How many is too many?

[chickory chick]

is what I found out real quick. I had 5 and added a rescue and my 5 clearly said "NO!"
There was fighting and spraying and general unhappiness.
When the rescue cat was taken to another foster home everything negative stopped.
5 happy kitties now live here as before.

 

[urbantigers]

I think too many is when the quality of life for existing cats starts to suffer (and of course when you can't afford to care for them all). Cats need space to get away from each other if they wish as you can't guarantee they will get on with each other, and even cats who get need to be able to have their own space. If you have too many there can be a constant low level of stress which isn't good for the cats and may result in behavoural problems such as sparaying/urinating outside the litter tray.