Question of the Day: Sunday, October 9

[gilmargl]

Golden October and it's a beautiful morning here in Germany!
My cats have been fed. Emily, my least-favourite cat has climbed on my lap (least-favourite because she's bossy, treating me and the other cats in the same way she punished her kittens with slaps and claws whenever she thinks her demands are not being met); to Katy's disappointment Mogi has chosen my recliner to curl up on; Woolly Bear has half-heartedly tried to find something "alive?" in the toy box and will now settle herself in a cat carrier; Katy has taken a sad look at me - registring that Emily has placed herself on the throne (my lap) and has left the room probably to sleep on my bed.
I will now have to leave my 4 - hopefully happy and contented cats - to visit a care home and the harvest-festival market in town, where the cat charity is hoping to replenish its funds.
I hate leaving my cats every day, even for 3 or 4 hours, as there's now no-one else here to amuse them but I think we are all making the best of the situation. I have come to the conclusion that, for me, 4 female cats is the ideal number - one could say, the limit - for my present situation, life-style and even for my budget. In the past, I have had up to 14 cats - in various parts of the house - almost all fosters - but I had other members of family in the house to help, at least, with playtimes. No fosters at present - owing to the never-ending task of rooms being redecorated and furniture and books cluttering up those rooms still in use!

And now my question: if money was not a problem, would you consider keeping (not fostering) more cats? If so, how many would be an ideal number?
Have a pleasant autumnal (or spring) day!

 

[Winchester]

The most cats we've ever had in the house was eight at one time. The most cats we had in the house for the longest time was six.

A lot would depend on how well they all got along together. The six cats we had were all related or grew up together (Whisper, BooBoo, and Ms. Pepe were mother, son, and daughter. Bootser was Whisper's litter-sister. Banshee was like their aunt. And Hydrox, the Old Coot, was the old guy of the bunch. Except for Hydrox, they all cuddled together, bathed each other, and were just generally a wonderful cat clan.). When Hydrox passed away, Amber joined in and she got along well with the others. But then Mollipop, Tabby and Muffin came into the mix and the older cats passed away. We're down to three and Molli and Muffin don't get along at all.

My point to all of this is, if the cats all got along well, six cats would not be an issue at all. If they all fought and carried on the way Mollipop and Muffin do, I'll stay at three. It's not just the food and the vet bills; it's that I want all of them to feel loved and well-attended. I want them to hit my lap when they feel like it. And with more than six cats, I can't give them all the attention that I feel they need.

 

[verna davies]

I have two cats and find that enough. As they dont play together, it falls on me to amuse them separately and like you, I feel guilty when I have to leave them for several hours. If I had the space and finances to build a large shed/outhouse to foster cats I would do so in a heartbeat.

 

[game misconduct]

absolutely i would have more cats if i had the money since if i could afford the vet bills then i could afford a big house with a big yard and could build a huge zoo exhibt type area for them either in the house or in the yard

 

[di and bob]

Not now at this stage in my life. I would most likely not outlive any new arrival, and have no one to take care of them. I have not taken a vacation in years, and would like to see some country before I die.
I have always thought 3 inside cats were the ideal family, and it is what I have right now. (not counting the 4 outside cats) 2 boys to play with each other and a female to keep them in line!

 

[misty8723]

At this stage in my life, two is enough. They don't snuggle, but they get along, hang out together, wrestle, so they don't need me 24/7 to amuse them. Since I volunteer at a rescue and generally work the cat care shift (feeding, cleaning the areas, loving on them), I've met any number of cats over the years that if I were younger and had more money I would have brought home. I don't dare even consider fostering...once they were in my house, they would undoubtely stay in my house.

 

[Jem]

I would most definitely have more kitties...and "the more the merrier" is the ideal number! lol. I have always said that if I ever won the lottery one of things I would do is buy acreage or a farm and build a cat shelter...and probably just not work very hard on finding them homes. And with money not being an issue, I would also provide a home and care to the difficult to adopt special needs kitties.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

I'd have 2, plus a dog, likely a beagle. If I were to foster, I think I'd have to do kittens. I know I'd end up keeping adults, but be grateful for the return to peace after the kittens went to their forever homes.

 

[sivyaleah]

We'd add one more. We have 2 now. I think 3 would be the top amount for us.

Financially even now wouldn't be a problem. Finding room for more litterboxes, is though. It's the main reason we haven't added a third yet.

We're probably putting the house up for sale next year and a big criteria is space for litterboxes where we won't be tripping over them LOL.

 

[vansX2]

I would stay at my current two. Perhaps a bigger home would be nice for Miles and Jackpot too run around.

 

[artiemom]

At times I think two cats would be perfect. I cannot afford 2 and my lease only allows one.
But at other times I remember what happens to a bonded pair, when one passes. The grief of the surviving one.

And at my age, taking care of 2 kitties would be a bit much..

But it would be nice to see 2 kitties playing, chasing, yes even fighting, at times..

 

[Lari]

Not at the stage of life I'm in! Even if we had a bigger house, having a toddler and a baby on the way keeps two at a perfect number.

 

[neely]

The most cats we've had at once are four. Since then I haven't had more than two cats and one dog. Carleton is our solo cat now and I don't think I would bring in another cat at this stage of the game.

 

[NY cat man]

We had 6, now it's just 5, and while money isn't a consideration- yet- space is. Of course, given enough money, the space could be acquired. As things stand, given the right circumstances, we might adopt another cat. Maybe.

 

[denice]

Two was a good number, Alice did grieve for several days after Patches went to the bridge though. After Alice went to the bridge, I went to a mostly cage free shelter to adopt and was thinking seriously about two which I think is a good number. Charlotte latched onto me very early. She didn't interact with any other cats though. They had a few cats caged because they had to be only cats, she was out on the floor. I think the reason she was on the floor was because she was very submissive rather than she liked being with other cats. I only have Charlotte now and that is fine.

 

[strider rose]

most definately ! my ideal cat family number is 4 ... if i was living someplace else i would get 2 male cats to add to my clowder ... but right now my apartment only allows 2 cats

 

[Tik cat's mum]

I would definitely consider more cat's. But not right now house is too small and financially it's not feasible now. But it didn't stop me wanting to contact my vet just a few day's ago. Someone had abandoned their ginger male cat in his carrier outside the vet's. He looked so scared in the picture they posted I was number crunching to see if I could make it work. Unfortunately I couldn't manage another insurance policy or vet fee's. Now if I could garentee he would never need vet treatment he'd of been here now. Food and other basics were sorted. Unfortunately I have a son who talks sense and insisted I do the numbers before doing anything.

 

[betsygee]

We went from 1 to 3 to 7 and now we're down to 2 as kitties have passed on.

That works well for Zoe and Ozzy. They've each picked a person and get lots of attention from their selected parent. It works well for us humans, too, since we're older and don't have the energy any more for too many cats. I think that's our limit these days.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

Possibly, if I didn't have to clean the litter boxes. I'd have to probably move though since there's a limit to animals in a household in my city and I've already met the limit of 5.

 

[Mia6]

I would have 3 more if I could hire someone to help with the boxes.