how many cats?

how many cats do you have currently? how many cats did you have in total?

currently 10, and 15 total

I currently have five cats - the most I have ever owned at one time. All are rescues.

Two are siblings (boy/girl) at 4 years of age. Two are mother/son at 4 and 3 years of age and one is of indeterminate age (though I guess around 7-8) as he was a rescued stray. They are all indoor cats but I have a large (4X8X8 foot) cat enclosure built on to the back of my house that they get to through a cat door in a window. They all get along and have no desire to roam out of the house. In fact one time the back door was left open and three of them wandered on to the back patio and just kind of sniffed around close to the door. They came right in when I called them. They are content to sit in he cat enclosure or look out a window at the world.

However, it was not always like this. I have had many cats over the last thirty plus years and up until this current batch they were all outdoor cats. Out of all of them only two lived to ripe old ages of 17 and 22. The others died or disappeared at under 5 years. Consequently I vowed to never, ever let my cats out again. Too many predators(including some cat hating people) and other dangerous things, disease, cars, poisons . I advocate keeping cats indoors but I get a lot of flack from people who say it is not natural. I think this is BS for the most part except one poly-dactyl cat I owned. From day one as a kitten she wanted out and we tried everything we could to keep her in but she was sly and sneaky about getting out. She was a huntress and killed many birds, lizards, and other small animals. I did not like this at all but there was no way I could keep her in. Finally after two years she disappeared and I suspect a coyote got her. That's when I built the cat enclosure at some expense to me. But it was worth it to know all of my cats are safe and secure. And happy :-)

We're at six cats. The most we've ever had was eight. All indoor as we don't allow the cats to go outside at all.

One indoor cat with access to a secured balcony.

BTavis said:

 
I currently have five cats - the most I have ever owned at one time. All are rescues.

Two are siblings (boy/girl) at 4 years of age. Two are mother/son at 4 and 3 years of age and one is of indeterminate age (though I guess around 7-8) as he was a rescued stray. They are all indoor cats but I have a large (4X8X8 foot) cat enclosure built on to the back of my house that they get to through a cat door in a window. They all get along and have no desire to roam out of the house. In fact one time the back door was left open and three of them wandered on to the back patio and just kind of sniffed around close to the door. They came right in when I called them. They are content to sit in he cat enclosure or look out a window at the world.

However, it was not always like this. I have had many cats over the last thirty plus years and up until this current batch they were all outdoor cats. Out of all of them only two lived to ripe old ages of 17 and 22. The others died or disappeared at under 5 years. Consequently I vowed to never, ever let my cats out again. Too many predators(including some cat hating people) and other dangerous things, disease, cars, poisons . I advocate keeping cats indoors but I get a lot of flack from people who say it is not natural. I think this is BS for the most part except one poly-dactyl cat I owned. From day one as a kitten she wanted out and we tried everything we could to keep her in but she was sly and sneaky about getting out. She was a huntress and killed many birds, lizards, and other small animals. I did not like this at all but there was no way I could keep her in. Finally after two years she disappeared and I suspect a coyote got her. That's when I built the cat enclosure at some expense to me. But it was worth it to know all of my cats are safe and secure. And happy :-)

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yeah there just too many people who don't care about cats like we do 

I have two cats, and that's all I've ever had at one time.

I have a question for those of you who have five or more:  How do you afford it?  I would have a houseful I'm sure, but I'm still way in debt from taking care of Cindy (who passed in September) and Darcy (who passed in December).  If either of these cats get sick I doubt I could afford to take care of them, but I would have to try and run up even more debt. 

Well, we've been lucky in that none of our cats have ever had a really serious illness that broke the bank. Hydrox got breast cancer when he was 19, and we paid for the operation to try to remove the tumors. Banshee was on several different meds as she had asthma and thyroid problems. And both Whisper and Bootser developed thyroid issues when they got older, too. But we always have money set aside for the cats, so that if anything should happen, we can deal with it. For the most part, other than with Hydrox that time, it's a matter of paying for meds for thyroid issues with the older cats. (I will say we were hopping, though, when Whisper had her last litter of kittens, almost 19 years ago. Two boys and three girls and, except for BooBoo who was neutered at about two months of age, they were all spayed/neutered right around the same time! We didn't know she was pregnant when she came into the house. We soon found out, though, that we were to become grandpawrents! )

With our geriatric bunch (BooBoo and Ms. Pepe, both from that last litter I spoke about), we schedule vet visits for them about every 3-4 months, just to make sure they're OK. Boo usually gets an antibiotic shot and a steroid shot each time to help him breathe better; he gets really bad attacks sometimes and the shots help him, but they only last 3-4 months. He also takes a supplement for arthritis every day and now we've started to give him 1/2 of a baby aspirin every day for 3 days once a month to try to help with his arthritis. He will be going in at the end of February for a dental cleaning, followed by Pepe, who will be going in in March.

The clan goes through 28 cans of cat food every week and I don't know how much cat litter anymore. We just buy a couple bags of litter and a tub or two of scoopable every week; right now, there's quite a bit of litter in the closet (we have six litterboxes). Three kinds of dry food (because they're fussy and they all like something different), Sip, their treats, spring water, etc. It all adds up, but Rick does have everything budgeted, so we know what's going on and where we're at with the budget. 

I always say that, as long as we have the kibblekrunchers, we'll never be able to retire! 

Misty8723 said:

 
I have two cats, and that's all I've ever had at one time.

I have a question for those of you who have five or more:  How do you afford it?  I would have a houseful I'm sure, but I'm still way in debt from taking care of Cindy (who passed in September) and Darcy (who passed in December).  If either of these cats get sick I doubt I could afford to take care of them, but I would have to try and run up even more debt. 

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Loving pets and being able to care properly for them is a real issue. It comes down to what you can afford and what is important in your life. I am retired and made a decision to rescue as many dogs/cats as I could afford. My limit ended up being three dogs and five cats. Of course I would want more as there are so many out there that need forever homes and so many get euthanized. However, to remain within a reasonable budget and not end up as some irresponsible animal hoarder I set the limit to what it is now.  The cost of a pet is not trivial even if they remain healthy. One cat I rescued ending up costing me over $7K in vet bills over two years ( he had chronic and severe stomatitis and gingivitis). Fortunately that was the worst case scenario for me. I do not regret spending the money as the cat is a constant companion and as loving as can be. I think he might even appreciate what I did for him:-)

But the costs of feeding the eight animals, kitty litter for the cats, and vet bills probably cost me over four thousand dollars a year, The three dogs get annual checkups and shots at $250/apiece. The cats run about $150/apiece for annual vet visits. And that is without them getting sick or injured. Add on to that heart worm medicine, flea/tick medicine and the price adds another thousand dollars a year or about $100/month.

But I can afford it and as the animals bring so much joy to my life they are worth every cent. The cats are still young (four under 4 years and one at 7) but the three dogs are getting older. One shepherd mix is in her fifteenth year and is starting show her age. I give her medicine for her arthritis but other than that she is still full of energy.

It would bother me a great deal if I could not afford to take care of the animals properly. They deserve it and are wholly dependent on me for their well being. That is the responsibility I have taken on and I fully plan on living up to it.

BTavis said:

Loving pets and being able to care properly for them is a real issue. It comes down to what you can afford and what is important in your life. I am retired and made a decision to rescue as many dogs/cats as I could afford. My limit ended up being three dogs and five cats. Of course I would want more as there are so many out there that need forever homes and so many get euthanized. However, to remain within a reasonable budget and not end up as some irresponsible animal hoarder I set the limit to what it is now.  The cost of a pet is not trivial even if they remain healthy. One cat I rescued ending up costing me over $7K in vet bills over two years ( he had chronic and severe stomatitis and gingivitis). Fortunately that was the worst case scenario for me. I do not regret spending the money as the cat is a constant companion and as loving as can be. I think he might even appreciate what I did for him:-)

But the costs of feeding the eight animals, kitty litter for the cats, and vet bills probably cost me over four thousand dollars a year, The three dogs get annual checkups and shots at $250/apiece. The cats run about $150/apiece for annual vet visits. And that is without them getting sick or injured. Add on to that heart worm medicine, flea/tick medicine and the price adds another thousand dollars a year or about $100/month.

But I can afford it and as the animals bring so much joy to my life they are worth every cent. The cats are still young (four under 4 years and one at 7) but the three dogs are getting older. One shepherd mix is in her fifteenth year and is starting show her age. I give her medicine for her arthritis but other than that she is still full of energy.

It would bother me a great deal if I could not afford to take care of the animals properly. They deserve it and are wholly dependent on me for their well being. That is the responsibility I have taken on and I fully plan on living up to it.

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Got to love a man who loves cats this much. We now have one cat. The most we have had at a time is three. We have been cat lovers since the early eighties and I am not sure of a total over the years. I would have to stop and count them up. :lol3:

blueyedgirl5946 said:

Got to love a man who loves cats this much. 

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Man or woman shouldn't matter. Anyone who loves cats this much is a good person, regardless of gender. There are men on TCS, and we aren't any more special just because we somehow can love cats.