How many cats can should live together...
Discussion
Now I know in all honesty cats tend to not prefer each others company but I have 5 currently spread throughout a 3 bed house. Two tend to frequent and spend their indoors time in my room, another two tend to spend their time in my eldest room and the final one spends most of her time in the lounge flat out on the settee.
I have a 40ft garden secured with Katzecure so it is totally enclosed and safe for all cats, and they come and go as they please. The non-garden windows are due to be fitted with flat-cats so there is no hope of the cats getting out on the road.
With this in mind I wondered about giving a home to a blind or partially sighted cat that otherwise would be forced to be an indoors cat. I don't 'need' another cat but one more cat won't increase food bills etc by very much overall.
Now the problems begin, my local (national large) rescue have been rather unhelpful and disinterested in the home I could potentially offer to the point of saying they won't come and home check me. I've adopted a total of 4 cats from them in the past and been home checked by them 3 years ago before the house & garden were secured but Head Office want them to re-check to make sure there is room for a 6th cat, fair enough. But the email request went unanswered by my local branch.
I'm slightly miffed I have to confess and initial reaction is to say sod it and forget about the idea, but somewhere there could be a puss that would love to feel the sun on its fur and the wind on its tail again.
I have a 40ft garden secured with Katzecure so it is totally enclosed and safe for all cats, and they come and go as they please. The non-garden windows are due to be fitted with flat-cats so there is no hope of the cats getting out on the road.
With this in mind I wondered about giving a home to a blind or partially sighted cat that otherwise would be forced to be an indoors cat. I don't 'need' another cat but one more cat won't increase food bills etc by very much overall.
Now the problems begin, my local (national large) rescue have been rather unhelpful and disinterested in the home I could potentially offer to the point of saying they won't come and home check me. I've adopted a total of 4 cats from them in the past and been home checked by them 3 years ago before the house & garden were secured but Head Office want them to re-check to make sure there is room for a 6th cat, fair enough. But the email request went unanswered by my local branch.
I'm slightly miffed I have to confess and initial reaction is to say sod it and forget about the idea, but somewhere there could be a puss that would love to feel the sun on its fur and the wind on its tail again.
It's a gamble no doubt and probably one I wouldn't go for! You don't have a massive amount of space esp not for 6 cats. (I have a good size 3 bed house and 60ft garden, with fields beyond,4 cats was more than enough!)
I am not sure the cats best interest will be addressed with so many cats as lovely as the gesture is.
Having said all that I had a friend who yrs ago had 8 cats and not a big house or garden and they seemed to (seemed being the operative word!) get on ok. However some were related which helped.
I am not sure the cats best interest will be addressed with so many cats as lovely as the gesture is.
Having said all that I had a friend who yrs ago had 8 cats and not a big house or garden and they seemed to (seemed being the operative word!) get on ok. However some were related which helped.
solo2 said:
Of my 5, the eldest 3 are brother, sister, sister and the younger two are brothers but they tend to mix together and the eldest boy gets on best with one of the younger boys.
That's a fairly good grouping, though I wonder as all of them have a family member in the group whether that would alienate a newbie. Difficult to say.I have 4 cats in not that big a house and there indoor cats. We got 2 which were brother and sister and that was fine a week later the person we got the cats from informed us that one of cats had been returned so we took a third and put her sraight in with her brother and sister and after 7-10 days all was fine.
When they reached 2 we introduced a kitten to them but kept her apart for 5 days and did the sock trick and then introduced her to the other 3 again after about a week all was fine a little spat now and then but youngest is almoat 2 so trying to establish herself in the pecking order.
Tonight i just went and payed for cat number 5 which is a kitten and will do the same again so hopefully everything will go ok.
Beat thing we found is make sure each cat has its own place where they can go and chill out if need be. One cat goes up on bookcase so they have a bed there one goes to wardrobe so a bed there for that one and so on and i can say no real issues.
Forgot to say playtime helps with interaction with new and old cats so they can get uae to each other.
When they reached 2 we introduced a kitten to them but kept her apart for 5 days and did the sock trick and then introduced her to the other 3 again after about a week all was fine a little spat now and then but youngest is almoat 2 so trying to establish herself in the pecking order.
Tonight i just went and payed for cat number 5 which is a kitten and will do the same again so hopefully everything will go ok.
Beat thing we found is make sure each cat has its own place where they can go and chill out if need be. One cat goes up on bookcase so they have a bed there one goes to wardrobe so a bed there for that one and so on and i can say no real issues.
Forgot to say playtime helps with interaction with new and old cats so they can get uae to each other.
Edited by Monaro5.7 on Tuesday 11th August 22:01
I see so many stressed cats due to being forced to live in too close a proximity (and they really can suffer life threatening conditions because of it) I have to suggest caution.
I can understand when rescuing cats that it is easy to get carried away, that's how I ended up with four at one time (all rescues) not sure I can see why you'd want to pay for another kitten though when gamble is high! (unless this is payment at a rescue centre)
I can understand when rescuing cats that it is easy to get carried away, that's how I ended up with four at one time (all rescues) not sure I can see why you'd want to pay for another kitten though when gamble is high! (unless this is payment at a rescue centre)
bexVN said:
solo2 said:
Of my 5, the eldest 3 are brother, sister, sister and the younger two are brothers but they tend to mix together and the eldest boy gets on best with one of the younger boys.
That's a fairly good grouping, though I wonder as all of them have a family member in the group whether that would alienate a newbie. Difficult to say.As I said in my first post, I don't need another cat but just felt that if they had a difficult to home cat for the reason on eye sight then I could offer that bit more than just being an indoor cat.
Out of my hands now if the rescue won't even home check me.
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