Cat Whisperer

How many:
I don’t suggest trying to live with more than ten cats, especially if they are in your house. Maybe if you have a large house and it is decorated and designed for the pleasure and convenience of cats that would be okay. I would love to have carpeted cat shelves and paths for them all over my house but I just can’t do that.

I seem to have acquired seven cats and living with seven cats in the dead of winter means that they are sleeping in my house. It is too cold for them outside right now so I took pity on them and I am allowing them to sleep inside. When it gets warmer they will spend more time outside and the males will sleep on the cat porch.

I have three males and four females who are always adjusting their own pecking order so sometimes its not as peaceful a proposition as I would like it to be. A couple of my older females are always having a spat with someone and growling for some reason.

Maintaining Peace:
The secret to maintaining peace and keeping them all happy, is to have enough beds for them to sleep in, otherwise you may find them all in your bed or you may wake up to a cat fight over some choice napping real-estate. Of course they all want to sleep near you, so they will want to be in your bedroom or where ever it is warm and where you spend most of your time. I don’t have a door on my bedroom so I can’t lock them out. I do have lots of boxes, baskets and beds for them to chose from and I still end up with two or three sleeping with me. This is only when the temperatures are below zero and their cat room porch is pretty cold and their water dish freezes up.

Spay and neuter:
All of my females are spayed except Nubella who just joined us and is still too young. I have two young males who are not neutered yet and I keep procrastinating getting that done. They are not sexually active yet but Prince Blade is showing an interest in Nubella who has not come in season yet. I don’t want the young males going out in the neighborhood making more kittens because those kittens will probably end up on my doorstep begging for a home. I struggle sometimes finding the money to spay and neuter, but I have to draw the line at seven cats. I just can’t take on any more than that. Please spay and neuter all your cats.

Fleas:
Last year we had a lot of fleas because of Feebie, a flea bitten kitten, who turned up in my garage from out of nowhere. The humidity last year was high and we had fleas on the dogs and the cats and everywhere. I spend a couple hundred dollars on flea remedies. I also sprayed the house and got an insect repelling beacon that I plugged into an electrical socket in my kitchen. I hope next year is dry and the fleas will not be able to hatch and thrive.

Litter Boxes:
I have two litter boxes in the house and two on the cat porch. I am constantly removing scat from them. I just flush it down the toilet. Its a constant job in the winter when the cats are all in the house. In the summer most of my cats prefer doing their business outside where I park my car. I see little piles of dirt with scratch marks all around them all the time. These can be raked up if they get to be too annoying.

I complain about my cats but when they are all outside and I am alone, I do miss them. There is something very calming about a sleeping cat.