We have two cats now but I've had as many as 4 and I know my mother and her husband have quite a few.

If I was not living in an apartment and I had the money and space. I'd have more again.. especially rescues. I've had one before and the first time he purred for me I wanted to jump over the moon.

If you've ever had a rescue pet, you'll understand that.

polkastria wrote:We have two cats now but I've had as many as 4 and I know my mother and her husband have quite a few.

If I was not living in an apartment and I had the money and space. I'd have more again.. especially rescues. I've had one before and the first time he purred for me I wanted to jump over the moon.

If you've ever had a rescue pet, you'll understand that.

Thanks for sharing your story. Both of our cats were rescues. One we literally rescued from a gutter outside of a Petsmart shopping for food for the other cat. She was only a few weeks old and someone abandoned her there. Just a horrific thing to do.

The other was abused even as a little kitten and he always had issues with us trying to put both hands on him. One hand would be fine, but the moment the second hand touched him, he would immediately growl, hiss and bite. I remember one day, after like 7 years, he finally let me hold him without complaining. Never happened before and never happened again; a lifetime memory.

We have 5 cats, but it was by accident. We were literally 1-2 days too late getting our male cat neutered, and the 3 kittens were born right after we moved. Where we live now, it's hard to give animals away, so we've kept them.

I love my kittehs... all 4 of them. <3

I've had lots of cats and have come to to the conclusion that two is enough. We only have one right now. He seems pretty happy to be the only cat.

The wife and I have a cat that was given to her by a woman at work. The woman's cat had a litter and she was just giving kittens away.

At first when my wife approached me about it I was hesitant, but gave in to delay the "kids in the future " conversion. I'm glad we did, our ONE and only cat is great and plenty to take care of. That being said, my nutbag neighbor has 28 cats that have declared martial law in the neighborhood.

All night long all you hear is fighting cats, not to mention that it's impossible to keep your cars clean with cat prints on them everyday. Don't get me wrong. I like cats, but I also like sane people who don't start their own cat zoos.

Whenever I hear that a person has more than two cats, my "crazy cat lady" radar goes off.

I have 4 and to be honest it's a little much. I'm kind of embarrassed to tell people I have so many. However, I feel a little better when I know that they're all rescues and are very happy and loved.

We've got four, and that jumped the shark. Various "inappropriate elimination" and pecking order issues that didn't rear their heads with fewer pusses in the house.

Me to the frick'in Meow man!

soulsultan wrote:The wife and I have a cat that was given to her by a woman at work. The woman's cat had a litter and she was just giving kittens away.

At first when my wife approached me about it I was hesitant, but gave in to delay the "kids in the future " conversion. I'm glad we did, our ONE and only cat is great and plenty to take care of. That being said, my nutbag neighbor has 28 cats that have declared martial law in the neighborhood.

All night long all you hear is fighting cats, not to mention that it's impossible to keep your cars clean with cat prints on them everyday. Don't get me wrong. I like cats, but I also like sane people who don't start their own cat zoos.

Whenever I hear that a person has more than two cats, my "crazy cat lady" radar goes off.

Park your car in your garage and you'll solve the foot print problem!

We have 4 indoor-only kitties. old 2-story house in the country. Neighbors have mouse problems, we don't.

The purring and snuggling is an added bonus. All of our are rescues.

We have 3 litter boxes so the cleanup isn't bad.

Well worth the rodent control!

Who would have one gross of cats?!? 144 cats is way too ... oooooooooohh.

I miss cats. I grew up with a ton of rescues that my mom would always somehow find. My husband is deathly allergic to them to the point of if I pet them at my mother's house, I have to change my shirt before I get back to the house. Cats are what makes a house a home. =(

I currently have 1 cat, but have had as many as 3. If I didn't have a dog, i'd probably have at least 1 more cat. All of my cats (and my dog) have either came from the Humane Society or were found as strays.

I say if you've got the space for them and can adequately care for them, there is no magical number that is too many.

soulsultan wrote:The wife and I have a cat that was given to her by a woman at work. The woman's cat had a litter and she was just giving kittens away.

At first when my wife approached me about it I was hesitant, but gave in to delay the "kids in the future " conversion. I'm glad we did, our ONE and only cat is great and plenty to take care of. That being said, my nutbag neighbor has 28 cats that have declared martial law in the neighborhood.

All night long all you hear is fighting cats, not to mention that it's impossible to keep your cars clean with cat prints on them everyday. Don't get me wrong. I like cats, but I also like sane people who don't start their own cat zoos.

Whenever I hear that a person has more than two cats, my "crazy cat lady" radar goes off.

I tell ya! You are killing me with this post. ROFL! LOL

I love cats. Really I do. But people don't realize that cats are a lot like cigarettes. How? Because I can tell when a person has a lot of them by the way they smell. It's really awful. There are a few who are able to keep the smell away from their clothes and hair and skin and whatnot, but most people with a lot of cats just don't realize how much they smell like cat crap.

Tips: Keep the litter box somewhere that you don't go unless you are changing it. Don't keep it anywhere near your laundry or in your bathroom or in the main living spaces of your house. One of my first jobs was at a grocery store and I could smell the cat ladies long before I saw them. It really is that bad.

I love cats. I'm just trying to help. :P

dawgtired wrote:We have 4 indoor-only kitties. old 2-story house in the country. Neighbors have mouse problems, we don't.

The purring and snuggling is an added bonus. All of our are rescues.

We have 3 litter boxes so the cleanup isn't bad.

Well worth the rodent control!

Oh, yeah. My house backs up to a large field. No rodents, no bugs.

When my little hunter finds a mole or mouse nest you can hear their little screams. Bwah haha.

Heaven help the stray fly that gets inside, my cats will hunt it down & eat it.
I hope never to be without a cat or two (or three).

Having 2 cats I can tell you it's the perfect number. They keep each other company and it's fun to watch how they interact. Any more than that, and I think it'd be harder for me to get to know each cat and pay attention to them as individuals. (As it is, the more timid kitty has a hard enough time with her brother taking my lap from her by force.)

If you have a bigger family, though, and there's enough love to go around - go nuts.

Anybody in the DFW area of Texas want a huge 12 year old diabetic cat that keeps peeing everywhere that it shouldn't? We can only take it so much longer before we will have to put him down. With a 2 year old and another baby on the way, we cannot have a cat peeing on everything in the house. He has already ruined the flooring in several rooms. He might do better in another environment. He likes to be king of the castle. And he has a 10 year old buddy that is scared of everything and everyone, has a slight skin condition and a sensitive stomach, so he pukes constantly. I think they both need to get away from the 4 year old cat that took over the house and annoys the crap out of them. Anyone? Anyone? PLEASE? I don't want to have to put the cats down!

I have one. I think two would be OK.

I suppose I can see three if two are ones you've had a while and one was a rescue kitten or something. Staggering ages seems a good way to maintain cat continuity.

I just hope everyone knows about TOXOPLASMOSIS

I have 16, all rescues. Yes, it is challenging - lots of litter boxes to clean (at least 3X a day) and vacuuming to keep the cat hair at bay. They are all rescues; some were intended for adoption out, however, when the economy hit the skids, adoptions have virtually come to a stand still where I live. Our local non-kill shelter is overwhelmed and the local animal control puts down 87% of the incoming cats per year. Therefore, they are staying with me until the time comes when people start adopting again!

marlowlu wrote:I just hope everyone knows about TOXOPLASMOSIS

This is exactly what I was wondering about, when someone would mention it. I love cats, but more than two is too many. The hair everywhere, the smell, the health effects. Perhaps though I've become biased from years of taking care of and cleaning up after animals that weren't mine.(Boyfriends, roommates, ugh. never again.)

marlowlu wrote:I just hope everyone knows about TOXOPLASMOSIS

Toxoplasmosis is easily mitigated if one either wears gloves when cleaning litter or washes ones hands immediately after.

silversickness wrote:This is exactly what I was wondering about, when someone would mention it. I love cats, but more than two is too many. The hair everywhere, the smell, the health effects. Perhaps though I've become biased from years of taking care of and cleaning up after animals that weren't mine.(Boyfriends, roommates, ugh. never again.)

As for toxoplasmosis, see my other comment. As to smell, if the litter boxes are kept clean, that problem is moot. I have 16 - when anyone comes into my home, they always say that they would never know I even have cats if they had not actually seen the cats.

Never trust an animal that saves its own excrement.

vamp56 wrote:As for toxoplasmosis, see my other comment. As to smell, if the litter boxes are kept clean, that problem is moot. I have 16 - when anyone comes into my home, they always say that they would never know I even have cats if they had not actually seen the cats.

Most people I have encountered simple do not and probably never will take such good care of that many animals. Kudos though, that's pretty awesome.

vamp56 wrote:As for toxoplasmosis, see my other comment. As to smell, if the litter boxes are kept clean, that problem is moot. I have 16 - when anyone comes into my home, they always say that they would never know I even have cats if they had not actually seen the cats.

Sounds like you have a bunch of very nice and untruthful friends.

D - All of the above.

I hold the line at one cat. My wife surprised me with it AFTER I had signed the lease stating we only had one dog. Yes! Cats and dogs living together! His name is Tarzan since he likes to swing on the drapes, a piece of rope, whatever is hanging down. Also likes to get on top of the doors and look down like a vulture. Freaking weird cat.

a friend of a friend once devised the unofficial cat formula for deciding the maximum number of cats in a household. C=2n+1 where C is the maximum number of cats and n is the number of adults in the household.

knobody wrote:a friend of a friend once devised the unofficial cat formula for deciding the maximum number of cats in a household. C=2n+1 where C is the maximum number of cats and n is the number of adults in the household.

That's a great formula although I'd personally modify it to just n+1 - that might be me.

(And I love cats, okay.)

None of the above.

It depends on how they are seasoned, and how hungry I am.

vamp56 wrote:Toxoplasmosis is easily mitigated if one either wears gloves when cleaning litter or washes ones hands immediately after.

not if you already have it! but I'm sure you've tested yourself and all 16 of your daaahhrrglarfnsnoogrbaglglaaaaar... i mean cats. cats in everyone's pants!

I have 3, all rescues. Kenku, Kobold, and our little tripod, Bugbear.

"Too many" is not really something I define by number, but by care. If you have 40 cats and care for each and every one, s'all good! If you have one cat and can't be bothered to clean the litterbox or take the cat to the vet to have the cast removed from its leg like you were supposed to FIVE MONTHS AGO (true story, can you tell I'm bitter about it?), then that's too many cats for you.

marlowlu wrote:I just hope everyone knows about TOXOPLASMOSIS

Problem solved. ;)

[quote postid="5104769" user="polkastria"]We have two cats now but I've had as many as 4 and I know my mother and her husband have quite a few.

Cats crap where you can't find it, they bring in fleas, they stink up the house. The more cats you have, the more your house stinks. You can't spray the smell away, only cover it up with more stinky stuff.

Outdoor cats are fine, unless you feed them. They'll survive by eating mice and rats - yummie!

marlowlu wrote:I just hope everyone knows about TOXOPLASMOSIS

Exactly my point. Filthy beasts.