I’ve had a variety of cats stay with me in the home I’m at present residing in. At one level, there have been seven cats beneath this roof, and that was for an excellent few months.
However they weren’t all mine, they usually didn’t all work together on a regular basis. I’d have a pair sectioned off from the others, and gave shifts to which cats had been let loose at what time of day.
These cats weren’t all meant to remain in my house for very lengthy both.
See, once we first began taking within the stray Persian kitties in our neighbourhood, we deliberate to do it progressively, over time.
We began with Bjorn, simply after one of many Persians, who we used to name “The Three Musketeer Cats + d’Artagnan” (d’Artagnan being Bjorn), was – devastatingly – run over by a drunk driver on both Christmas or New 12 months’s Eve.
My coronary heart broke that day, and I nonetheless take into consideration that poor cat to today. Generally I consider how good it might have been to have managed to save lots of him, too.
After that occurred, we determined we couldn’t naked it if Bjorn had the identical destiny, and since we realized he didn’t have an proprietor, and was seemingly the offspring of one of many different Persian cats (I imply have a look at him, pictured beneath; he’s undoubtedly half tabby cat), we took Bjorn in rapidly.
We had been going to take our time with the others, particularly since we suspected they could have house owners.
However the vets informed us that they had been prone to be deserted pets, and the furries obtained actually, actually unhealthy matts sitting out within the rain.
Have a look at poor Athos –
I couldn’t watch this for lengthy.
One of many cats – Aramis – had allergic reactions so unhealthy she scratched herself to the bone fairly incessantly and fairly deeply as nicely. It wasn’t a fairly sight and I needed to assist.
After all, issues by no means go the way in which you anticipate, and naturally Aramis obtained pregnant.
So we did our greatest to maintain her and her infants nicely taken care of.
Just one kitten made it ultimately. Cleo, we named her, as a result of she’s a fairly spunky monkey, with a survivor’s spirit.
So I obtained ’em all into my home as fast as I might, to maintain them protected, and segmented them off in the home so that they wouldn’t combat.
All this was effective as a result of it was by no means imagined to be long run. It was a handful and a half, however I might do it for fairly a while.
My brother was planning on transferring close by, and he was glad to take a cat or possibly two into his personal family. He already had a pair cats of his personal, and wanted a spot to remain whereas he was home searching, so he stayed with us within the basement.
This put the whole variety of furbabies beneath this right here roof to seven.
Too many cats, particularly since they needed to be sectioned off for their very own safety from one another.
Avery, the cat we’ve had for ages, was simply getting used to Bjorn and was now not too burdened with him again once we began taking within the others.
So we tried to have the cats work together with one another as a lot as potential (monitored by us after all), however that didn’t occur fairly often as a result of stress ranges obtained excessive fairly fast for Avery.
Now, my brother has 3 cats, and I’ve three cats. I believe it’s an excellent quantity.
Sure you probably did do the maths proper, that makes six cats, not seven.
Heartbreakingly, certainly one of my brother’s cats handed away shortly after he moved right here – his cat had a coronary heart drawback that might trigger him to go at any time, and sadly that point got here whereas he was residing with us, simply earlier than my brother moved out.
For probably the most half, getting cats to get alongside is a one after the other course of. And so having greater than three cats – fairly exhausting mentally to think about if I needed to progressively make them get alongside.
To get one cat to be pleasant with one different cat, takes time, however it’s not too unhealthy. Completely doable, even when it takes 6 months to a yr to essentially get them pleasant. To get a cat to be pleasant to 2 different cats, that feels prefer it squares the quantity of labor you’ve obtained. It’s an enormous headache as a result of one cat could not like one other, even when that cat likes her or him again, and to solidify that relationship is a big ordeal, not to mention to do it with two cats.
Having cats that get alongside by nature with different cats means there’s far much less work, however even at 3 cats, I really feel as if I’m spending far much less time with every cat than I’d personally like.
It’s straightforward to have two cats cuddled up in my lap all winter, for instance. With three, it’s not possible. Somebody must be subsequent to me… or off within the distance begging to be pet longingly whereas there may be simply no extra room…
Usually, in relation to doing issues for the cats, it’s not an excessive amount of further work. Chores-wise and by way of feeding and cleansing after that’s.
I’d say I might in all probability have 4-5 cats for the quantity of labor I’d think about I’d must do for only one or two canines.
But when there’s somebody with an upset tummy, after which one other with an upset tummy, or two cats have points within the #2 division and one’s obtained a hairball to cough up, this could really feel overwhelming.
I can’t think about having 4-5 cats with all of them having points like this on the common. Or needing to be groomed on a regular basis like our 2 Persians that want shaving very often.
I couldn’t think about additionally having Aramis for instance, as that seems like a lot more work even when it’s just one further cat…
However it additionally doesn’t really feel good imagining having 4-5 cats and solely having very restricted period of time to spend with every.
I spend a variety of time in my home to start with since I earn a living from home, and am an introvert who likes to cozy up with the cats on the sofa, and even have them on my lap whereas I play video video games.
However nonetheless, it’s not fairly the identical having even 3 because it was after I had two.
They simply… don’t fairly all match…
…okay possibly simply barely, however my legs go numb way more typically today.
I believe the difficulty with having two in my thoughts has all the time been that if I’ve three and one dies, I nonetheless have two left to consolation me and to maintain one another firm.
If I’ve two and one dies, mentally, this feels too troublesome to think about emotionally recovering from.
Perhaps that is loopy discuss, however that’s the way it feels.
I completely most well-liked having two cats over having one.
Having one was nice, and I actually did choose having a single cat to having no cats in any respect (my earlier pet was a ball python – sure, a snake! – and it wasn’t in any respect the identical).
However I really feel now that I might by no means be and not using a cat once more.
And getting Bjorn was a breath of contemporary air.
Having two by no means made me really feel I used to be sacrificing time with one, giving the second any much less consideration. It felt like I might stability two fairly simply and everybody was glad.
With three, it feels much more troublesome to strike stability. To make everyone glad. Although it’s not unhealthy in any respect and I do really feel the cats are much less lonely when left alone within the house.
Perhaps, possibly, I’ll return to having two once more sometime, as a result of that was a candy spot I actually favored.
However most definitely, three is the right quantity for me. And never any extra.
