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The most cats I’ve ever had at one time is fifteen, and I regularly averaged ten. But this was not a hoarding situation, where mentally disturbed people accumulate cats with no regard for their well-being. This was simply the natural consequence of my love of cats, having enough room to care for them properly, and also having other people in the house who helped with their care and attention needs. Cats were often rotated out to new homes, and, unfortunately, there were plenty of new cats who needed homes.
This last is a huge factor in how many cats a person winds up with. It’s hard to turn around and not discover a heartbreaking situation that an animal lover is moved to alleviate. Kind hearts lead to full houses.
There are many wonderful reasons to have more than one cat. Once we are already serving food, refreshing water bowls, and scooping litter, adding another cat to the routine does not double our workload, but only increases it by a small increment.
Multiple cats enjoy each other’s company, prevents loneliness and anxieties, and eases our training. We communicate with the cats on the level of the cat who is best at it, since they can easily convey our wishes to the other cats. I find cat interaction to be one of the most fascinating and amusing aspects of cat enjoyment.
So the question of “How many are too many?” has to vary for each person. For people unable or unwilling to commit to a cat’s considerable needs for attention and affection, one is too many. For those who enjoy cats, they can have as many as their resources would allow.
Cats are self-maintaining, have few material needs, and spend two thirds of their life sleeping. This means multiple cats are not nearly as demanding as the uninformed might think. The important part, aside from physical needs, is making sure each cat is getting as much attention as they want.
For some cats, who are cat-oriented and have plenty of recreation opportunities, a daily petting session would suffice. Other cats, who thrive on human interaction and want a close relationship, would need a fairly constant stream of communication and exchange.
In human relationships, it is rare for one person to meet all of another person’s needs. This is also true for cats. A person’s present, only cat, might not be as interested in the kinds of interaction their human wants and needs. They can be slow to trust because of past trauma, low key by nature of their personality, or simply not around as much as the human would like. They could be a reserved cat, and their person wants more cuddling. They could be a high-energy cat, and their person needs a break. This is the cat gap, and there is only one solution: more cats!
If we take care to meet each cat’s needs, (Puffy needs support and understanding, Mr. Bond needs intense interaction and puzzles to solve, RJ needs a lot of affection and attention,) and we are able and willing to commit the proper resources to take care of their health, there isn’t any reason for us to hesitate about adding another cat, if we want one.
The least important factor should be worries about what people might say, or if we are perceived as “that crazy cat person.” Other people are not living our lives, despite any eagerness they might have to tell us how to do so. Have we ever noticed how quickly Other People will announce our likes and desires as somehow off-norm? Is there any sensible reason why we should care?
The world would be a very dull place if each of us were just like everyone else. We should devote considerable time and effort into discovering who we really are, and just what makes us happy and fulfilled. Other people collect non-living things like coins or rocks or celebrity autographs. What’s wrong with a collection of living things, which are capable of returning our attention and devotion?
I don’t see any reason to hesitate about increasing the amount of love in the world. It’s that simple.
How many are too many? It’s easy to tell. If we are making our present cats happy, but don’t think we have the time or room to add one, that one would be too many.
But if we want another cat, that’s probably a sign we can handle another cat. Choose carefully, or at least introduce properly, and we will be expanding our cat civilization. We will have more of something we already like.
I don’t see anything wrong with that.
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There’s more ways to care for our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on CAT CARE.
Has anybody here tried pet insurance? I’ve been seriously thinking about it, but I’ve never heard any real feedback from anybody who’s tried it.
I adopted a kitten on the weekend, from a cat shelter, and my heart went out to the other adult cats. I would have adopted an adult cat but wasn’t sure how an adult cat would relate to my 7 year old male at home, but my heart melted due to the affectionate nature of the adult cats there. Many were reaching out from their cages. So I was in dilemma mode. The only kitten remaining, was alone, and the adult cats were alone, and I wished I could adopt more than one, but as you mention, wellbeing is important, as is space, and being able to give each cat a well deserved space for recreation, food and love. I don’t have a problem with the love, but recreation space and finances tend to add more variables.
Yes, Anastasia, it can be very tough to turn away from a pleading little face. But we can only do what we can do.
In addition, I always remind myself that if this cat is not right for me to take, I hope it means the right person will come along.
After all, if I take a cat who will not fit into my home, it means that the cat will be unhappy, and so will the person who should have gotten the cat, and now cannot find them.