The Disadvantages of Having Multiple Cats
Higher Vet Bills
Multiple cat owners will have to face inevitably higher vet bills than if they had just one cat to care for. Cats will need their usual annual vaccinations to help keep them healthy and protected from disease, but then if one or more of your cats is ill, they will need specialist attention and care that can quickly raise modest consultation costs to a higher amount.
Hygiene
When you have more than one cat, you will have to work harder to ensure that your cats' hygiene is well taken care of. The litter tray will have to be cleaned and clean littler added more frequently than if just one cat used the litter tray. Even having multiple litter trays does not eliminate the extra work that is required to maintain your cats' hygiene.
Higher Food Bill
A single cat will not eat as much as multiple cats do. So it is worth considering this before taking on more cats. You will also need to keep an eye on the food level in your cats' bowls, as they will deplete much sooner than if you had just one cat to feed.
Scratching
Owning one cat who likes to scratch your favourite antique dresser is bad enough. But when you have multiple cats, they can run riot in your home and scratch more of your furniture, carpets and so on. It is tougher to control multiple cats that have this same bad habit. Some cats even like to feed off the bad habits of the other cats in the house. If one decides to start scratching, another can soon join in!
Multiple Cats are Noisier
Multiple cats are noisier and can cause more of a disturbance than single cats. Your bedtime might be 11:00pm, but this might be considered "playtime" for your cats as they chase one another around the home, knocking things over and having fun.
Before you decide to become a multiple cat owner, you must carefully decide if this would be the right move for you. Look at your lifestyle and see if it can easily accommodate multiple cats.
Published by Sophie Spyrou
Sophie has been writing for the Yahoo! Contributor Network since 13th May 2007. She used her previous status as a Featured Contributor (Travel, then Pets) to share her personal knowledge about the UK culture... View profile
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- Selecting a Cat Veterinarian
- The Benefits of Having Multiple Cats Rather Than Just One
- Solutions to Cat Behavioral Problems
- Gift Ideas for Cat Lovers...And For the Cats!
- Feline Leukemia: Protect Your Cat from This Prevelent Deadly Disease
- Scat Mats, Scat Cats - Getting Your Cat to Behave
- Why Urinary Health in Cats is so Important
- Vet bills are higher if you have multiple cats to care for
- Your food bill will be higher
- Multiple cats can scratch more!
10 Comments
Post a CommentLOL! Yes, I've got all that - vet bills, frequent cleaning of litter boxes, multiple-paw "tump-thump-thump" at night... I love it! My three kitties are such a blessing.
I'm glad to be amongst so many cat lovers here.
Sophie
Multiple cats are definitely noisier than just one! Ours go to the races every night at around 11pm. But I have to say that I much prefer that to the previous event at that time which was our one cat being as annoying as possible trying to convince us to play with him instead of going to sleep. Now they might be noisy, but they let us sleep! LOL
:) Cats rule.
I need a farm too... I can't wait til next heat season. I loove the pitter patter (and Clang! Thud! Crash!) of multiple cats running around the house ;)
Great points!
Thanks for the comments. Wow! You sound like you have a farmload of animals, Sharon.
Sophie
Not only do I own 5 cats but I also have 5 dogs and 2 rabbits. Both female dogs are spayed thank God because my oldest had 10 litters on her last litter and it will never happen again. My youngest female dog has an appointment coming up to get spayed and 2 of my female cats have already been spayed. I have on more female cat and then they are all done. I'm not worried about the males right now because we can't afford to get them neutered yet but I will get to it. All of my cats are outside cats and 4 of my dogs are outside dogs. I have been thinking of getting rid of my rabbits, want one, lol? Just kidding. Great article. :)
Allegries!
How I miss the days when I was own by a cat. Little Miss Nokie. Great article for people considering adopt more than one cat.