We took in two lovely stray cats a few days ago. We already have 8 cats; my Mom is going to take one of my tom's when her terminally ill dog passes away, so we'll be down to 7 in a few months.
My question is, how many cats is TOO many, for the cats sake?
We have a pretty big house, it's spread-out, a lot of nooks and crannies which the cats like. We also have a house full of cat people here.
My dilemma is that two of the males I already have occasionally spray in a few places, and the two strays are both toms. One of the stray toms is a dominant cat, not obnoxious, but a dominant personality. The strays are both probably under a year old.
All the local shelters are at capacity, (the no-kill ones that we are comfortable with) and we are short of money. I am planning to get them tested tomorrow to make sure they're free of feline leukemia and AIDS, and I have a tentative appt. for one of them to be neutered and get his shots Wednesday when our mobile, low-cost neutering clinic is nearby; they had one appt. left.
Am I taking too much of a risk to try to keep these boys? The two dominant toms I already have are our only indoor/outdoor cats, there is no way to keep either of them in. (Both are neutered.) Am I risking more spraying if I try to keep them? Any advice would be appreciated. I want to do the best thing by all of these cats, the strays as well as our resident cats, which I am committed to.
The second question I have is since I have 2 cats with feline herpes, am I risking the two strays getting that also?
Thanks in advance.
My question is, how many cats is TOO many, for the cats sake?
We have a pretty big house, it's spread-out, a lot of nooks and crannies which the cats like. We also have a house full of cat people here.
My dilemma is that two of the males I already have occasionally spray in a few places, and the two strays are both toms. One of the stray toms is a dominant cat, not obnoxious, but a dominant personality. The strays are both probably under a year old.
All the local shelters are at capacity, (the no-kill ones that we are comfortable with) and we are short of money. I am planning to get them tested tomorrow to make sure they're free of feline leukemia and AIDS, and I have a tentative appt. for one of them to be neutered and get his shots Wednesday when our mobile, low-cost neutering clinic is nearby; they had one appt. left.
Am I taking too much of a risk to try to keep these boys? The two dominant toms I already have are our only indoor/outdoor cats, there is no way to keep either of them in. (Both are neutered.) Am I risking more spraying if I try to keep them? Any advice would be appreciated. I want to do the best thing by all of these cats, the strays as well as our resident cats, which I am committed to.
The second question I have is since I have 2 cats with feline herpes, am I risking the two strays getting that also?
Thanks in advance.