How many cats do you have??

[Luv2Game]

Hi, just wondering how many cats you all have?? Are they inside or outside?? Do you go through a lot of cats if you live in the country?? I am in love with our cats that we have and everyone keeps telling me they will come and go and we will go through a lot of cats. (Due to being hit by a car, animal attacks, etc, etc) This thought makes me very sad. Actually one of our cats is missing right now. She was there last night, but wasn't this morning or tonight, and she is always the first to come. I haven't gotten her spayed yet , do they disappear while they are in heat, you know, go away for a few days with a boyfriend??? I actually hope that is what happened because I will be so sad if something has happened to her. Anyway, how many cats do you all have, inside/outside, and do they disappear, or are you able to keep the same cats around for a long while?? Thanks Guys and Gals!!!!

[dixie]

We only have one and he thinks he is in charge of the place. He gets fed, watered, petted upon demand. He goes in/out as he wants - sits at the door and meows when wanting out. A real character.

[Lucky1999]

I have two cats that are inside cats only. There is also one cat that lives at the barn, but she's been there for 11 years and never had any problems.

[Danni L]

We have one.we found dalia abandoned in the barn this summer when she was two weeks old.She had a severe respiratory infection,was dehydrated and malnorished.A few rough days and alot of kitten formula later and she's a great house cat.Due to the abundance of predators in our area,she will always be a house cat.

[Sirita_88]

I have 3 cats, 2 indoor and one barn cat. The barn cat just showed up in the hay one day. She is such a cutie! Sometimes she goes missing for awhile, but never more than a day. I hope she never gets hurt, but she thinks she is much tougher than she is! She climbs big trees, you can see her from the window of our house 7 acres away! (she's white, btw). She has almost gotten in fights with turkeys, and she stalks deer (one actually chased her!) She used to LOVE riding my horses, too. She would crawl up the roundpen panel and then jump in my lap! During the winter, I would stick her on the horses blankets and she would just purr... Well that all stopped when she decided it was a good idea to jump onto a horses neck! OUCH!!!! Okay, well I am done ranting about my cute little kitty.

I hope your cat is safe, when our kitten first showed signs of heat she stayed near the house, we started to see a lot more stray cats coming around. One day we saw a cat mounting her. Well... that was the end of that. She is now happily spayed.

[farmergal]

Unfortunately yes barn cats have a much shorter life span than indoor cats.
My Tom cats last only a year or two then they disappear. Spaying and neutering can help to extend their life but it is not a guarantee that they will live a long life.

I had an outdoor kitty that was spayed and kept up to date on her shots. She was 11 years old when we moved. I tried to make her an indoor cat but she was not happy. One day she slipped out the door never to be seen again.

My neighbor died three years ago and I took in his cats that moved onto our property. Of the original three I have only one.

Because of these cats I have eight outdoor cats. There would have been more if they hadn't died along the way. Cars, illness, predators all have an affect on the number of cats that one has. Love them while you have them, grieve over them when you loose them. Then open your heart to the next cat(s).

[gbarmranch]

We have between 15 and 20 - all outside cats. Surprisingly, only three are females - the rest are male cats from 6 months to 3 years old. We have a "zen" approach to cats at our house - they all live in harmony - and go through 40 lbs of cat food a week

They have been dropped off or rescued, and are all loved. If you walk out the door of our house, you will be greeted by a sea of felines....

[paso_lover]

We have 4, 2 of which are from the same litter because one day we went to visit my dad and there showed up at his place this real friendly kitty. I already had 3 but he gave me this guilt trip (as dad lives in the bush) that because she was so friendly she was going to die out there.......so she came home with me. Then 4 became 8......4 weeks later she had her babies . Mom turned into one nasty b***h and thankfully moved out to a neighbours house leaving me with 7. Found 2 homes with co-workers and had no luck finding good homes for the other 2 so because it was Andres fault I had this many cats, I made him keep the kittens at his house. We merged together again when we moved here, lost my best friend (of 13 years) due to illness which brings me down to 4. No pics od Lucky sorry he hides all the time.

Lucy

her brother Forman....as he must supervise everything that is done around here

and uncle Precious....Lucy looks exactly like his mom so I'm convinced her dad was his brother

[cook1745]

I have one indoor outdoor cat that is 13yrs old I've had since she was 6months. I did have one outside barn cat but she has been missing for a few days since I got a new stray dog .

[Littlebitocolor]

I love cats, but with 13 dogs, I can't have any!

[carlagsd]

We have three cats to go along with our three dogs:

Jet-black shorthair who is inside/outside
PJ-who was supposed to be a barn cat but has decided he likes it much better in the house.
Sammie-my daughter just rescued her from a gas station. She is recovering from a very tough start in life and doing fine in the basement for now until we can rule out anything contagious.

Jet, the house cat went missing for two months this summer. We gave him up for lost, but he came back home much to our surprise and delight. He now wears a collar with a name tag. We think he's found another family to hang out with because when he came home after two months he was sleek and sassy as always. His pads on his feet were soft and he was just as well fed as the day he left. He still leaves for a day or two but always shows up again.

[Faceman]

I have one inside cat I inherited and that refuses to die.

My barn cats are down to 4, although I think it may be 5 now - I've noticed a new one hanging around the last week or so. I used to have a lot more barn cats, but they tend to disappear or get run over...

[my_gypsygirl]

I have 2 kittens, That unfortunately have found the out doors, i tried so hard to keep them inside, but once they get out, it is nearly impossible to get them to stay in. but they are a hoot, when they stalk the horses, they will crouch down, and wait for the perfect moment, then pounce at a dead out run untill they are about 3 feet from them, then do a back flip and run the other way.
One day i was looking out my window, and i saw Cisco pawing at the base of a tree. Then i see digit, slap a paw at his nose, but not get up and move, i was so scared to go out there. i was sure that cisco had broken his back or something. but no, digit just didnt want his nap disturbed. he was fine, now all it takes is one hiss from a cat, and the horses run the other way.

[oveywon]

....

[Touche]

I have 4 barn cats that love sleeping with us.

They go in and out of the house, less out in the wintertime, occassionally they do go to the barn.

[A J]

We have two indoor cats - Mr. Cat came to us already declawed, so he has no choice, and Musa was hand raised from a very little kitten on and has no idea how to handle the outside world - they're allowed on supervised walks, but that's it (although that does produce the desire in them to try to get out we have discovered - before, Mr. Cat was absolutly TERRIFIED of the outdoors).

If you have outdoor cats, some will come and go, some will actually manage to stick around. We only had one barn cat that made it to a "ripe old age" - she was 18 when she died, but she generally stuck close to the property, knew to stay away from the huskies if they managed to get loose, and would, literally, look both ways before crossing the street. Most of our other barn cats eventually just disappeared - although we had one that we were rather attached to that someone hit - probably on purpose, since there were (and are) plenty of people who will try to hit cats, and we had a group of them in our area. You'd see them swerve and try to animals on the road, didn't matter what kind.

[Kelly4NC]

I have 2 in/outdoor kitties, one that goes out more than the other. We have had them for 6 years and the first 3 years they were strictly indoor cats until we moved up here to rural area. And so far*crossing my fingers* nothing happened yet. My mom on the other hand as lost some kitties, but she lives in the boonies, I MEAN THE BOONIES, she's surrounded by forest, no neighbors within walking distance or seeing distance. So the kitties tend to get snagged by wild animals. So far her one cat is a fighter.
BUT I wish I had more, *yells out the door* "Right hubby!...........JUST SAY RIGHT, DARNIT!!!!!"

[ron]

one too many

[Shepdog]

I have six at home, and three at my shop. At one point I was up to fifteen, but my old timers have since passed away.

All indoors, and all opinionated and demanding.

I'd have a million cats if I could - I've really never met a cat I didn't like... well, at least respect and admire. *grin*

[ron]

WELL..you need to meet Tmom's daughter's cat

that little gray heifer is evil....with a capital E

and I got the scars to prove it.

the devil incarnate I tell ya