Current Events > How do some people have like 20+ cats?

(+) Yeah! (+)

From my experience cats are quite a handful. I cant imagine having more than like...3. Let's face it, they love to troll us and even having 2 stresses me out sometimes.

Not only that but it's really hard to have any sort of personal space when they're either following you or clawing at your door. I love cats but they are most definitely not "introverted" and they LOVE to nag you.

Toxoplasmosis

How about 70?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66451560

Good taste in animals combined with the resources (hopefully) to care for them.

Based on personal experience it becomes pretty obvious how it can get out of hand so fast.
They think they can handle it, or just fail to get them fixed and it explodes.

Have a feral mother that brought one of her litters to us. 3f/1m. We took the male in and got all fixed, but couldn't get a trap in time for her to pop out another litter of 2f/2m not only 4.5-5 months later. Got them all fixed, along with the at the time dominant local tom.

We still care for them in the yard(s), and combined with my cat that was still around had 11 in total we looked after. Now it's down to 9, but even 9 is like a fur tsunami at feeding time. I can't imagine willing getting more for the sake of more.

If you do the math, that was 1 female that produced 5 females in a 5 month window. They can get pregnant as early as 3-4 months, so it's easy to see how it can explode in numbers if unchecked.

Idk if about the people who keep them inside.

The outdoor people dont really care for them beyond throwing money for food and maybe some temporary shelters. Outdoor cats are a nuisance and should adopted inside or euthanized. TNR does not work.

VeesMcGees posted...

Idk if about the people who keep them inside.

The outdoor people dont really care for them beyond throwing money for food and maybe some temporary shelters. Outdoor cats are a nuisance and should adopted inside or euthanized. TNR does not work.

TNR?

Dark_Arbron posted...

TNR?

Trap neuter release

But its really more like trap neuter reabandon

VeesMcGees posted...

Trap neuter release

But its really more like trap neuter reabandon

Ah, right.

One of my babies we adopted at 14 weeks (born homeless) and the other we adopted at about 2 years from a colleague of mine - he was semi-homeless (I.e. his owners didnt seem to care for him so he hung around my colleague more).

It makes me sick to think that the opportunity theyve had to grow and bond with our family is one that thousands of other strays wont have. Then I actually throw up when I realise how close they were to being among those thousands, starving on the street and never knowing happiness.

I fucking hate this world.

Idk dude this girl at work I was super into once invited me over for lunch and she had like 7 cats. I could smell the ammonia as soon as I got out of the car. She bought me some food and it was all I could do to get it down after going inside because that cat piss smell was sooo strong. Whole time I'm thinking how are you brave enough to invite anyone over here lmao have you smelled your house.

Starrky posted...

Idk dude this girl at work I was super into once invited me over for lunch and she had like 7 cats. I could smell the ammonia as soon as I got out of the car. She bought me some food and it was all I could do to get it down after going inside because that cat piss smell was sooo strong. Whole time I'm thinking how are you brave enough to invite anyone over here lmao have you smelled your house.

You know humans have sensory adaption, right? The girl at work, doesn't smell her house anymore, anymore than you smell yours.

VeesMcGees posted...

Idk if about the people who keep them inside.

The outdoor people dont really care for them beyond throwing money for food and maybe some temporary shelters. Outdoor cats are a nuisance and should adopted inside or euthanized. TNR does not work.

I had outdoor cats all my life, why didnt I care for them? Or do you mean people who dont ket their cats inside ever?

VeesMcGees posted...

Idk if about the people who keep them inside.

The outdoor people dont really care for them beyond throwing money for food and maybe some temporary shelters. Outdoor cats are a nuisance and should adopted inside or euthanized. TNR does not work.

These are TNR, but we actually take daily care of them to the point they're basically outdoor pets...

TNR can work/mitigate, in certain situations/areas, but yeah. Problem around here, is either people don't TNR at all which is why a neighbor has cats that are relatives to these reproducing for the last 2 years*. They do the bare minimal effort or not at all, and they migrate to other territories creating 2 new problems.

* The reason we don't do it, is because we already forked out 35 for 6 and 150 for one. They have family that could have helped, but instead of spending 100 dollars to get 3 fixed, they'd rather have now 10 or more cats vs the 3. Some have been surrendered to the shelter, some eaten by raccoons. I don't know the total count now, but I'd hazard 10-18 combined living/gone in the last 2 years.

Zwijn posted...

I had outdoor cats all my life, why didnt I care for them? Or do you mean people who dont ket their cats inside ever?

I meant ferals, but outdoor cats are an ecological nuisance and I believe any time a roaming cat kills something it's owner should face a minimum $500 fine. They also are more likely to get run over or eaten by coyotes than indoor cats.

Zwijn posted...

I had outdoor cats all my life, why didnt I care for them? Or do you mean people who dont ket their cats inside ever?

There's some that TNR them, but fail to realize that the whole point is to keep the cat in the area and reduce others from taking over. There's also the mega colonies that become disease concentration clusters. So by just feeding them and letting them gather enmasse it can lead to other issues. TNR can help, but it's not the sole solution.

If they are pets or very closely treated as such, then it's not a real issue outside of costs. These don't wander too far, but the number of wildlife they've killed together is... maybe a problem.

If you can't look after all of them properly, don't have them. End of story.

Starrky posted...

Idk dude this girl at work I was super into once invited me over for lunch and she had like 7 cats. I could smell the ammonia as soon as I got out of the car. She bought me some food and it was all I could do to get it down after going inside because that cat piss smell was sooo strong. Whole time I'm thinking how are you brave enough to invite anyone over here lmao have you smelled your house.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/aed266b0.jpg

I use to think I'd love having a million cats. I have three right now and it's the absolute max I'd ever want.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention another problem, because somewhere I got distracted.

It's also been confirmed that for like a year or more now, people see cats around here, not specifically these and are literally dumping unfixed kittens/cats on the side of the road nearby. Some even dump em on porches/steps, leaving residents here to deal with em.

I don't know how I feel about TNR as a whole, but I do know it can help in situations... if actually maintained/or in small numbers. The only reasons we TNR'd these is a long complicated story I've already mentioned about twice now. Short of it is 2 were long standing ferals mass producing, now they're equivilant of skittish outdoor pets that just lie around waiting for food time. Then the 8 kittens were destined to either die at the shelter, or going to homes of people changing their minds repeatedly. One is an official pet, and one has already died from a dog attack last Nov. There also weren't anywhere near as many cats in the area 2 years ago, because of said dumping/failure to fix.

So, just in case, my official response if someone says we need to deal with our cats. "No, this is what happens when other people don't deal with their cats." The mother cat has had at least 4 litters we know of, and the tom has sired unknown amounts of litters ranging all over the neighborhood over the years which is why we've seen multiple lookalikes. That was just two cats from unknown origins.

I also feel 2-4 is the max for a single person with mild exceptions. They can pair up with another cat, and it's not too overwhelming. Once you get to double digits you better have a very good reason, and there's no way in hell you're giving them proper attention.

coolguyjimmy posted...

You know humans have sensory adaption, right? The girl at work, doesn't smell her house anymore, anymore than you smell yours.

Well yeah as long as you're in the house. But soon as you leave to go to the store you can smell it again when you come home.