet tho

I am very lucky husband makes enough to support us. That the coupons for human and pet food allow us to do this cheaply as possible.

Poor husband got more then he wanted but I must say over last year hes come around very well. Heart murmur kitty(shawn) is his fav. When I had to discuss what to do in a emergency(give him pain meds wrap him up and go to vet to euth him if need be) he became upset cause "thats littlies" he hates that plan but knows if he comes home to cat on ground thats what it may come to-happend once few years ago.

I was watching hoarders at my moms house and was so shocked cause guy had about what i had and there was a layer of crap all over and stacks and stacks of objects. Accidents happen, I clean them as I notice them. most of the times they are good tho.

Its amazing to see them get along besides Tyler hating Misty and noah hating the world all are good not 24/7 but you find piles of cats sound asleep, sometimes on top of eachother!!!

 

[Willowy]

Originally Posted by catsallaround

Its amazing to see them get along besides Tyler hating Misty and noah hating the world all are good not 24/7 but you find piles of cats sound asleep, sometimes on top of eachother!!!

I know. . .all of mine get along very well (except for Silka who hates everyone and lives happily alone in the bedroom). It is amazing because I know people with 2 cats who hate each other. It seems like the more cats I have, the better they get along. I wonder if there's some kind of cat psychology science to explain that.

 

[catsallaround]

SO TRUE!!!

A few cats were more trouble seems like after a certain point they don't care that much. Keep the dry bowl full and boxes scooped/dumped and alls right in the world. One of my cats, Tommy used to HATE and attack cats then one day I let him out based on a hunch and hes been out since with no issues. old age settled him down a bit I guess...Heck I went to vet to rule out any issues as thought maybe hes sick blood work all came back fine. I felt SO stupid but it was a good laugh. I think he ralized hey wait they get the bigger cat trees and mommys always there she only sees me a few times a day. Something clicked cause he CLEANS the babies(ha 6 month olds)

Tyler is fun to watch cause you can see a few things in him not in others. like he finds pawing the window hours on end...enjoyable? or how he stalks his tail and is welllllll past that age.. He is one of my few door darters. He went the first time in a blizzard so youd think he would have learned, nope. He runs out then stops and if you say daddy over and over he just purrs and lays there.

 

[white cat lover]

I have 11 indoors currently....if I had to do it again I wouldn't have so many (but I couldn't let them be euthanized, either). What's done is done. I have as many as I can space-wise fit, IMO, so no more here. And I finally have (relative) peace amongst them. It would be nice to not have incessant vet bills for this or that, but I won't deny them the care either.

 

[EnzoLeya]

I have four and sometimes that's too many, lol. But I love all of my babies and couldn't give them up for anything!

 

[sakura]

I can't imagine having enough time, space, or money to care for more than 4. We have 3 now, but 2 is my limit. With a ton of cats, how do you have people over without cats crawling all over them? How do you keep the cat hair under control? The vet bills? Where do you put all of the litter boxes? Water bowls? If you can make it work, more power to ya'...

Our 3rd was not planned (I sound like I'm talking about a baby..), he was sort of inherited from a family member who lost interest. Even after 2 years, our 2nd cat is terrified of him, so he's confined to a small room for most of the day. They are getting better, he used to scare her so much that she would lose bladder control. It's pretty sad. Anyway, for me, 2 are easier than 1, but our 3rd makes things a bit more difficult.

When one of the cats passes away (hopefully many years from now), we'll keep it to just 2.

 

[ruthyb]

I have 5 and people think that's alot but even though they are indoor cats I hardly see them to be honest, apart from feeding time and when they want cuddles they are usually upstairs asleep somewhere. x

 

[-_aj_-]

Just 2 for me so not me

 

[kailie]

It's pretty obvious we have 10 here.

I absolutely love it. They are all spoiled rotten and immaculately cared for. Whenever someone makes a comment or seems shocked, I always say they are more than welcome to come and meet them. My home is not a disaster and my babies are all healthy. I would NOT have them if I couldn't properly care for them.

 

[Winchester]

We have six RugCats in our family. We know that we can financially care for six cats as we've been doing so for the last 14 years or so. Six is OK, but seven just might be that one too many.

I think that, eventually, we may go down to three or four as the two Old Ladies (Whisper and Bootser, who are 16 now) and then the RugKittens (Boo and Pepe are 14 years old, but they will always be our RugKittens) pass on and as we get older, we'll try not to add any more. But who knows?

I'm always pleased when I hear from people who know us that they're amazed that our house doesn't smell, that the cats are very friendly (except for our Amber, who is AKA our Phantom Kitty) and loving, not only toward us, but to our family and friends as well. Nobody is starving. There's always plenty of food, plenty of hugs, and plenty of cuddles to go around for everybody.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by Sakura

With a ton of cats, how do you have people over without cats crawling all over them? How do you keep the cat hair under control? The vet bills? Where do you put all of the litter boxes? Water bowls? If you can make it work, more power to ya'...

I only have seven inside, but like many that have multiple cats - some of them were feral born. They don't come out to bother guests, in fact only four of my cats will even venture out sometimes to see who is here and of them only one or two will come up to other people without much fear. I have one outside who will gladly hop up on anyone, though.
Cat hair isn't an issue, honestly. They're fed good foods and brushed often. I only have one room with carpet, the rest is linoleum and hard wood. The furniture have covers that can be tossed in the washer (good thing, the humans in the house are messy).
I got creative with litter box stash spots and because I can't use litters I only have four boxes now.
Water is in the kitchen... I have two that will play in water so it has to stay on the linoleum. (puddles would quickly ruin hardwood)

Really, it's hardly more effort with seven in the house than it is with two. My routine is the same. The only difference is the amount of space seven cats take up on the bed.

I too have noticed that the larger the group is the less some things bother the cats. Coming home smelling like vet used to set a few of them off. Now no one cares.. .that or they're used to the smell.

Originally Posted by hissy

\\Most I have ever had (and never will again) was 45 after they cleaned out a mobile home park and pulled all the rigs out. I will NEVER do that again!\\

I don't mean to stereotype, honestly, since I know not all living in them are like this - but what is it with trailer parks? I had to deal with a group that was half skittish and half feral - the skittish ones had been without much human contact for months and their offspring had none at all. It was ridiculous. People would move in and out, leaving cats and even dogs in the process.