How many cats is too many???

Hi again - this is kind of related to my 'too many cats' thread. I have a home for the mother cat and as many kittens as i want to send. Problem is... I don't want to let them go
It's not an ideal home, it's on a farm. It's good in that the family can be together. On the other hand they will have to live in a barn like ferals, they won't be pets, and though the farmer told me he will neuter - I don't believe it for a second. He wants pest control, though he promised they will be well fed.
I suppose they're living in a shed already, so a barn isn't the problem. It's just that the mother cat is so affectionate, and asks for so little. She has never gone far from the shed when I let them all out, except yesterday when she followed me on a walk with the dog.
So I guess what I'm asking is..... is 5 possibly 6 cats too many??? I don't want to spoil things for my 2 cats, I know they're stressed. But mother cat and my female cat sniffed noses yesterday (and then hissed) - that's progress isn't it?
And I've already bought a cat flap for my shed.....

If you can care for them, then no, it's not too many. You have to do what's best for YOU and the kitties... Good Luck!!

Five or six isn't too many if you can take care of them; but you have to consider: You're now experienced at taking care of cats who need help. You could foster cats, or adopt from shelters. And these cats have a home they can go to. Those are hard to come by. If you adopted them out, then you would have room for more.

The size of your house is something to consider. Right now, they're kittens. If you have a small house or apartment, it may not be enough space for them to divide it peacefully into territories. You say your cats are already stressed; they may be crowded (but it could just be the getting-to-know-you stress you get with new cats in any house).

But don't let him have those cats before they are neutered. Keep them until they are big enough and get them neutered. BTW: Wanting cats to control pests is just as legitimate a reason to have cats as any other. Working animals can be well-treated and have happy lives the same as pets can. It's not that important whether the guy will pamper them. The more important question is, will he give them the care they need? If you want a good mouser, you have to keep it healthy; and if he understands that, you're good.

thanks - Callista you speak sense! I know I've gone with my heart over head here. There are a few more issues though... he was due to take the mother and male kitten. I KNOW he had no intention of neutering the male. He made a remark about having a load of cats around before... and they all died off. I think he wanted to start another colony.
The other issue is the mother cat has terrible diarrhea - she has done since I got her. The vet has not been helpful about it, in fact he complained about how gassy she is. I want to take her to another vet, but have been waiting till i can afford to - priority was to get her spayed which is done now.
The biggest stress on my 2 cats is our puppy, and actually the new cat has been very helpful - she won't stand any nonsense around her kittens, and is teaching him a bit of respect for cats.
I guess it comes down to the fact that this little cat came to me - she practically jumped into my car. Now she follows me around and asks for head rubs, she just loves human attention. She was never truly wild, she was a pet that was dumped. I can't send her to a farm to live semi-wild, but I can't home her to a family because she stinks... I'm trying to find homes for the kittens though, one down - 3 to go. Otherwise I'll be left with 6 cats, which yes... I think is going to be too many.

Food is rather easy to calculate, for six cats it is 60-80 grams X 6 = 360 - 480 grams in a day, depends from size of cat, 480 grams is bit over one pound and price per pound you can get by dividing cat foor bag price with it's weight, then multiply it by number of days, that is around 30 and you get costs of food for a month.

Food that I use is around 6€/kg (have got so low price only from zooplus) but it is so low price only because I buy it in bulk, 20kg at once, that is 44lbs.

For my three cost of food is around 44€ for a month if I would use only of that dry food, true cost is around 33% more because I use also fresh fish and meat, same that I could eat, double of that for six cats so at least 88€.

Then comes cat litter, with six cats it can become quite a sum already, my three are using one large bag of clumping type in a week, that alone is cost of around 20 in a month, of course your prices might be different, but for six it would be double of that, 40.

So in total food and litter alone for six cats here costs could be nearly 130 euros each month or more, your prices of course can be different and lot can be saved with different choices, but too cheap food is easily causing health issues and making lot more costs and suffering, therefore it is better to pay bit more, imo.

If financial situation now and 15 years to future is allowing to have large cat family, then I would proceed further in thinking process, but if there is chance for financial disaster, I would not consider further, even it is sad to see cats go, knowing that cats will be fed and cared is better than economical break down, which ends only to tears.

I would love to save all ferals I see, but there are ugly reality and limits it is giving to me, so I have to choose and also to work towards situation where I would have some network of other trustworthy persons that can share the load, that way all of them would get help, even I can't provide it to all, but it is bit of task to build such network and not always possible.

If reality does not allow you to have them with you, maybe you can arrange right to visit them at the farm?

I wonder if your farmer friend would be willing to house displaced true ferals? They often make great barn cats.

Originally Posted by Callista

I wonder if your farmer friend would be willing to house displaced true ferals? They often make great barn cats.

Click to expand...

This is very true, mine have caught many mouses and even a bat from indoors, I wonder how good they would be outside, however that bat is bit of mystery, how it had ended up being inside? But Miuku cat seemed to think mouse is a mouse, no matter if it has wings or not when he ate it

Their ability to stalk for prey is quite impressive easily three hours without making a sound, just waiting prey to come close at enough.

Also they catch all the flies that wander into house.

Don't know how good tame ones are catching prey, but truly feral mother cat is good example of what feral is like, she walked on yard, stopped at middle of lawn, after few seconds she grabbed some kind of mole from the ground and happily continued walking with mouse in her mouth.
One day she was walking quickly around corner of house, she saw blackbird on ground quite close, so without slowing down she went low, moved sideways to stay behind the grass, jumped and without much even stopping continued to where ever she was going to, not even single wasted move.

Nowdays she is retired from hunting, just relaxes on window, but when she was feral in wild, she was very good at hunting and especially how quickly she adopted to situation.

However nothing beats bucket that is buried to ground and has veggie oil + water at bottom and a trip plate that arms itself (mouse falls to water/oil mix and drowns), that is best rodent control I know of, but it is not very animal friendly, it is not instant killing type trap and technically is forbidden in here.

You're right, I'll send him the on the contact of a group that rehomes ferals. I still don't think he'll neuter though - that was my problem, vets here are still saying 6 months for neutering, I've talked mine down to 5 months but that's still more than a month off for these kittens.
My ginger mommy cat is no feral, and she doesn't have any interest in hunting - she wants a comfy bed, food on demand and lots of head rubs. In fact she has no intention of staying in the shed, anytime a door is open she's in the house taking a look around. Guess I have a new pet.... kittens still have to go though.

Awwww........

I don't know what you decided to do about the farmer... but sounds like if he's not going to have them sterilized it's not really the best idea. I was so hoping one of those rescues would at least be able to steer you somewhere for low-cost spay/neutering.

vibes for good luck in finding the kittens their homes!

The SPCA in the next county up from me were very helpful and offered to take the mother, but they have a virus in the cattery and said it would be certain death for the kittens. I decided to keep the mother to try to sort out her diarrhea, no-one would ever home her while she's like this.
They give vouchers for low cost neutering - but the extra travel to a vet in that county would wipe out the savings for me.
I sent another kitten to a good home last night So that's only 2 left now and it's getting manageable - 5 cats in total. I may rehome the last male kitten, though he's a terrible mommas boy. He's nearly as big as her and she's still letting him nurse at 12 weeks!!! The other kitten is a little sweetheart who's been left blind in one eye from the catflu they all had, she has a home here.
Thank you so much for all your help, I love this site!

to you for caring for these kitties. Awwww, how sweet, a momma's boy . My Perkins is the biggest cat I have and is the biggest baby and wants to snuggle up to Pipsqueak all day long. Thinks Pipsqueak is his momma. That little boy kitten sounds like a big, baby sweetheart. Hope he finds a good home too. You are keeping the one-eyed girl . That's one lucky kitty. Good luck all around and hope mom cat feels better soon so she can go to the SPCA. You are right to keep her with you until she is healthy or she will just go downhill being exposed to that virus at the shelter.

As far as too many cats goes..... The limit is individual and should be based on whether or not you have the time and financial means to care for more than your two cats. It takes up a lot of time and is a big commitment, a labor of love which brings much joy . Adding more cats, adds more work and costs but to me, more importantly, adds more love and happiness in my home ( more cat hair too ).

Oh that's such sad news about the rescue. I hope they get that virus situation under control soon. It can be so tough.

But congrats on finding a home for another kitty!

Yes, it's got to be a little less overwhelming now. You've done such a wonderful job! We have a little one-eyed (and deaf) girl. She still manages to be a handful.

for finding your momma's boy a home (hopefully with another cat LOL), and for getting momma's digestive system back on track.

I am sorry the place with the low-cost vouchers won't work out. Yes, the cost of petrol can make all the difference.