Multiple cats!

[Catnip]

Somebody I know has 17 Siamese cats! She is not a breeder - they are just household pets. It got me wondering how many cats (any breed) everyone else has. I have 5 Siamese myself, and they are enough of a handful!!!

[Ann]

17 Siamese doesn't bear thinking about! How does she ever get anything done?!! The thought of 17 cats "helping" is quite stunning. I hope she has a king size bed. Even then I imagine she'd be reduced to one small corner of it. And the amount of loose fur just makes the mind boggle.

Ann

[Catnip]

I have an apology to make, folks! The first option in my poll should read No.1, not 'Siamese'! The problem stems from when my poll was at first going to be about which breed of cat everyone has, but then I decided to change it to how many cats of any breed you have, but somehow the first option stuck at 'Siamese' even though I thought I had changed it to a number like the rest of the list! Sorry to confuse you!!! It's hardly surprising I can't concentrate properly with 5 mad Siamese trying to help me use the computer!

[Xinzerella]

That's alright, I counted all my cats though they're not all Siamese; only one of them is. They all have Siamese IN them though

[Catnip]

Hi Xinzerella,

I may be a little biased, but.....what good taste you have!!!

I'm sure the ones with even a little bit of Siamese in them have at least some of their distinctive traits! And you have the best of both worlds, really!

[Miles]

OHHH MYY - 17 meezers....?? Our 2 are all we can handle...!!

Miles

[Laurence]

ONE Pen-Duick is well worth 17 siameses, LOL ;D

[tutsmom]

I have 12 Siamese right now, but at one point, I had 14 of the helpful creatures. And, yes, when I bought a new mattress I had to buy a larger one--oddly enough I still find myself hanging onto the edge of the bed while the precious babies stretch out and take over--especially now that we're having a heat wave and the kitties are sprawling. In the winter, they climb on top of me, making for a very heavy, but warm furry quilt.

Now if Higgins would just stop draping himself over my shoulder any time I get on the computer (I think he's trying to read what I say about them.)

Tutsmom

[Ann]

Sharon,

Multiple cats are a lot of work as I know from visiting Mucklette and Chalmers Cats, all of whom are involved in Cat Rescue in Scotland and have multi cat households. I know you're involved with a Siamese Rescue charity in the US and I take my hat off to you all.

I have two single beds pushed together to form one large bed and I still have problems getting enough of the duvet with just 2 cats. I woke up in the classic spreadeagled position this morning, one cold foot stuck out of either side of the duvet and two sleepy boys in pole position in the very middle of the bed. I'm surprised you're allowed even the edge of the bed! At least I haven't had the experience of one friend of mine with only one cat, who once found herself quite literally pushed right out of the bed!

Ann

[tutsmom]

Ann,
How do you keep the beds together? I like that idea, but with cats bouncing off the bed, I'd worry that the beds would scoot apart (and I'd probably end up on the floor). Several of the cats like to get on top of the television in the bed room (which they aren't allowed to do) then when I tell them to get off--they leap onto the bed. I'm always amazed that they never land on another cat--they find the one free spot. But if it weren't against a wall, I have no doubt the bed would move.

Sure, 12 cats are work--but they're worth every bit of it. Every time I put a cat's story and photo on the web site or petfinder.org, I'm glad I kept the kittens. I knew I would worry about them the rest of my life if I let anyone else have them--and every cat I see posted on the web reminds me that I did the right thing. (Tabitha came to me already pregnant, so I had no choice about kitttens. All have been neutered, of coursel.)

The other difficult part about rescue is knowing I can't adopt them all. Right now we have a cat who has irritable bowel disease and whose owner has given us 3 months to find her a home. I hate the thought of such a basically good cat being put down because her owner isn't as committed to the cat as the cat is to the owner.

Where it gets interesting on the home front is when I have to feed them. Leonardo and Julius are on special diets--Leonardo for kidney stones and Julius for renal failure. I feed them on the bed so I can chase off the others--except for Mumbles (14 years) who insists on her "take". The rest behave reasonably well. Oddly enough, they never offer to take Julius' fluid treatments for him, but Mumbles and Keiki do give him encouraging licks on the head.

Ah well, life would be rather boring if it weren't for the furry creatures--they take good care of me, and I try to take good care of them. And my one wish is for all animals to find good homes.

Sharon aka tutsmom

[Ann]

<<Right now we have a cat who has irritable bowel disease and whose owner has given us 3 months to find her a home. I hate the thought of such a basically good cat being put down because her owner isn't as committed to the cat as the cat is to the owner. >>

That really makes me see red! I hope you're successful and can find someone to take her in.

My two beds are very heavy and are on carpet, so it takes quite a lot to move them. They don't budge when used by the boys as a soft landing area. It would probably be a different story if the beds were on a wood floor though.

Ann

[tutsmom]

The only way I can handle the excuses people give for turning in cats is to try and be grateful that they released them either to rescue or the SPCA (if the shelter contacts us and lets us take the cat), rather than throwing it outside, or worse. (Actually, although I know many horrible things that people do to animals, I can't read or think about them because it gives me terrible day- and nightmares. I simply cannot handle cruelty, so I try to fight against it as best I can in other ways.)

That doesn't make it easier for the cats emotionally, since they don't know what is going on, but it at least gives them a second chance at finding a real forever home.

Sharon

[Heather]

???What is irritable bowel disease? My cat, Misty, has a problem with her bowel and is is on a high fiber food , lots of liquid and a half pill every day , for the rest of her life. She is in her teens now and still plays like a kitten.
She has spent a lot of nights at the Vets, after getting into the other cat food.
www.hpphoto.com/rs/ED592551-91F5-11D6-B42B-0090277A760E/screen [/img] Here she is in the fenced in yard.

[tutsmom]

Irritable bowel is a disease that causes the cat to have diarrhea or episodes of throwing up--a lot. I think flatulence is also a symptom. (People get it too.) Cats who have it might not make it to the litter box in time because it comes on suddenly--which, needless to say, the cat finds upsetting.

It's controlled with diet and medication. Since none of my cats have it, I'm not sure about the details of what type of diet or medication.

It isn't something that's contagious--so other animals (or humans) won't get it from an cat that has it. It's important to control it, of course, since the diarrhea can cause dehydration and throw off the blood chemistry, but cats that have it can live a long and happy life so long as it is controlled

If you go to www.felinecrf.com and look in the Links sections, they have links to articles about it. Although this web site focuses on Chronic Renal Failure, it has lots of good information about other conditions in its link section. It isn't maintained by a veterinarian, but by people who fought the kidney failure battle with their cat. It is an excellent site.

My best cat Ching died from kidney failure in 1990 when she was 16.5 years old. Julius has it now, and we're fighting it. I found out about when I had routine blood panels run in May, so hopefully I've caught it early enough and will have many more years with him, even if he is 17.

Sharon aka Tutsmom