cats how many is too many

ladyjuicy08

My friends uncle discoverwd 4kittens in his back garden the mother is still around.say they 4/5weeks old if course i have fallen in love.my question is would i be selfish to take one in qhen they are old enough.i live i. 2bed apart 850sq ft.i have two male nueterwd cats 12/14mths old my babies indoor cats.would it be cruel to take in another as in not enough space for them.if i took one girl/boy.

tenchi-fan

I'm not a big cat person. However, I used to hate visiting a friend who had 3 cats in her apartment. It was too much.

I lived in a few houses where the owner had 2 cats and 2 was enough for a house.. it's more than enough for an apartment.

joyce2009

I have two older cats age 11 and 10, and when our neighbours left they left behind their 3month old kitten:(,,,now noone on my road wanted her so i took her in and they are great together... So I think if she gets along with your cats the space issue wont be a problem.:)

anniehoo

I think 3 is ok for an apartment as long as they get on together and cleanliness on your behalf is maintained.

The problem with some people owning multiple pets is cleanliness can tend to wane after awhile. Ive been to peoples houses with dogs,cats,even chickens wandering in and out and the house was immaculate (they pay for a cleaner as its too much by themselves), but another persons house with only 2 dogs was filthy.I think he honestly became immune to the dirt in his house.

Cats dont take up too much space as you know, but they also need to be able to "take a break" from both humans and other pets when they want. Only you can decide if you can cater for their needs in your apartment.If yes, then 3 isnt too much imho!

westies4ever

ah i think you can have as many as you can afford to take care of. three doesnt sound too bad.

Manach

It depends on how well the cats themselves interact - Too many and they seem to get territorial. For a rural house, 4 I reckon.

ladyjuicy08

My two get on great sleep together grooming playing etc etc .My apartment is all clean 3 litterboxes scooped prob 4/5times a day am bit OCD about it.As lived with my sis previously she had 2 dogs n it stunk.Not too worried about cost sure spend more on the 2 i have than on me.They have so many toys a cat tree that reaches the ceiling ,prob eat better than me.Just wanted make sure i wasn,t been too cruel space wise.Really turning into the crazy cat lady everyone thinks i am LMFAO.

duiggers

Two is plenty for anyone.

Anymore and you start getting into crazy cat person territory, the point where you probably have full blown conversations with them

anniehoo

duiggers wrote: »

Anymore and you start getting into crazy cat person territory, the point where you probably have full blown conversations with them

Im doing that anyway.....and ive only 1

We all talk to our pets...dont we???Back me up here

barbiegirl

I defo talk to my dogs and they do their best to answer me back. They maintain a smart dog understands about 200 words.

On the cats, completely up to you, if the place is clean, and you can afford them then I don't see why not. However I would have a plan in place incase something happened to you, or you got sick, a change in circumstances etc. as even a week under the weather with 3 cats, the place could get dirty very quickly.

Heroditas

anniehoo wrote: »

We all talk to our pets...dont we???Back me up here

You'd have to be some sort of weirdo NOT to talk to them!

Whispered

anniehoo wrote: »

Im doing that anyway.....and ive only 1

We all talk to our pets...dont we???Back me up here

Talk to them, tease them, sing to them, replace the words of songs with their names. All perfectly normal. :pac:

ladyjuicy08

ah sure i talk to them anyway lol... My friend lives with me so helps with everything feeding litter vet trips etc etc and she says she doesnt have a problem with it

planetX

Manach wrote: »

It depends on how well the cats themselves interact - Too many and they seem to get territorial. For a rural house, 4 I reckon.

spot on! I've (unwillingly) ended up with 5, and it's too many:(. They all want human attention and there just isn't time. If you want lap-cats 2 is ideal.

ladyjuicy08

Felt pretty bad thinking bout these kittens all day in cold wet weather so rang various cat charities(won't mention names)for advice .they basically told me to tell my friends uncle not to feed the cat/kitten n eventually they wander off will no longer be his problem.but hello does it not becomes someone else problem them more kittens,fiv,felv ...I said I wouldn't mind taken one in n was told don't bother as they will be wild best leave them to it .am disgusted by this when surely aim of these charities is to have the animals best interest at heart.i called my vet and they said if I can catch them(easier said than done) I can bring them in gt checked see if healthy enough for rehoming a difficult task I would imagine with amount of strays around.no win situation too young leave mammy and any older prob will be wild and no one will want one.:( my friends uncle has no time for cats so won't spend time to try tame them I don't live close enough have work/no car etc... As per my other post definately not enough room for 4kittens with the two I already have.

ladyjuicy08

Still no luck catching kittens right up the back of the decking hate feeling like if takes much longer they will be too wild to rehome have contacted every charity going bt no one wants to help if I cn even gt them to my vet to check the health be great but little buggers just don't want to come out if only I lived closer I could spend the time to try bond/socialise them enough to catch them

mymo

Try getting a cat carrier and putting some food in the very back, when hungry enough they will go in.
Add a bit of bedding and they may stay in it, take your time, it could take a week or more to get them comfortable with it, leave it out all the time and when you see them go out and put food in.
You can then go out and shut the door when you see them in there. You'll only have one chance, they won't risk it again once you've tried to shut them in.
Or ask one of the rescues if they'll lend you a cat trap, they are great you put food in and when the cat enters it triggers the trap and they get shut in.
You could at least catch mum and get her spayed.

gufnork

Hi I used to be involved with an animal charity and I know that a lot of them are struggling to cope with the numbers of abandoned animals. I don't know what part of the country you are in or whether or not the cats are feral. Some charities practice a trap and release system. This means that the cats are caught and neutered/spayed then released back where they came from if they are feral. Obviously this can't happen until the kittens are weened. I would suggest you try contacting a the feral cat Ireland charity. They may be able to help you catch them and perhaps try to find somebody to foster them if they can be rehomed. Its fantastic to see that you care enough to try to help the cats, you'd be amazed at the number of people who turn a blind eye. I know a lot of the smaller independent animal sanctuaries try and help each other out and will travel all over the country to help animals. I wish you all the best with the cats and hope it ends with happy tails.

ladyjuicy08

Kittens caught vet checked all healthy 6 weeks old .have taken them in and hope to rehome them have posting in rehoming thread.they are sooooo cute.see how my two take to them and then decide if I will keep one.

JKM

Hi ladyjuicy08,

Well done on catching the kittens. Others here mentioned the doing a TNR (Trap, Nueter, Release) on the mother cat. Do you think there is any possibility of doing this? I know it's not an easy undertaking but would be a great thing to do if you can. We done one recently and it was so rewarding knowing we had prevented several more generations of cats from growing up stray. Also, she is far less likely to contract FIV or FeLV now. And she will never again have the burden of feeding and looking after 2+ litters of kittens a year. Never mind the countless breeding females that were prevented. We took in this particular cat while she was pregnant and had her spayed once she was weaned. We rehomed the kittens. She had two females in that litter. Had she had them in the wild and had they survived there would have been two more breeding females within 4-6 months. According to feralcatsireland.org, "One female cat and her offspring can be responsible for a colony of 30 cats in an area in just one year.".


We got a loan of the trap from the local SPCA and it cost us €50 to have her spayed. Not cheap I know but I think there are charities that could help if needed. However, we didn't like the idea of burdening them any further and used this as part of our yearly donation to animal welfare, as well as donating food to our local SPCA.

Something to think about maybe?

ladyjuicy08

Yeah I given the uncle numbers etc were he can get loan of trap so mammy cn be spayed.have kittens in playpen in kitchen at moment my 2have spotted them when getting their dinner 1couldnt care less it dinner time nothing else matters the other one is bit bushy tailed and when he looked in must got fright and hissing ensued.obviously not going to freely mix them as proper introduces must be done.

Run_to_da_hills

A mate of mine in Carlow has seven cats, four spend their time outside while three hang around the house all day inside.

boxerly

Cat trap is the best way,ive used them myself when it seemed like there was no hope of catching them they went into them for food:).

The Sweeper

The number limit should be the number you can successfully feed and water, pay attention to daily, keep clean, cuddle, afford vet bills for and relocate with you if you move.

Irish-Lass

Have 5 house cats and 3 house dogs

ladyjuicy08

i definately going to try get good homes for the kittens in couple weeks once they are old enough.in meantime see how my 2 are reacting to the sight/smells of them before make final decision on if i should keep 1 of them.would love all 3 ha ha ha so cute so trying my best not to get attached to them

Irish-Lass

where are you based - if you need a lend of a cat trap let me know

ladyjuicy08

i live in swords but guys who garden they were in is Raheny .i will definately tell him Irish Lass thanks .i know i gave him list of ppl to contact about a trap so i will find out if he had any luck.

Graces7

I once had eleven cats and as I was breeding Siamese, kittens around too. In the house.. Moving 500 miles was.... interesting.

Younger then and now 2 is enough.

ladyjuicy08

Have some good homes lined up just need one more for sweet male tabby baby soooooooo cute ...