To those who keep more than one cat

[yertle-the-turtle]

OK, I (or rather my family) have 16 cats (all strays picked up). The big problem is that cats are really temperamental creatures, and every day there's always a fight or two. Usually we can break this up, but at night we're all sleeping and we get jolted by a cacophony of raoors and fffs.. We've identified the main troublemaker, and we've tried putting him outside (not good as he gets bored and escapes) and we've tried caging him at night (but firstly that doesn't work and secondly could you ever bring yourself to cage a cat unless absolutely necessary?) and in the end he just carries on pissing the others off.

Advice? I live in what you may call an apartment with a courtyard. It's supposed to be a condominium but it's primitive by today's standards. Getting rid of him is out of the question, because, well they're cats.

EDIT: Tonight I've left him outside but I don't feel rather comfortable because he's gone missing once already.

 

[HelloAngel]

Wow. I don't have any advice here, so I'll just give you a

 

[U2Lynne]

How many rooms in your place? Can you lock him in your bedroom at night?

We have a very old cat (18 years) and a newish kitten we found (9 months) and for the most part they get along. At night, however, our old cat will get 'lost' and start meowing in strange places until I go get him. Usually by the time I get downstairs to get him, he has woken up the kids. So, now we lock him in our bedroom for the night and he just wakes me and hubby up

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

we have three rooms, but we can't keep him in all night or else he'll take a piss on our floors.

 

[U2Lynne]

Can you lock him in a room with a litter box? Lock him in a bathroom and put the litter box in the bath tub - that's kinda what we did when we found the three kittens and wanted to keep them separate from our cat (although they had a room with an attached bathroom).

This is the first time I've ever had more than one cat, so I'm afraid I just don't have a whole lot of advice. Maybe ask the vet for suggestions? Or search online for suggestions? I know there is a rec.pets.cats forum and some other cat bulletin boards around.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

The bathroom idea sounds good, I'll try it out tomorrow night.

 

[bonosloveslave]

My opinion as a vet student is that U2Lynne's last suggestion is probably your best option - the bathroom would give him more room than a cage, and you don't have to keep a huge litter pan in there, any small rectangular pan will do, and you can put even just a 1/2 cup of litter in there. Let us know how it goes

 

[Sicy]

16 cats?? It is my understanding from watching too much animal planet no doubt, that such a large amount of cats is unhealthy and usually the cats become anti-social around people. They can also spread diseases to each other unless all of them have had their shots.

In all honesty I suggest getting rid of the trouble-some cat and maybe a few others. There are no-kill humane societies where they can be put up for adoption.

 

[Kristie]

I have... uh.. 8
except they all get along
well, Gobbles whacks the other ones sometimes cos she doesn't like to share, but there's no fights anymore...
I'm helpful, I know.

 

[AdamsMango]

I have 4 cats..they become alot more docile and care about things alot less after they are fixed..plus then there won't be more cats in the world!! are they fixed?

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

They've all had their shots.

 

[AdamsMango]

They've all had their shots.

you should get them spayed or neutered. they act better

 

[Sicy]

^ yep

and obviously it stops them from reproducing, which means less cats that cant find homes and are put to sleep.

 

[Kristie]

hell yeah they act better
gobbles bit me before she got spayed and my hand got infected and it looked like the stay-puft marshmallow man
but now she looooooooooves me

getting 18 cats spayed and neutered is going to be kinda pricey though... start off with your trouble maker, at least

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

Well yeah, but 'shots' I meant being spayed or neutered.

I keep mixing up these terms.

 

[Sicy]

How about rabies shots, FIV tests and booster shots?

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

done.

 

[Sicy]

 

[Angela Harlem]

16 cats in such a small space is quite a lot. Cats are territorial, especially males, it might not be something you can overcome, especially if the ringleader of the problems is neutered and it hasn't fixed it.

 

[bonosloveslave]

Can any Europeans confirm - I rememeber hearing at some point that somewhere in Europe (Sweden maybe?) they don't do any spaying or neutering because they think it is cruel......

 

[Sicy]