The answer, like many things in life, is "it depends"



Yes, your ability to feed and care for the animals is definitely a major factor. I had 4 cats for a while -- 2 that I chose and 2 others that were left with me by my daughter and by an ex-roommate -- and while I could afford it, I couldn't pay sufficient attention to each of them. For me, 2 is good, 4 is too many.



Additionally, there are other factors such as temperament, personality or age that affect quantity. Six couch-potato cats who get along could possibly live happily in a 2 bedroom apartment. Two energetic cats who actively dislike each other might be miserable on several acres. Cats who feel crowded increase negative behaviors like spraying, not using the box, "defending" food or water, and general aggression. The health issues of an elderly cat can affect the colony as well as your financial resources.

More than you can afford to care for properly.

A cat needs a quality diet, vaccinations, spayed or neutered (if its a pet animal), clean litter and litter boxes, exercise, social interaction, and appropriate medical attention. If you don’t make enough money and have enough time to provide this for one cat, don’t try owning 6.

If you can make enough money and have enough time to provide this for 12 cats, anything less is fine. Know your budget and know what expenses you should have for owning a cat. If you don’t think or KNOW you can’t afford all of this care, don’t get a cat and especially don’t get more than you can handle.

I’m going to answer for indoor-only cats in a moderately-sized home, and for people who have means (time and money) to care for their cats—and that does include veterinary care, and possibly pet sitters for when you’re away. In my experience three cats are just about too many. So I would hesitate to ever have four cats. You know that statistic about the family with 2 1/2 kids? Well, I think 2 1/2 cats is about right. But you can’t have a half of a cat, so let’s go with two or three—YOU decide! And you may choose one. Or zero.

The houses I’ve lived in are around 2,000 sq feet in size and have had two sets of stairs (helpful for cats to get exercise), plus basement space. Unless cats have become infirm (which has happened more often than we’d like, I’m sorry to say), we put the litter boxes in the basement, with a cat door (flap as they say in the UK) to the basement. While I’m on that subject, we find that it’s best to use the n+1 litterbox rule, where n=#cats. And my husband says it’s ok to scoop the boxes once every two days (unless, again, you have an infirm cat), but I think once a day is better for the cats, and actually is easier for the humans to do. To me it seems more than twice as difficult to do on day #2 as on day #1.

With three cats, vs two, I find that the house starts to smell more, and the litter box issues go up noticeably. All that said, if I had it my way, I’d push the envelope a little and have three cats. My husband has now lowered the bar to two. And since he’s allergic to cats, I’m lucky that we can have any! (and thank you, Zyrtec)

Besides the emotional toll and vet bills, not to mention feeding and providing litter boxes, it takes an exceptional person to handle more than three or four cats in a normal-sized home.

One of the major problems is space. If you don’t have enough room for each of the cats to have some personal space, fights erupt and illnesses can go through a cat population like wildfire.

Another area that is neglected is grooming. All cats require a minimum amount of brushing; some long-haired breeds require a lot of time to keep them in good shape. Regular grooming also allows the owner to inspect each cat’s body to determine its physical condition and note any problems. Lack of grooming often means more illnesses.

A third area that can be neglected is attention. Cate, despite their apparent attitude, often need human contact for good mental health. Can you imagine trying to give five or six cats sufficient attention, much less ten or twelve?

As a rule, I think more than three or four cats in a two-bedroom residence is too many for one person. The more room and the more people can allow for more cats, but cats require regular maintenance to remain healthy,

We have a sign in our house that says “I was normal until I had three cats.”

We have five and they are all indoor cats, and they are big cats. Four of them can tolerate each other, while the fifth one, a big female finds all other cats as a personal affront to her universe.

We have a biggish house and they were okay with the territorial demands of each other. But temporarily we are living in a much smaller apartment. We had a catio made for them on the back deck of the apartment and so they have a bit of extra space except when it is cold and wet.

At one time I had seven cats but they were indoor and outdoor cats and that was not too many cats.

It depends a great deal on how much interaction each one needs and gets. They are emotional creatures and some cats bond very heavily with their human and need a great deal of attention.

The aloof female is very bonded to me and she sleeps on my drawing table or next to my head at night. I pet her a great deal during the day but she would like more.

The other four are more bonded to my wife and meditate with her twice a day. They get all of their attention needs met by her. But then she is the great giver of clean kitty boxes and food so I can understand my lesser importance.

Though I am well known for treats every day. But only two and sometimes a third cat actually wants treats.

I think 3 cats per FAMILY or per HOUSEHOLD (NOT ‘per person!’) is the upper limit of what makes a comfortable environment for everyone involved - both people and cats. Cats are naturally somewhat solitary and do not like being crowded by other cats, even if they are related and generally get along.

And no one in the universe likes scooping and scrubbing cat boxes, so the daily ’output’ of 3 full-grown adult cats pretty much hits the upper limits of human tolerance when it comes to clean-up. Even if people want more cats, and can afford the food and vet bills for more cats, they pretty much can’t deal with more cat sh*t, so that’s a serious factor. Even with ‘self-cleaning’ boxes.

Well I guess I am a crazy cat lady because I have 4 cats. All indoor because my area has leash laws, all see the vet 1-2 times a year and are up to date on rabies vaccines as per state regulations and all have an emergency vet fund god forbid something happens. I provide environmental enrichment for all of them and all are on a diet appropriate to their health issue or lack thereof. All are spoiled :)

I know people who have 7 cats and that is not too many for them, they are wonderful pet owners. I know people who don't even provide the necessities to their one cat. I say as long as you are following city/county codes, have the capability to financially and emotionally/physically care for them who's to say whether I have too many or not?

I have owned up to 8 cats at a time, not including temporary kittens who were intended for other homes. My personal view from experience is that 5 or 6 home based cats is the maximum number that an owner or couple of owners can reasonably take care of and offer the individual attention that each needs.

In any group of cats you will have some who demand attention near constantly, some who are chilled with a half hour of cuddle, and some who are happy with just a few minutes here and there.

A Demander will need at least a couple of hours of cuddling, playing, stroking and lap time per day. The more cats you have, the more likely you are to have Demanders. I have just one, but he is particularly needy and requires at least 2 hours of attention each day.

With 7 or 8 cats, it is much harder to notice emerging health problems, tricky to monitor what they are eating and social stresses. and, given that all cats should be insured at an average annual cost of £205 (times 8 = £1,640)( The Best Pet Insurance for Cats 2017) it is too expensive unless you are in a well paying job. Cats will tolerate a few others but high numbers in one house will lead to correspondingly high levels of stress, which in turn causes illness.

We currently have 5 cats which is just fine. We had 4, but the dynamics were wrong. Number 5 was chosen to smooth over the social stresses, and she has done this very well. Sometimes it is personalities rather than numbers which cause stress!

Edit: this is Lucy, number 5 cat, chilling out in a cat tree. This is an old question, but one I feel deserves an actual number as a response from a multiple cat owner.

It all depends on you. How healthy you are, how much room you have in your home, how much time you have to love each cat, how prepared you are to care for, groom and play with them.

Don’t forget how to consider paying for them. Veterinary care, food etc. Nearly forgot cleaning litter trays. Cats’ faeces do stink and the odour does permeate throughout your home. Are you prepared to cope with this? Cleaning litter trays EVERY day of faeces and then washing the trays at least once a week and supplying fresh litter.

In my opinion there is also the dynamics of the cats themselves as well. I am sure 2 out of my 3 would much rather be the only cat in my home.

All of my kittens have been born in my home and raised underfoot. I don’t believe in catteries with cages. Sure those cats are sheltered and fed but they also have other needs such as human companionship and love. Remember they chose to be domesticated.

Then consider yourself. Are you a “homebody” because you can’t vacation without thinking of your cat/s. My cat sitter costs almost as much as my vacation. Do you need time alone? Won’t happen with multiple cats.

If you cannot financially,physically or emotionally care for a certain number of cats, you have too many cats. For some people this is between 5-10 cats; for others this is a single cat.

If you can't afford to buy them the proper food for their diet, enough litter for them to use and you can't afford to take them to the vet, you have more cats than you can take care of and more cats than you should have.

That depends entirely upon you. I have a neighbor down the street who feeds the many strays on my road, gains their trust and then gets them fixed. She has a heated shed for them in the winter and the costs of all of this alone would probably kill someone like me. Cats can get expensive. Not to mention, each extra cat will create extra little nuggets of fun for you to scoop out of a litter box later. Toys, litter, food, time spent caring for them, vet trips, shots, possible diseases (like diabetes), and death all come with getting a cat and the more cats you have, the more sacrifices you’ll have to make for them.

As a kid, my parents denied me and my sister a cat for a long time. Partly because my mom’s really not an animal person and partly because they knew we weren’t ready for the responsibility. That changed when my sister found a starved, flea-ridden kitten who had meowed it voice away crying for help from where it was stuck in a tree. She saved it and my mom didn’t have the heart to say no to my pleading sister, my dad, as well as myself. Then she had to make it fair by getting me a cat. There are hundreds (literally) of strays in our neighborhood, but I got my cat Milo from a nice older couple who found him in a flower pot. He loved the outdoors and my dad refused to have an outdoor cat, so that didn’t work out. We gave him to a pet foster family and I got my next cat Sadie from them in return. She treated me like the person gullible enough to feed her while she lazed around. I still loved her anyway and she died a couple years ago. My heart broke. Then I got Ginger about six months ago from the pound and she turned out to have an autoimmune disease that messed with her teeth and gums and there is no cure. My grandfather is really into herbal solutions though and he found a regimen that saved her life from starvation (she’d completely stopped eating because it hurt to do so). She became attached to him in return and became his cat. Finally, my friend found Leo as a starved kitten and I took him in. He loves me unconditionally and I love him the same. He’s perfect for me.

The point of all that was, a lot goes into getting and keeping a cat. A thousand things can go wrong. Even if you do get a lot of cats, the more you have, the less attention you can pay to each individual. Something important can easily get lost in the kitty shuffle and your cats will see you as more of a simple provider than a mother/father figure. It’s better to have one cat that you know and love completely and that knows and loves you completely, than to have a hundred cats that are only hanging around you for the promise of food and a warm place to sleep. Not to mention, depending on your age, your cat will die before you. The more cats you have, the more you’ll have to go through that. People who have lots of cats generally have similar age clusters in their cats. My aunt had nine cats and almost all of them have died in the past five years. It was one heartbreak after another.

If you’re willing to take on everything that comes with having a million cats, go for it. There’s no law that caps it so long as you have the right space and money for it. But remember that all of those cats will die in the end and be picky when choosing the cat that’s right for you. One deep meaningful relationship is typically better than a million superficial ones.

That is a difficult question to answer. Assuming you can afford to care for all of them, particularly as they age and require more veterinary care there are certain behavioral, medical and social issues to be considered.

Cats that live in households with 5 or more cats are much more likely to have respiratory infections, feline infectious peritonitis and some other infections.

Risks of infectious disease are much less with only 1 or 2 cats in a household.

Behavioral problems such as territorial behavior and urine marking are much more common in households that have three or more cats. These are usually related to one cat guarding litterboxes thus making other cats find another place to urinate or sometimes defecate. It is more common to see only urine outside the box than feces as feces can be held longer so the cat can often out wait the guarding cat and get to the litter box to defecate.

This brings us to cat social groups. Cats can have social groups with as few as one member and as many as there are cats in a household. Female cats usually prefer other females that are genetically related, but are less choosy about males. Males are not as choosy in general.

Cats in the same social group will share the same core area with food and water (not right next to each other), resting perches and play areas. Litter boxes are usually near the core area, but not in it. Members of the same social group will groom each other.

Because of social groupings, only having two cats that are in different social groups can be to many cats for one household. Fighting cats can be terrible! It is possible, and actually very frequent to have more than one social group in a house, but it is often a source of considerable stress for the cats, and this makes them more susceptible to illness and stress related behavior problems. The most difficult to deal with stress related behavior problem is urine marking. This happens most frequently when there is more than one social group, but only one core area. For this reason, the number of cats that is too many can be influenced by house size and floor plan.

So, the long and the short of it is, the number of cats that is too many is complex, but I would definitely go with fewer than five due to the concrete evidence that disease increases at that threshold.

First of all, check your local laws. I used to watch “Miami ASPCA” when I was a kid and the maximum you could have in Florida was four cats and two dogs in the same property.

And then, ask yourself if you can provide enough space (including litter box space), food, water, toys, love, and time to each and everyone of your kitties.

If one got sick and needed vet care, could you pay for it without sacrificing your own or the others’ safety and well-being? Can you spay and neuter all of them and take proper care of them after the procedure? Who would look after them if you go on vacation?

Also, unless you live in an isolated home, have you considered your neighbors? Cats meow, hiss, and yowl. Is the noise too much? Because then you could have the cops called on you and they’d take away all your cats.

It depends upon the room and resources you have, along with city ordinances. In my city you can have no more than 5 cats at home.

My stepfather lives in the country. A pregnant cat had kittens in his shed. He fell in love and ended up keeping all eight of them. He keeps them well fed, and he got the females spayed but they do not have any vaccines. I don’t feel he should have that many unless he is willing to get them all proper medical care. He can afford it.

If you have a large home, are willing to deal with lots of kitty litter, have the money for vet care including emergencies that arise, and don’t mind being judged—-because people do judge—the just check on your city ordinance and consider that your cat limit.

But if you live in a small place or a rental, you are going to have to limit yourself to no more than a couple cats. Check your lease if you rent.

I know a man who had never had pets as an adult, but had cats as a child. He got two kittens, and then adopted an adult cat, and then strays started to hang around his garden and he took some of them in, and suddenly, he had many, many cats.

How do you know when you have too many cats?” I asked him.

He gave me that slow blink, a result of living with cats, and looked thoughtful, like a cat in the sun.

“El, I’ll know that I have too many cats when I can’t remember all of their names.”

When I stopped laughing, I told my friend that the week before, I hosted a party for over fifty guests, and I knew the name of each and every one of them, so in all honesty, the name thing isn’t the best strategy.

The maximum number of animals you have should be related both to available space, and available time and attention.

When I lived in 1,000 square space with four cats, a large dog, two rats, and a guinea pig, two children, and my now ex, we had exceeded the ideal biomass for our apartment. Now, in 1,000 square feet (different place) we have two adults, two cats, and think that a not-too-large dog can live with us fairly easily.

If you have a much larger space, you still need to think about how many people live in the space, and how many of those people will participate both in caring for the needs of the cats, and giving them attention.

More than 2–3 animals per adultish* individuals is probably too many.

*Adultish defined as having a sufficient age and level of maturity to feed cats on time, clean the litter box, make sure that they have fresh water, and play with all cats on a regular basis.