Question of the Day, Friday, July 31

[Winchester]

Good morning! 

 And Happy Friday! 

Can you believe we are at the end of July already? This year is rolling by quickly.

Kitty-related question: What is the largest number of cats you've had at one time? What is the number you feel most comfortable with having in your house? 

We've had as many as eight cats at once in the house. Many, many years ago, when Whisper had her kittens, we had eight that time: Hydrox, Banshee, Whisper. And then her kids: BooBoo, Spike, Ms. Pepe, Gorby, and Taffy. It was so much fun watching the kittens grow up into young cats. They were hilarious and we have so many memories of those times. Spike passed away from pneumonia. We found homes for Gorby and Taffy, but then Whisper's sister, Bootser, was still outside and winter was coming and....well, she ended up in the house. Then Rick found Da Pumpkin Boy at work; the ladies had been feeding him and he was a sweetie. Nobody wanted to take him home and Halloween was coming and.....welcome, Pumpkin!

We gradually ended up at six and we stayed at six for a long time. Then after Banshee passed, we were down to five. You wouldn't think one cat could leave such a huge hole in your heart, but she did, I found a very wee Mollipop at the vet and brought her home, followed by Tabby, and then Muffin. So we were back up to eight and remained at eight for quite a while. But then Whisper passed away and so did her litter sister, Bootser. That took us back to six.

Six is a good number for us, I think, both financially and emotionally. More than that and I tend to stress a bit over the vet bills. We're getting older and, should anything happen to us, we have made provisions for the cats' care in our wills. I think, that as time goes on, and the number lessens, we won't be getting any more cats. But you know how that goes.....somewhere there's a kitty who needs us and they always seem to find us eventually. So I see us as always having at least two furkids in the house.

 

[denice]

I have 2 which is a good number for me Patches has had large vet bills starting when he was 18 months old, they are both 12 now. Alice has started with larger vet bills now because of blood work done for wellness checks so 2 is good for me

 

[sivyaleah]

We have two, Casper and Cocoabean.  We've agreed that for the size of our home, this is the maximum we can deal with, although we'd both like one more.

Financially, the two are manageable.  I'm concerned a third might tip it over the edge since my BF is not working (he's in school full time).  Aside from the finances, it's also somewhat difficult to add another due to space constraints of where to put another litter box.  Right now, we have both in our main bathroom which we are almost tripping over, but it works ok enough since the room is large, but there truly is no other good place to put one.  We're even concerned with Casper getting older that eventually he may not be able to climb up the stairs as efficiently. Might be able to squeeze one in our downstairs closet (not even really a closet - it's more like a pass through to our very small powder room, which we turned into a closet) but that's not ideal as it's right off the dining room - yech.  

And last, we're not home a lot as it is, with me working full time and him at school.  I can't imagine having the wherewithall to integrate one more at present.  We did such a great job with Cocoa, because I was home for 2 weeks on vacation and devoted a lot of my time to making sure that when the two of them met, it would go smoothly.  That luxury doesn't exist now.

Of course, we still have our hearts and home open should one very special kitty cross our path.  I hate saying "never" to a third.

 

[larussa]

Two cats are the most I've had at one time.  I now have only one but I would love to have at least two.  Circumstances keeps me at only having Autumn. 

 

[Kat0121]

I have 3. Lilith, Sophie and Henry. I went to the Humane Society with the intention of getting one- Lilith. Then I got there and she had a sister who I couldn't leave behind so Sophie came along. Henry is a permanent foster from a local shelter near work. I saw him on their website and he had such a sweet face. He got there at 4 months of age and was still there 8 years later with no socialization. No cat deserves that. He's doing great here and gets along with all of the other furkids. They accepted him right away.  He still spends most of his time in his safe room but he has been coming out to see everyone and explore everything so much lately. He gains more confidence every day. I'm so proud. 

3 is a good number for me. DD thinks I should get a 4th. A red/orange one. I also have an elderly dog. She just turned 13. She's a Border Collie. I don't see myself bringing anyone else into the house until she passes. 

 

[MoochNNoodles]

3 was the most I ever had at once.  That was when my mom and step-dad married and combined households.  

We currently have 2 and that's it for us.  DH is allergic and we keep pretty busy these days.  

 

[margd]

I once had four, though I only intended to have two.  When my marriage ended, my ex refused to give me my cats Wesley and Lucy and I was so upset, I went to the shelter and adopted Milo and Daphne.  At that point, he suddenly told me he couldn't handle Wesley and Lucy any more so I took them in, even though at the time I was living in two rooms with my teenage daughter.   That was many years ago, though and all four have crossed the bridge and now I only have Chula and Paul.    Although I could handle four years ago, I think two is the best number for me now.  I must admit though that all these kitten photos make me want a kitten but my apartment only allows two so I must admire from afar!

 

[sivyaleah]

 
I once had four, though I only intended to have two.  When my marriage ended, my ex refused to give me my cats Wesley and Lucy and I was so upset, I went to the shelter and adopted Milo and Daphne.  At that point, he suddenly told me he couldn't handle Wesley and Lucy any more so I took them in, even though at the time I was living in two rooms with my teenage daughter.   That was many years ago, though and all four have crossed the bridge and now I only have Chula and Paul.    Although I could handle four years ago, I think two is the best number for me now.  I must admit though that all these kitten photos make me want a kitten but my apartment only allows two so I must admire from afar!

Kittens! Gosh, we'd love one but seriously not a good idea!

Neither of us has ever raised a cat from itty bitty kitty.  My BF has had lots of cats throughout his life but never a baby.  

 

[Columbine]

We have 2 currently (counting home cats only) - Asha and Shadow. 

The most we've ever had is 7, but that was VERY briefly. A tuxedo DSH pulled himself through our cat flap one night. He was in a pretty bad way (aids, I think). We got him straight to the vet and did what we could for the poor guy, but he only lasted 48 hrs 

  That was Checkers.

I'd love to have more cats, but we have 2 dogs and a pony too, and resources will only stretch so far. We also want to keep all the current guys happy, so I think we're at our limit for now. In there future, who knows....

 

[Draco]

Two.. I've only ever had two cats. Sometimes It think about adding a third, but then I have no place for an extra litter box, lol. So, two is it for now!

 

[margecat]

Until last week, I had 10. We had to have Marge put down suddenly a week ago, so now we only have 9 cats.

 I am not planning to ever have 10 again, though. I feel that 4-5 maximum is best for us; not that my guys were really any trouble, but they did make a ton of daily cleaning for this neat freak woman. I seem to remember that when we had 5, thinking that was a manageable number in terms of cleaning.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

We have had as many as three at the time. At present, I would feel comfortable if I just had even one. :nod:

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

the most cats i've had at one time would be two. for many years, mickey and snick -- littermates, brother and sister. now it's snick and jaspurr.

i've carefully considered how many cats that i'm able to give each the love they need and deserve, that i'm able to handle their care financially (especially as they become senior cats), and that i feel i have room in my house for. mine is a 1239 sq ft house, which my plan is to convert the attached deck into a screened porch/catio within roughly two years (as soon as i've saved the money for having that done, adding an attached pole barn garage, having the downstairs windows replaced, and having a privacy fence installed on one side of my back yard -- all to be done at one time). i feel 3 would be the ideal number of cats, but 4 cats would be something i would also be comfortable with -- especially in some circumstances, such as adopting two littermate kittens and the third kitten would be left on it's own/adopted by another family. i know that for my jaspurr, who is very sensitive and needs a certain type of cat(s) to be comfortable living with, i need to adopt younger females.

 

[Norachan]

The most I've ever had is 35, but they weren't house cats. They were the feral colony I care for who mainly lived outside but would come into the kitchen to be fed. After getting them all TNR'd and re-homing all the cute little adoptable ones I was down to 20, which I decided was my limit.

I'm now back up to 22 because I found one cat dumped in the woods and one sick kitten dying in a car park and I just couldn't walk away and leave them.

I think I have too many. Not because of lack of space, I have a huge enclosure for them, but because I don't think they all get as much one-on-one time as they'd like. There's no way I could part with any of them though and at least they're all having a happy life together.

 

[catladyvettech]

8 years ago (in my youth, when I was 20 years old, Lol) I lived in a "punk rock" house in midtown Sacramento. It was an old 6 bedroom Victorian house which was grungy and cheap and we had wild parties all the time. I was working to control our cat population. The two main mother cats has litters at the same time and I resolved to raise all the kittens, find them homes and then spay the mommas and hopefully put an end to all the strays coming from our house. So for 8 weeks I had 11 kittens and two mommas living in my bedroom at that house. It was chaos! But all the babies got adopted and the moms got spayed and the problem was solved. Never again, though! That was way too many!!!

 

[kathyfromcanada]

Were down to 2 now. We have been up to 5. The 3  passed due to old age. Given our  financial circumstances 2 is our new limit. Even that is stretching it. The vet bills get very expensive when they get older,

even though our vet is a sweetheart and cut's us breaks.

We treasure them both every day....