From Three to Six Cats: How Expanding Our Feline Family Transformed Our Lives

Going from 3 to 6 cats at one time was one of the best decisions we ever made. Violet, Jake, and Elwood have brought much joy to our lives.

When we had only Lina, Kilala, and Buster we were not looking to add any more cats into our home. We likely turned down the “do you want another cat?” question may times.

If you wondering how many cats might be too may for you, you can read through the questions here.

And then a cat brought kittens to our yard

On July, 20 2014, the cat we had been feeding regularly for several months brought her 5 kittens to our yard. This cat is now our Violet. We had been feeding Violet that spring nearly every day not knowing that she was pregnant.

You can read more of her background story and why we had food in out in the backyard here.

Upon finding the kittens, I pretty much assumed from the start that we would adopt Violet and have her as another inside cat. As older cats (which are wonderful) can be harder to find homes for than kittens.

Since we were not planning on adding more cats to our family, I contacted our local humane society. I learned that they do not accept feral cats.

 

Usually, feral cats will not be able to trust humans enough to be re-homed as indoor cats. Therefore for feral cats, a trap-neuter-release program is recommended.

The kittens were feral and completely afraid of me. Violet was semi-feral. It’s possible that she was abandoned by a previous owner.

I learned online from various sources (I didn’t document them since I didn’t have this blog then) how to socialize kittens. The remainder of July, August, and September was spent earning their trust.

What worked best was petting them while giving them canned wet food. At first, I just watched them eat. And then every few days I would move closer to them while they were eating. Eventually, I was able to pet them and they would look forward to seeing me.

By the end of September, I was friends with Violet and her kittens. I was able to pet each of them and some would approach me. One of the orange kittens (probably) Jake, would want to climb on me and sit on my lap.

At this point, instead of getting the kittens into our local humane society, I decided to find homes for them.

The attempt to find homes for the kittens

Once Violet was spayed and tested negative for leukemia and FIV, we moved her and the kittens into the house. We kept them separate from Lina, Kilala, and Buster in a room they did not have access to.

What I didn’t expect was the difficulty in finding homes for all 5 kittens. Stella, the grayish/black kitty was claimed early on by my niece from pictures I had shared on Facebook.

I posted on my Facebook page several times. And I shared about them at my office. A few coworkers expressed interest but it didn’t work out.

And a friend’s parents wanted 1 kitten. I was super excited when they decide to take 2 (kittens in pairs are nice as they can entertain each other). They decided to adopt the two black kittens.

I didn’t want to advertise for the remaining 2 kittens for free as I feared they would not end up in a good home (free kittens aren’t free to care for). In reading up online about how to find homes for cats, I was horrified to learn that sometimes people take cats for research, fighting, or bait.

I started thinking maybe we should keep them. Initially, Ted said, “No way, our house is too small.” Not including our basement and a not heated foyer, the square footage is about 950 ft. How could we have room for 3 more?

Meanwhile, no one was stepping up to adopt the 2 orange kittens and I was starting to get attached. I spent time with them and Violet every day to continue their socialization.

Are you crazy? That’s too many cats.

I started asking friends and coworkers what they thought about us having six cats. Most people said having six was crazy! Some joked that I was on my way to being a crazy cat lady. Overall, the responses were negative.

Three people gave me positive responses. Dawn who had had 5 or 6 cats in a similar-sized house and it worked out okay. Alice had 5 cats in her childhood. She shared that each cat found its own space.

My boss at that time, Eric, asked me if we had the means to care for six cats. Yes, we did. Then why not keep them? Be keeping them we kept 2 cats in a good home and out of the homeless cat programs (humane society and cat rescues) and off the streets as community cats.

The Vet

At the time of the rescue, our local community did not have low-cost option to determine if Violet and the kittens had leukemia or FIV. The closest location was about an hour away. We opted to take the cats to our regular veterinarian.

We mentioned to the vet that we were considering keeping some of the kittens. He gave us some advice on how to make more space for additional cats and also gave us an article to look over.

We realized that we could do several of the suggested items.

Having six cats has worked out fine

After some deliberation, we decided to give it a try! We kept the two orange kittens and named them Jake and Elwood (yes, they are named after the main characters in the Blues Brothers movie).

We did a slow integration letting them smell each other through a door. And then spending a short amount of time in each other’s area. There was an adjustment period. Just over two years later and things are mostly good between all the cats.

Lina still hisses at Jake and Elwood when the chase her. Buster will play and cuddle with Jake and Elwood. Violet has transformed from standoffish to asking to be petted.

What about the cost?

The initial cost was significant. We paid to have Violet and all the kittens tested for FIV and Leukemia. And then Violet, Jake, and Elwood received the standard set of shots and were spayed and neutered. And we bought some more cat stuff (which was not really required).

The cost of food doubled. Violet has been sick once (turns out too much wet cat food gives her the runs) and Jake and Elwood have not needed any extra vet visits beyond the annual visit. All of our extra vet visits have been with the older cats, and we would have incurred those costs regardless of adding three more cats.

The blessings of cats

We love living with our cats. And are very happy with our decision to add Violet, Jake, and Elwood to our family. It was super fun which Jake and Elwood interact with each other as kittens.

And the sweet moments when Jake will cuddle up with Ted on the couch. Elwood and Jake still spend time chasing each other through the house. Lina and Kilala are still best friends. Violet doesn’t do any cuddling but has started to follow me around a bit. Buster will snuggle with Jake and sometimes Elwood too.

Sometimes (when they feel like it!) they greet us at the door when we come home. Buster will almost always take a nap with me. And when my mother-in-law passed away, Buster was there to give me extra affection. And Kilala will often sit with me while I practice the organ.

More on each cat can be found on the Meet the Cats page.

We have recently adopted cat 7! A kitten my niece rescued but was not able to keep. We’ve named him Taco.

How many cats do you have? Did you get them all at the same time?