Too Many Problems, Too Many Cats?

1. 60

   Bellamieposted 13 years ago

   What sort of problems have you had by having more than one cat? I just finished paying thousands of dollars replacing the flooring in my home because I let my daughter move back in (a few years ago) with her 4 cats, which totalled 6 cats in my house for nearly a year.  Five of them, all female, all fixed, were peeing all over my house!  What a huge mistake to let her bring them home.  I had no idea cats did that!  One cat, not sure which one, actually peed on a tv set!  My house became a litter box!  All cleaned up now, but omg what a mess it was!  Any bad behavior from your cats?

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   1. 56

      michifusposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      When my cat is feeling particularly hard done by, it goes into the bedroom, closes the door, and poos right next to it, and then meows for me to rescue it. When I open the door, the draught excluder catches said poo,making a poo rainbow on the floor. Lovely.
      
      What a joy it is to own a cat. Six cats is probably 6 too many.

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2. 79

   Sufidreamerposted 13 years ago

   They can be very destructive, sometimes!
   
   We have over 20 cats and, fortunately, we have very few accidents

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   1. 89

      Stacie Lposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      20 cats and no accidents? wow,they must stay outside..
      i've had cats most of my life and the most I've had at one time was 4...and they were a handful with all the kitty drama.
      the oldest one always wants their respect and will let the others know
      and the one that's been there the longest will fight for their respects...and so on

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3. 0

   EmpressFelicityposted 13 years ago

   We introduced a third cat into our two-cat household back in summer 2009.  Her name was Felix (she'd been called that before her previous owner discovered her true gender!), and we rechristened her Felicity (hence my screen name). 
   
   She is 17 years old and is bossy and demanding yet strangely loveable at the same time (Can you be a cuddly autocrat?  Yes, if you're Felicity.)  When we first took her on, we didn't think it would work out with our other two cats, but amazingly, it has.  They're not bosom pals, but they do tolerate each other. 
   
   However, in the past we did have another cat called Sooty (a neutered male) who started peeing all over the place when one of the neighbourhood toms kept trying to come into our house. The problem only sorted itself when we moved.

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4. 60

   Bellamieposted 13 years ago

   So, it was our thinking that the five female cats were marking territory over territory vying for the one fixed male cat.  Oh, I cant tell you how awful it was.  we couldn't save up fast enough to get the carpets pulled, furniture replaced, etc.  I wonder now if all that would have been covered under our homeowners insurance policy.  I should check in case something like that happens again.

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5. 59

   Vala Fayeposted 13 years ago

   You dumped 4 cats on the other 2 cats territory? And you're surprised they began aggressively marking what was theirs? I haven't read the entire thread, but cats are territorial creatures, you're best off doing a proper introduction.
   
   Did the peeing stop yet? If not, feel free to contact me. I've had this situation myself at some point

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6. 59

   Vala Fayeposted 13 years ago

   Oh, I forgot. I wrote a hub that might help you out already a bit:
   
   http://hubpages.com/hub/Cat-behavior-10 … o-be-happy
   
   The next one will be about bringing a cat home, into a new territory, and the one after that about how to introduce a cat into a household that already has cats/pets
   
   Unlike dogs, cats don't make friends easily or adhere to a clear hierarchy within the 'pack'. They need some time and some space to make some appointments and distribute the territory evenly. When forced into it, they'll defend what's theirs aggressively by spraying and peeing (this is also a sign of stress) instead of marking it by rubbing against stuff with their heads (which is a mild form of marking they use when they feel relatively safe), as you've discovered

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