I have three cats. My SO’s sister (also his roommate) has one. We want to blend this feline family, but how many cats is too many for one apartment? It’s a fairly spacious 2 bedroom, probably between 800-1000 square feet. Is 4 cats ridiculous to try to cram in there with 3 people?
I don’t think so, I had 2 cats in the the world’s smallest studio and got along fine. Of course, odor control is an issue, but that just means you clean the litter more frequently.
My SO thinks it’s too many- 3 cats, tops. What do you think?
I think our answers don’t really matter If you are willing to do the scooping and vacuuming then go nuts!
We have three cats in just over 1k square feet. I am unwilling to clean litter boxes any more frequently or vacuum, sweep, dust etc more to contain the fur. So I’m at my limit, although I adore kitties probably more than is entirely sane.
My rule is that a household should have no more pets than it has hands. If you can’t provide belly rubs to every animal at the same time then you officially have too many. If you are in a super small space I would say no more than 1 cat per person living there.
1 cat = aw, cute kitty.
2 cats = aw, cute kitties.
3 cats = wow, you really like cats…
4 cats = Really pushing it. People will describe you as “That person with all the cats.”
5+ cats = crazy cat lady.
Unless they and you are all extremely well-behaved and clean in other areas of life you will be in CCL land when the count hits four.
I think four is fine for your situation but apparantly for me two is enough.
I have an older cat who I’ve had for about 7 years. I adopted her from my mom’s friend who had to giver her up. She loves to sleep in the sun, groom me, eat, get pets and thats about it.
I recently adopted a two year old cat from my mom’s nieghbor who had to give him up. All he wants to do is climb and jump on everything, including window screens so now I have to keep my windows closed when I go to work which I do not like, run all around the apartment meowing his dman fool head off and annoy/play with my older cat who just wants to be left alone.
He drives me bonkers. It’s been a week and a few days so they are still getting used to each other and I really hope they become friends. He will have someone to play with him and keep him occupied and use up some of his energy and she will be able to groom him to her hearts content because he is constantly wanting pets.
If you can EFFECTIVELY control the odor and cat hair and the kitchen table/counters stay clear of cats, it’s probably doable. But do enlist the help of an honest and tactful friend to let you know whether or not you actually are being effective and don’t be offended if she tells you you’re not…that’s what she’s supposed to do.
I have a fastidiously neat housekeeper of a sister-in-law whom I love to death. There were 2 dogs living in the house. One was ok. The other (put to sleep recently) was so ill in her ears that it made the entire house smell…I know, I couldn’t believe it either, but when the dog was gone, the smell was gone. Anyway the entire family was oblivious to the odor. I have been in several homes like this and I cannot fathom it! I get the concept of “getting used to it,” but Jesus Christ, you go outside every day, spend many hours where it doesn’t smell bad, then you come back inside and you cannot smell the stench? This, I do not get! Does anyone know why this happens?
We experienced that this summer, Hazle. We visited my sister and brother-in-law in BC, and everyone who has a dog brought them with them, so there were four shit-zu-type dogs in one smallish house. When we walked in, the smell was almost enough to gag us. We got used to it eventually, but damn, those were smelly pooches for us cat-loving folk.
As for the OP, cats don’t actually take up a lot of room, but you will have more hair, more feeding, more poop to scoop, more claws to cut, and more whining little pests with four. If you’re willing to do the extra work, I’d say go for it.
This is just my opinion and I guess that is all we have to go on here, unless there is some sort of guide to how many pets/people are allowed per sq. foot somewhere.
We have about the same square footage, or just a bit more. There are three humans in the house, and I can’t see having more than one pet, possibly two.
I am a horrible housekeeper, and know my limits, however.
Also, I have a very sensitive nose, and have only been in one house in my life where a cat took me by surprise.
My allergies have demonstrated very clearly to me that two cats is my limit. Any more and my bronchials start closing. So that’s my standard. You might actually find that if you cram enough animals into one space that a mild allergy that you weren’t even aware of might start to flare up, so you might want to keep that in mind.
Good luck with whatever decision you make!
P.S. **featherlou **was right – all them little doggies stank that house up somthing fierce!
My opinion especially in an apartment is two cats before you crossover to crazy cat lady. I love cats even more than dogs, but more than two kind of sneaks into weird territory. No offense to current posters intended.
I agree, and I think the reason is that cats kept in poorly-cleaned homes can be really disgusting. Cat piss is pretty much the most horrible smell ever. I think any time you can smell that a person has cats, they have too many. A lot probably depends on your living environment and your general level of cleanliness, and I’d definitely give leniency to those who have large properties with outdoor cats. In general, though, three is pushing it.
-olives, who has 1 beautiful kitty, and is thinking about getting another next year…
Having known, when I was a child, a woman who owned that many, I can tell that 16 is too much.
My parents (actually my father) having been in the habit of adopting wandering strays, I can tell that 3 is OK.
So, generally speaking : 3<too many cats< 16
I can’t answer more precisely, nor regarding your particular circumstances. I hope someone will be able to give a more accurate answer.
(What? We aren’t in GQ??)
I had two cats in a roughly 2000 square foot (1300 finished) 3 bedroom house. This was way more than enough.
My wife-to-be had five cats in a 800+ square foot 2 bedroom house. This was pushing it severely.
When she moved in, the 7 cats in my 2ksf was kind of pushing it, especially since they had issues of who was boss and whose house it was. Then we lost one (big fat boy who had a back injury and had to put him down).
Then we moved into her smaller house with all six cats and all hell broke loose. They’d just established a pecking order in my house, now 4 of them were back in the house they were used to and mine were strangers. Mine still ended up on top (being older), but we had SERIOUS problems with the 3 females waging urine wars (pissing where the other ones slept) and the youngest male messing everywhere - and I mean everywhere, because he was at the bottom of a long pecking order and had nowhere to go.
So much - and I mean SO MUCH was destroyed by that little fucker, but my then-wife refused to consider getting rid of him.
Damn, I was glad when I finally moved out of there and got my own 2 bedroom place with just my 2 cats again. They were much happier too.
This. Doesn’t matter how clean/non-smelly your home is, owning more than 3 cats becomes something of a trademark. I’d say the same thing about dogs, really.
I agree that there seems to be a general feeling that more than three cats is too many. After that point, you just have to ask how many is too many for you and how much do you care about what other people think.
I have two cats, and I would love to have more, but I agree with pbbth’s no more cats than hands rule. I do have a husband, so that could bump me up to four cats, but I need to be able to pet them all at once.
If you are willing to do the scooping and vacuuming then go nuts!